Ciara
The Evolution

Laface/Sony-BMG

Ciara, the ex-cheerleader and army brat, came out of nowhere in 2004 with her huge hit “Goodies”, which resulted in five million album sales. With help from Missy Elliott, Jazze Pha, Ludacris and Lil’ Jon, she became a leading voice of urban soul.

Ciara clearly wants to be the next Aaliyah, but she doesn’t have either that late singer’s charisma or Timbaland. Her voice is pretty, but formless, meaning the songs rise and fall on the production (Lil’ Jon, Polow Da Don, Rodney Jerkins and the Neptunes) and special guests. Ciara employs A-list rappers such as 50 Cent (on the surprisingly tepid “Can’t Leave ’Em Alone”) and Chamillionaire (on the club banger “Get Up”) in much the same token way they would throw her on a hip-hop track.

Don’t get me wrong, this album is full of well-crafted future funk, but Ciara falls quite short in promising to deliver “the evolution of music”.