The Kelly Family, “Almost Heaven,” the Kelly Family/Virgin. (*)

Even the most sugary warblings of the “Sound of Music” clan are infinitely preferable to this painfully earnest prog-folk-pop, crafted by nine globe-trotting offspring (ages 16 to 35) of itinerant expatriate Americans. The group has enjoyed two decades of European popularity, but its bombastic anthems and ballads will sound amateurish to mainstream U.S. pop fans accustomed to more refined sentimentalists like Celine Dion.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.