BLIMEY, it's a good job Ms Aguilera is not the shy type. Somewhere along the way, she went from coquettish nymph (complete with angora jumper in finest Tiffany fashion) to stripped-down ultra-vixen.

But skip the image a second, skip the quite average first single Dirrty and compulsory iffy video. The girl does have a breathtaking voice. Pay attention to that, and the highlights here are the songs that might not get a single release.

Try out the sultry Walk Away or the brutal I'm OK, an ode to a shattered home. Better yet, slip on the Alicia Keys-penned Impossible, which is perhaps the best song Aretha Franklin never sang. Do I have a complaint? Of course I do, I'm not easy to please, you know.

Please, Christina, crank back on the Mariah Carey-style showing off with the voice. Such vocal excess gets in the way of the emotion of a song sometimes - and when you've got a voice as good as this, there really is no need.

Updated: 11:31 Thursday, January 09, 2003