* 1/2; LUTHER VANDROSS, “Songs” ( Epic...

* 1/2; LUTHER VANDROSS, “Songs” ( Epic )

If you want to hear how not to sing some oldies, check out this album. Vandross covers a great list of songs--mostly pop and R&B; ballads--but strikes out on almost all of them.

He performs songs such as “Killing Me Softly,” “Evergreen” and “What the World Needs Now” in a draggy, dirge-like style, draining the energy out of them. He never alters his style or approaches the material in an innovative way.

Vandross never really did know how to swing. There’s a stiffness in his style and a terseness in his tone that are positively deadly to up-tempo material. Fortunately, he doesn’t sing much of that on this album, but he does lumber though the giddy McFadden & Whitehead dance tune “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.” He also gives a leaden feel to the normally joyous “Love the One You’re With,” undercutting a breezy, gospel-style arrangement.

That schlock classic “Endless Love”--a duet with Mariah Carey--is the only song on the album that generates much excitement. Carey does some gritty, straight-ahead crooning, without too many of her usual vocal gymnastics. Still, it can’t touch the original by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).