Junior: No Jolts : Check List ****<i> Great Balls of Fire</i> ***<i> Good Vibrations</i> **<i> Maybe Baby</i> *<i> Running on Empty </i>

**JUNIOR. “Sophisticated Street.” London. How to top yourself? That’s a challenge that can hang up even the most creative artist, not excluding British pop/soul singer Junior. His 1981 record “Mama Used to Say” was an outside-the-norm dance single: brash, kinetic and unlike anything else on the radio. His records since then have been more predictable and less potent, including this one. His Philip Bailey-style vocals on “High Life” and “Living in the Right Way” are sweetly rendered, his bitter stance on “I’ll Get Over You” is tough and effective. Most of the songs are good, but the production work (by Junior, Stewart Levine and Monte Moir) isn’t jolting enough. There’s a conventional flat-footedness to this album that keeps it from flying.