<i> Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic). : </i>

** BETTE MIDLER “Some People’s Lives” Atlantic

Midler’s gotten too serious. What she does best is ‘40s swing: those perky, Andrews Sisters-style songs (a la “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”) with their intricate harmonies and frantic rhythms. Instead, there’s an overload of whiny, dirge-like ballads here, many in the style of “Wind Beneath My Wings,” her Grammy-winning hit from last year.

One of the ballads, “The Gift of Love,” just misses but is bogged down by gaudy production touches. Fortunately, there’s nothing on the album quite as unabashedly sentimental as “Wind,” but many of the songs have those same sappy overtones, including the title track, co-written by Janis Ian.

The only flash of the old Midler is on her version of Cole Porter’s ultra-witty “Miss Otis Regrets,” a clever blend of contemporary and swing styles. She can be an exceptional torch singer, as she shows on the tender “He Was Too Good to Me/Since You Stayed Here,” one of the few times when the arrangement is restrained.