Oleta Adams, Tracie Spencer Soar in Orbit

Oleta Adams and Tracie Spencer are making some of the most glorious music in the soul genre, their new releases topping the current crop from the women of R&B.;

Adams, 29, was the featured vocalist on Tears for Fears’ “Seeds of Love” album and tour, and she emerges as a special talent on her own recording debut. She has the kind of stunning, powerful voice that creates great musical reputations.

Spencer is only 15, but she displays a freshness and substance that better-known singers twice her age can’t match. Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic).

**** Oleta Adams, “Circle of One,” PolyGram. It’s hard to resist hyperbole when describing a recording artist such as Adams. Some of her debut LP may be plodding and self-consciously tasteful, but the first half is virtually flawless, particularly Adams’ gorgeous handling of Brenda Russell’s “Get Here.” It’s easy to liken her to everyone from Chaka Khan to Anita Baker to Roberta Flack, but Adams can knock your socks off in a way that defies comparison. If this record is any indication of what listeners can expect in the future, Adams herself may soon become the yardstick by which other contemporary female singers are measured.

*** 1/2 Tracie Spencer, “Make the Difference,” Capitol. Spencer is right on target with most of what she attempts here, and while she’s obviously aiming at her own peer group, there’s nothing teeny-bopperish about her approach. Clearly influenced by Janet Jackson, Spencer has recorded several tracks that rival some of Jackson’s recent singles--and she’s also a stronger, more confident singer. “Make It Funky” is one of the showcase dance cuts here, and Spencer performs it with a boldness and conviction that James Brown would no doubt endorse. From ballads (“Love Me”) to message songs (“This House”), Spencer has a sound you don’t have to be a teen-ager to love.

*** 1/2 Brenda Russell, “Kiss Me With the Wind,” A&M.; Intelligent and insightful, Russell writes songs that make her sound like someone you’d want as a confidante. She approaches life with a healthy compassion (“On Your Side”) and handles loved ones with a sense of fair play (“Justice for Truth”). She can kick her imagination into high gear, ruminating on life in Moscow during the ‘30s (“Night Train to Leningrad”) and hanging out with Earhart, Curie and Picasso (“Dinner With Gershwin”). In her quest for greater commercial impact, Russell sounds at moments like Donna Summer (who had a mini-hit in 1987 with “Gershwin”). Being that Summer should wish that she could come up with new music as unique as this, Russell’s lapse into clone-country is her only misstep on an otherwise fine album.

*** Lalah Hathaway, “Lalah Hathaway,” Virgin. She’s the daughter of the late Donny Hathaway, a singer-songwriter whose style was so nakedly emotional that he could make you feel like a voyeur to someone’s private pain. There’s nothing that searing or confessional about his 21-year-old offspring’s music. She doesn’t write, and the songs on her debut album are the kind of coolly sophisticated “quiet storm” fare that manages to woo you while keeping you at arm’s distance. It’s too soon to tell whether Hathaway has the distinctive scope and passion to make her the soul-music leader that her father was, but this record does serve as a solid introduction to a noteworthy young singer.

** Five Star, “Five Star,” Epic. While you can sense ambitious effort all over this album, it still doesn’t feel like the hit that Five Star is clearly hoping will jump-start its career. “Hot Love” is a Prince-ly attempt at eroti-rock. “What About Me Baby?” is a decent attempt at power rock that would be at home in Joan Jett’s or Lita Ford’s repertoire. “Tienes Mi Amour” is appealing, though the vocals are so high-pitched that it sounds as if the group recorded it after a few hits of helium. None of this adds up to an album with much of a focus. When this black British pop group debuted with the hit single “All Fall Down” in 1986, it looked and sounded like one of the freshest, most promising young outfits around. Today, Five Star sounds like just another act that could use a few hits of inspiration.