In Brief

** ALL-4-ONE, “and the music speaks”; Blitzz/Atlantic

All-4-One sings soft, Nutrasweetened soul with lush, four-part harmonies--a melodious blend of mellifluous voices. But after you listen to that sound for a while, it loses its punch.

The content of the material--empty lyrics about love--is part of the problem. Mush is the album’s centering theme--layers of it. “I Can Love You Like That,” with soft electric piano and plinking guitars, would play best in a dentist’s office, while the G-Funky “Love Is Just Another Four Letter Word” and “Roll Call” simply sound contrived.

The group comes closest to finding its true voice when it focuses on a cappella harmonies. “Giving You My Heart Forever” is the album’s only knockout punch, an expert arrangement of their doo-wop vocalistics matched with simple finger-snaps, cello and violins.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (e x cellent).