BUBBLE-GUM SOUL

“ALL IN THE NAME OF LOVE.” Atlantic Starr. Warner Bros. 3

With this edition of Record Rack, Calendar introduces its quick-reference, facial-expression rating symbols. Translation: 1 = “Great Balls ‘o Fire” 2 = “Good Vibrations” 3 = “Maybe Baby” 4 = “Running on Empty”

The veteran--but still young-- group’s eighth album offers bubble-gum soul for the new sexual climate. On the one hand, the quintet comes on sexually aware, with Barbara Weathers singing the Madonna-esque “One Lover at a Time,” while “Females” counters with a bit of male leering.

But then there is “Always,” a let’s-get-married-and-have-a-family fantasy carrying the kind of naive innocence that was until recently thought to be long dead. After hearing Weathers’ dreamy duet with David Lewis, it’s hard to believe that she could ever even imagine having more than one lover in her life.

Ultimately, the innocence overwhelms what sensuality there is with generally tame, predictable music following suit. The funk is bubbly but lightweight, the ballads are soft and mushy (though the singing is always first rate) and only the grand orchestration of “My Mistake” seems more than a mere genre exercise.