Artist : Richard Marx Album : My Own Best Enemy (EMI Music)

If Richard Marx had been featured in a "Where are they now?" column, say, two months ago, his feats would have made for impressive reading.

Although without a solo record since 1997, Marx has been busy producing and writing songs for a wide range of artists, including Barbra Streisand, Sarah Brightman and N Sync. Early this year, he grabbed the Song of the Year Grammy for Dance With My Father, which he wrote with Luther Vandross.

But then he comes out with this tired album, shattering that favorable impression of the past.

Although there are barely any songs as scary as his ultra power ballad Right Here Waiting of yesteryear, My Own Best Enemy sticks to the formulaic rock-tinged ballad.

Sappiness and mushy stuff remain, in lyrics like Look at me, the guy who's got it all/trying to read my own writing on the wall... in When You're Gone, or I can always feel the rain/Even when the sun's in the way in One Thing Left.

Musically, it is not bad, with Marx, naturally, making sure it is polished and melodic. But it's a sound as outdated as big hair and acid-washed jeans, and the lack of catchy songs will make it hard for him to make any inroads in a new fan base. -- Hera Diani