The biggest question mark about the new album from these British pop tarts is: Will their mostly young female fans follow them now that they've updated both their image and sound?

The look is expensive, black leather. The music is smooth, slick R&B. And the results, in stores Tuesday, won't exactly set your stereo on fire.

Working with R&B studio kingpins Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the group has managed to take all of the fun out of what made the Spice Girls likable in the first place -- their cheeky attitude combined with frothy, catchy pop songs.

For example, don't expect Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton or Melanies B & C to go by or answer to their beloved nicknames -- Posh, Baby, Scary and Sporty Spice -- this time out.

And the material is pretty yawn-inducing stuff -- disco-tinged dance songs, overwrought ballads and Mel B's downright scary attempts to rap. Check out her ravings at the end of Right Back At Ya, which is supposed to be the Spice Girls'

"We're still here, dammit!" anthem.

"And you thought we wouldn't make it this far, so we proved you wrong again," they sing before addressing the departure of Geri Halliwell (Ginger): "There's been tears along the way, But we never cried alone/ The four of us have grown, And our friendship never ends."

Also included on the album is the halfway decent song Goodbye , which was released long ago as the first Spice Girls single in the post-Geri world.

Two notable exceptions to Forever's dull goings-on are the sexually charged first single, Holler, and the Janet Jackson-like ballad Oxygen.

After selling 35 million copies of their first two albums, 1996's Spice and 1997's Spiceworld, they should have quit while they were ahead.

Track Listing 1. Holler
  2. Tell Me Why
  3. Let Love Lead The Way
  4. Right Back At Ya
  5. Groove With Me
  6. Wasting My Time
  7. Weekend Love
  8. Time Goes By
  9. If You Wanna Have Some Fun
  10. Oxygen
  11. Goodbye