The whole of Kellie Pickler's professional career rests upon the notionthat she's the goofy girl next door. Her cornpone cornball shtickpushed her through American Idol and gave her a minor hit record, whichwas enough of a foundation to build a sturdy, albeit unflashy, careerupon. So what do Kellie and company do for her self-titled secondalbum? Chuck all that out the window by corseting her cornball humorinto an immaculately tailored straitjacket, burying her voice in themix, cutting away the country in favor of a manicured crossover pop.

Her limitations as vocalist are most acutely felt on big diva balladslike "Somebody to Love Me," where she is dwarfed by the scale of thesong and the arrangement, but the high gloss of the production alsoobscures whatever charms such sprightly pop as "Makin' Me Fall in LoveAgain" might have had, because the hooks are in the vocal melody andPickler has been pushed into the background. On her debut, thisawkwardness was used to her advantage, as the producers picked theright set of songs for her, songs that fit both her skills and backstory, but she's gone from singing about "Red High Heels" to riding theJimmy Choo shoe train at Saks Fifth Avenue as if she was trying to stepinto Jennifer Hudson's subordinate role in the Sex & the Citymovie.