A Consumer's Guide to Recent Women's Rock
Enough of the pseudo-analysis. The real question is, are these albums any good? The answer is, most of them are.
PJ Harvey: Is This Desire?
JM: She's one of the most interesting people making music right now. She's long past all the Patti Smith comparisons. A bunch of great, brooding songs. I hope she rocks out a little more next time, though...
JT: It's a great album, and she does so many different things on it, both musically and vocally. But I miss the intensity and rawness of Rid of Me and Dry.
Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
JM: USA Today called her the best songwriter in America. That's debatable, but it might be the first time the title's been applied to a woman. Country/rock/blues that sticks. Her voice breaks your heart. Or mine, anyway.
JT: She evokes Southern culture better than anyone I can think of. On the last song, "Jackson," she copes with a heartbreak by finding her identity in her surroundings, realizing she doesn't need anyone to give her worth. What starts out as a melancholic tune turns into an anthem of sorts—with a subtle force that becomes quite over-powering. It's a feat Lynyrd Skynyrd and Tammy Wynette could only dream of.
Hole: Celebrity Skin
JM: Some people think this is too "pop." Me, I think Courtney Love is exploring the whole idea of what "pop" is, where fame and talent and commerce come together, whether anything can be "authentic" in something as pre-sold as 1990s rock 'n' roll. I do miss the desperation of Live Through This, but there's plenty of anguish under the glam here.
JT: She has such a strong voice that it comes through more than anything else, certainly more than the tunes (even if they were written by Billy Corgan, as he claims). She seems completely insane, yet is able to show you what that feels like.
Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
JM: Some Time critic called this the greatest rap album ever, which is ludicrous. It's good, though, especially the harder-edged tracks. She sounds young, which is both good and bad, but I think she'll get even better. Still, I'd still like to hear another Fugees album.
JT: This album is a bit over-rated. Especially annoying is the classroom dialogue in-between tracks, which I think slows the whole thing down and gives it a pretentious feel. But "Lost Ones," "Every Ghetto, Every City" and "Everything is Everything" and a handful of others are brilliant. I don't think she has anything on Missy Elliott yet, but I bet she keeps getting better.
Liz Phair: Whitechocolatespacegg
JM: She doesn't seem as important as she did on her first album (Exile in Guyville). This is good, catchy indie rock. I hope she finds some new things to say the next time out—like, what does she think about motherhood now that she has a kid?
JT: This is going to sound weird, but I think she's a little like Hemingway—in the way he exposed and ridiculed masculine norms, but celebrated them as well. Liz does the same thing with female sexuality, demanding to be treated as a human but using her beauty for all it's worth.
Sheryl Crow: The Globe Sessions
JM: She doesn't have as much street cred as Liz Phair, but I think she's every bit as good, and she rocks more convincingly. This doesn't seem quite as strong as her last CD, but maybe it'll grow on me.
JT: I haven't heard too much of this one, but I've always liked Sheryl. She gets dissed because she's a pop star, but she still manages to sound down-to-earth.
Alanis Morrisette: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
JM: I liked Alanis' first album, but this one upsets the balance between self-righteous whining and big cheeze-metal hooks (i.e. too much of the former, too few of the latter). But it'll probably get a lot of misunderstood teen girls through the night, and that's worth something.
JT: I hate her. I thought "You Oughta Know" sounded hollow and fake—the rage unearned, over-simplified. Maybe that was the point. I'm too stubborn to even give her latest a chance. But I'm all for inspiring 13-year-old girls to pick up a guitar, and she just might do the trick.
Other things worth mentioning:
JM: Well, I like that Cat Power CD. And how are the Spinanes? I haven't heard much of that. Of course, the big one to look forward to is the new Sleater-Kinney album in January. Are they the greatest rock band in America right now? Probably.
JT: Cat Power and the Spinanes are my two favorites of the year. The Spinanes have a laid-back sexiness that is human, not glamorous. Chan Marshall of Cat Power gives me chills when she sings, especially with lines like, "I wish we could go to hell."
| 
