Three very different solo albums - from an ex-band leader, a grownup teen star and a Canadian chanteuse - spotlight the spectrum of music being produced by women in music today.
NATALIE MERCHANT; "Tiger Lily" (Elektra). * * *
Former 10,000 Maniacs lead singer Natalie Merchant moves away from her chantsy formula on her new solo album and goes for a folksy sound - and it works.
Merchant's dreamy voice highlights the singer's range, intuition and stylized emotion. While some of her songs project a lonely mood, the music and arrangements - by Merchant herself - are catchy and mellow.
"San Andreas Fault" opens the album as a soft-sung ballad of dreams and paradises crumbling to dust. The piano ballad "Beloved Wife" tells of a man who's lost his mate of 50 years.
Other heartfelt cuts include the dynamic and emotive "River" (not to be confused with the Joni Mitchell tune of the same name), the easy-funky "Carnival" and confessional "The Letter."
Shades of contemporary folk artists such as the Indigo Girls peek through on "Cowboy Romance" and "Where I Go," while the lonely blues of "I May Know the Word" reflect old Carole King story lines.
Merchant has created a neat little album with good songs of substance. Guitarist Jennifer Turner and bassist Barrie Maguire join forces with Merchant, as does former Salt Laker Peter Yanowitz, who played with the Salt Lake-based Box Car Kids and the Wallflowers, a band fronted by Bob Dylan's son, Jakob, before finding his niche here.
DEBBIE GIBSON; "Think With Your Heart" (EMI). * * 1/2
When the name Debbie Gibson is mentioned, how many people still think of the spunky, adolescent kid who shook teeny-bopper stereos with "Shake Your Love"?
How many remember that the now-25-year-old also became a Broadway star with her "Les Miserables" role as Eponine? Or that she played Sandy in the London production of "Grease"? And how many know she screams a background chorus on the Circle Jerks' new album?
Gibson is back with an album that starts where her "Body Mind Soul" album ended. She's trying once again to establish herself as an adult-contemporary singer/songwriter.
For the most part, "Think With Your Heart" - her debut on EMI Records - clicks. Her voice is strong and her arrangements are solid. She wrote every song except for the Carole King/Gerry Goffin-penned Shirelles hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" (Incidentally, she lists her name as Deborah Gibson in the liner notes).
The album runs four songs before hitting its only upbeat tune ("Don'tcha Want Me Now?"). And that's not necessarily bad. Because once the song gets going, images and shades of "Shake Your Love" cloud the mind.
Gibson's forte definitely lies in ballads.
"For Better or Worse," "Didn't Have the Heart" and "Dancin' In My Mind" all have contemporary-adult approaches - complete with string arrangements, glossy sounds and sensible lyrics.
Gibson's piano work fits her songs. Though she's no Billy Joel, she manages well and even throws in a surprise. The jazz-inspired "Too Fancy" is a spunky take on the nightclub scene and shuffles along.
Still, while all this is fine and dandy, Gibson hasn't really changed her tune. After awhile the ballads begin to sound alike - excepting, of course, "Don'tcha Want Me Now" and "Too Fancy." Instead of teen pop, Gibson finds herself stranded in a hopelessly romantic mode that will probably be a greater chore to shed (look at Barry Manilow).
JANE SIBERRY; "Maria" (Reprise). * * 1/2
Canadian singer/songwriter Jane Siberry's new album mixes jazz, easy listening and blues with a tinge of modern goth. Most of the songs, however, can be considered jazz.
Starting with the self-titled cut, the album roams through impromptu-sounding ditty after ditty - the more jazzy being "Honey Bee" and the busy "Caravan."
The Latin feel of "Lovin' Cup" comes complete with a pelt of brass (trumpets), while "Would You Go?" is pure nightclub-piano blues.
The quick jam of "Mary Had . . ." tunes into the "Little Lamb" story line before the sitar-speckled, gothic Middle East-sounding "Oh My My" closes the album.
Another mellow tune, "Goodbye Sweet Pumpkinhead," recalls Siberry's haunting "It Won't Rain All the Time," from last year's "The Crow" soundtrack.
Tim Ray's piano and Christopher Thomas' acoustic double bass bring a jam atmosphere to the album, and when Siberry's guitar chimes in, the musical web is complete.
RATINGS: four stars (* * * * ), excellent; three stars (* * * ), good; two stars (* * ), fair; one star (* ), poor, with 1/2 representing a higher, intermediate grade.