Sound Advice

Aaliyah’s “Aaliyah,” Blackground/Virgin. As a rising actress, she may have been too busy to give this record the attention it merited. Cuts such as “We Need a Resolution” and the sexily assertive “Rock the Boat” stand out, but compared with recent efforts by such peers as India.Arie and even Destiny Child’s Beyonce Knowles, Aaliyah is coasting a bit.

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From The Times’ album reviews