Fans will just have to have faith that Cry is a country album, because there's no hint of a twang anywhere on the hour-long CD.

Faith Hill has never been categorized as traditional country, but with Cry, which is in stores Tuesday, she seems to be attempting to be another Celine Dion.

The two mothers both have beautifully lush voices, but since neither are songwriters, they are forced to rely on others to put words in their mouths. This means despite their vocal talents, some songs fall flat because they don't come from the heart.

Dion helps hide the lack of connection with a show-stopping range.

Hill uses her breathy sex-appeal, which works rather well for the love songs, but is less successful on the hurtin' songs.

The most obvious example of Hill not being able to give a song its emotional due is This Is Me. It's a well-written song with a strong message worth hearing, but when Hill, who is married to fellow country superstar Tim McGraw, sings about having to pay all her bills late and self-image problems, it rings hollow. Heck, in the liner notes she appears soaking wet, cleavage exposed and her head flung back with a look of passion -- this is not someone uncomfortable with her body.

EPIC OVERLOAD

And like Dion, most of the 14 songs on Cry are epic, in both subject matter and production. Hill has the pipes to pull this off, though variety would have been nice. A fun little say nothing tune would have been welcome.

That all said, Hill's voice is better than ever and there's no doubt Free, One, If You're Gonna Fly Away and especially Stronger will all be hits.

The brightest gem is When The Lights Go Down (Craig Wiseman, Jeffrey Steele, Rivers Rutherford), a touching song about life after fame.

If Hill could find songs that are more suited to her personality, rather than just her voice, she could be unstoppable.

Note to McGraw fans -- sorry, he does not appear on Cry.