A Coasting Aaliyah Steers Clear of Depth

At 22, Aaliyah belongs to that echelon of recording stars whose projects generate a high level of expectation. You know she's going to be working with ahead-of-the-curve writer-producers such as Timbaland and Missy Elliott, so it's reasonable to expect a greater degree of freshness than you'd get from lesser light But Aaliyah has more than one professional iron in the fire. As a rising actress with projects such as the sequel to "The Matrix" on the front burner, 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's Child's Beyonce Knowles, Aaliyah is coasting a bit.