That's So Raven
Disney has come to dominate the next-gen practice of pasting crowd pleasers into its soundtracks, and so it goes withRaven. Which, in this case, was a particularly wise move. Raven's contributions to these songs "from and inspired by" her tween-targeted TV show are fine, but don't go much farther. So instead of bumping the star's first two thumping, pop-slick tracks againstCheryl Lynn's disco classic "To Be Real," this disc's producers inserted a warm-up:Jesse McCartney's "Beautiful Soul" serves as a pleasant-enough buffer between manufactured music and the real, rip-roaring deal. Later,Des'ree's sophisticated "You Gotta Be" offsetsJump5's frantic futzing about on its cover of "We Are Family," continuing the high-low split. Sliced in are straight-outta-Kidz Bopanthems "Ultimate" and "There's Gotta Be (More to Life)," but ultimately we're returned to Raven, who holds her own but has reason to feel self-conscious about singing, for the second time, a song called "Supernatural" (a nod to her TV character's psychic gifts, but still). If the music scores a collective B minus, the package gets an A for extras: A bonus DVD has four Raven music videos, and the CD also works as a "special message" CD-ROM. --Tammy La Gorce