You go to a party at your friend's apartment.

There's a lot of people there, but you recognize few. Then you catch the eye of a girl you've met a couple other times, with whom you've had a few great conversations, and the two of you seemed to get along pretty well.

You walk over to her and say 'hello.' She looks you right in the eye without the slightest hint of recognition and says, "Hi, I'm Joss Stone." You shake hands and wonder why she has no recollection of your past encounters. The conversation you have this time around isn't as great as the past two. Eventually, you shake your embarrassment and wonder why she doesn't remember you.

"Oh, you weren't speaking to the real me," she says. "This is who I truly am as a person."

The name of this conversation is Introducing Joss Stone. It's also the name of Stone's new album.

It's not as great as the past two, but for some reason it's supposed to be the "real" her.

If that's true, she should probably stop writing songs. If that comes off as harsh, it shouldn't. Stone's voice is nothing to be ashamed of, but on Introducing Joss Stone, the songs, for the most part, do her sultry, soulful vocals no justice whatsoever.

Stone's idol, Aretha Franklin, had most of her best songs written by other people. Stone shouldn't be afraid of taking the same path.

Her debut album, The Soul Sessions, was indicative of a young girl with a ton of potential.

Now 19, Stone has only regressed. While on her debut she could put an interesting spin on a great song, on Introducing Joss Stone she becomes a more ambitious songwriter -- and falls flat. It's a valiant risk, but it doesn't pay off in this case.

Her songs lack hooks, variation and originality. Stone needs some 'oomph' to her songs, and the album as a whole suffers from an 'oomph' shortage.

The music world can thank Stone, however, for uncovering the long-disappeared Lauryn Hill on "Music."

Hill beefs up the previously weak sound of Introducing Joss Stone's first handful of songs with some sweet harmonizing and a little rap that shows off her classic flow.

If the Hill collaboration is a highlight, Common's appearance on the album is a disaster. Common, when he's on, is one of the best rappers in the world. On "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now," his lyrics are watered down, and his flow is frustratingly basic.

If this is what he's doing nowadays (aside from Gap commercials), things aren't looking so hot for his next album.

After the Common fiasco, Stone hits a nice groove with "Put Your Hands On Me," the aforementioned "Music" and "Arms Of My Baby." "Put Your Hands On Me" is the first song on the album with a beat worth talking about. The mostly sparse production puts a spotlight on Stone's vocals and accents them with some saxophone flourishes.

"Arms Of My Baby" uses a Latin beat for a change of pace, and it seems as though Stone has finally broken out. However, these highlights come halfway through the album, and they end too quickly.

Stone's still young, and she's still got a long career ahead of her. While Introducing Joss Stone may be the "real" Joss Stone, it's not quite a proper introduction.

She's got the potential; now, she just needs to accent her strengths and improve her weaknesses. Grade: C+