Pop Stars : **** Great Balls of Fire : *** Good Vibrations : ** Maybe Baby : * Running on Empty

RICK ASTLEY

“Hold Me In Your Arms.” RCA.**

The second album by the British pop star features more of the pleasant but disposable dance/pop that marked his platinum debut last year. Astley, a Grammy nominee for best new artist, has a manly voice and a shy, courtly manner that make him seem like a clean-cut version of the randier George Michael.

The 22-year-old is a capable vocalist, as he proves on an earnest, soulful version of the Temptations’ classic, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” But too much of the album is filled with featherweight fodder that makes Europop confections by ABBA and the Pet Shop Boys seem heavy by comparison.

The encouraging sign is that Astley had more creative input on this album than he did on his debut. He wrote and co-produced half of the songs, including the warm, melodic title track and the sassy first single, “She Wants to Dance With Me.” And Astley’s songs are more distinctive and interesting than the homogenized, assembly-line fluff by the British writing/production combine Stock-Aitken-Waterman, which crafted back-to-back No. 1 hits for the singer last year. If this teen heart-throb is to achieve any credibility as an adult pop star, he should break from his pop-minded mentors and work with producers who will encourage him to be more soulful and mature.