In Brief

** Aaliyah, “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number,” Jive. Teaming a sweet-voiced 14-year-old with salacious writer/producer R. Kelly is this album’s most interesting hook. The record itself, aside from such groove-conscious jams as “Back & Forth,” is pretty bland. As the mouthpiece of an adult male trying to express the thoughts of a pubescent girl, Aaliyah sounds trapped in an awkward stage.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).