She stares at you from the cover, smouldering brown eyes fixed intently at the middle distance, lips parted somewhat less further than her Lo-cut jacket, and invites you in. She`s trying very hard to look irresistible, and if the stuff inside the record were as alluring as the face on the cover, she would be..

The physical attributes apart, it`s doubtful if this Latino heartburner will earn diva status with a record like this one. Like Mariah Carey, Lopez writes a lot of her own material, but has none of that soaring, diving grace in her voice. Sure, Mariah`s vocal gymnastics can be tiring sometimes, but it`s just that unique quality that seems to be missing from Lopez`s singing.

R&B lite she`s not; the jouncing, stuttering rhythms on Love Don`t Cost A Thing and I`m Real are immaculate, producer Cory Rooney obviously knows his beans and Lopez delivers the goods. You`ve definitely heard it before; but Lopez isn`t trying to stretch any boundaries here, just delivering another multi-layered, danceable R&B-pop album that works.

Play is aimed squarely at the middle of the sweaty dance floor, inane lyric and all. Aint It Funny is one of her better vocal performances, and has a certain Spanish flamenco flavour that`s vaguely attractive. The same feel is injected in liberal doses to Cariño. If only her voice smouldered as much as much as her picture...

Strangely, there are few tunes that will stay in your head after you`ve given J Lo a listen. The meandering Come Over is quite beyond redemption - no amount of Pro Tools trickery will save this one. Yawn. If you insist on crackling up album jackets with body heat, please don`t let things go cold with meaningless, boring ballads that have as much character as doormats.

R & B producers are like pure physicists - they know that once a formula works, it ought to work all the time. Sure enough, J Lo has everything a good R & B album should have, including the increasingly prevalent lack of heart. No amount of heavy breathing or pre-coital exuberance can cure that.

J Lo carries on like a house on fire, all right, but one where the flames are burning low. Looks like there`s an elementary lack of fuel somewhere.