eToya Luckett is the only past or present member of Destiny's Child who's remotely as photogenic as Beyonce, so it's no shock that she'd land back on her feet with a successful solo career after leaving the group. The surprising part is that it took her six years to do it. But when LeToya finally did come back, she did it big. The breakup ballad "Torn" has been ubiquitous on urban radio all summer, a whiny tale of romantic woe over a lush Stylistics sample that helped propel her self-titled debut to #1. Fans of "Torn" should find plenty of similar tracks to love throughout LeToya, although the appeal will be limited for those mystified by the generic tune's popularity.

Instead of competing with a certain former groupmate to fulfill the most popular archetype of female R&B singers, the sexy siren, LeToya is aiming for another perennially beloved persona: the post-Mary J. poet of pain. Keyshia Cole recently followed that blueprint faithfully and with great success. But where her voice is wracked with emotion and heartache, LeToya has a high, nasal squeak that frequently feels at odds with the drama portrayed in her lyrics. Instead, she sounds more at home on coquettish come-ons like current single, "She Don't."

Destiny's Child formed in Houston, Texas, but based on their public image, you could be forgiven for not even knowing if they were from the South. Even after Houston hip-hop's recent commercial explosion, Beyonce barely acknowledged it with the occasional Slim Thug collabo or remix with Lil Flip. On the other hand, LeToya, whose BET reality series is called H-Town Chick, has fully integrated Houston into her image as a solo artist. Houston rap's breakout stars have been guesting on R&B records all over the place since last year, but LeToya lines up practically all of them (Bun B, Paul Wall, Slim Thug, and Mike Jones) on four consecutive tracks halfway through the album.

Generally, R&B albums with rappers shoehorned into every other track aren't improved much by the constant bids for hip-hop crossover; neither rappers nor singers tend to do their best work in that environment. In the case of LeToya, though, grouping them all in a row actually establishes a nice consistent vibe to the middle third of the album, effectively breaking the monotony of the slow-paced solo tracks that bookend the record. And it helps that that mid-album stretch features LeToya's best production, straight up club-friendly beats that make no attempt to capture the Screwed & Chopped culture, like that lamentable Nicole Wray song over the "Still Tippin'" beat. The best of these is "All Eyes on Me," featuring Paul Wall and an Eastern-tinged beat by Jonathan " J.R." Rotem, the producer of Rihanna's "S.O.S." And on "Hey Fella," Flash Technology bites mid-period Timbaland so effectively that the song might earn Toya a few Aaliyah comparisons.

One of the most unexpectedly intimate moments on the album occurs toward the end, when LeToya listens to a Yolanda Adams sample and quietly sings along, remarking "I used to love this song when I was growing up." Unfortunately, Toya doesn't let that surprising, unguarded vibe ride out for a full song, wasting a perfectly nice moment on the brief "Outro." Instead, you're left with a decent Jermaine Dupri remix of "Torn," and a few boilerplate R&B ballads that might as well be remixes of the same.