From the Heart

DOUG STONE From the Heart (Epic) Balladeer Doug Stone launched his career in 1990 with ''I'd Be Better Off (in a Pine Box),'' one of country music's premier songs about grief and loss. Since then, however, Stone has deteriorated into an audio version of a Harlequin Romance-his tunes are too often sappy, lightweight tales of infatuation and starry-eyed courtship. There's nothing here that even vaguely attempts to convey honest pain. Still, he balances the stupidity and the schmaltz with a couple of decent forays into depression, including ''This Empty House,'' and the up-tempo comic relief of ''Leave Me the Radio.'' Stone's got a legitimate pillow-talk baritone, but he doesn't know what to do with it except put his full, Georgia lips right up to your ear. That's a nice place to start, but hardly to finish. C+ -AN