Finally

CECE PENISTON Finally (A&M) The slammin' house/pop single of the moment? It's CeCe Peniston's ''Finally,'' and its sheer joy and verve are almost enough to overcome the relative blandness of the 22-year-old's debut. Grooving in the fabulousness of her newfound Mr. Right, and sorta amazed that it all happened, she wails deliciously, making you believe that true love will conquer all and that someday your prince (or princess) will come. In a nod to the age of AIDS, there's a funky ode to chastity, ''Virtue,'' with CeCe holding on to her virginity as if it were courtside basketball tix. If only she had been able to inject the rest of her pleasantly generic disc with the same juice, the results might have been more inspiring. True, she has a good enough voice (a novelty among dance-music dollies), but the rhythmic thump thump is mainly standard issue and pretty dull. B- -Amy Linden

You Might Also Like

• Music Review Finally | Matt Diehl
• Close-up CE CE PENISTON
• Music News Fall Music Preview 1998