Juliana Hatfield

Blake Babies singer/bassist and occasional Lemonheads member Juliana Hatfield has often seemed like the James Taylor of '90s alt rock: a decent enough writer and performer, but one who consistently lacks the fuel to turn sparks into fire. But while singer/songwriters of the 1970s aimed to go down easy, Hatfield's girlish voice combined with sex-and-drugs lyrics are often harder to swallow. From song to song, the mix can add up to either intriguing juxtaposition or tired coquetry. The obit on the Blake Babies was barely finished when Hatfield began working on her solo debut. Because her early albums -- Hey Babe (1992), Become What You Are (1993), and Only Everything (1995) -- have fallen out of print, snatches from that work are most readily available on the first half of Gold Stars 1992-2002. That's where you'll find mainstream near-misses such as "Spin the Bottle" and the engagingly adolescent "My Sister." Unreleased cuts and covers (the Police, Neil Young) cap the disc -- treats for fans, but inessential.

Bed swaps Blake Babies jangle for a tighter rock sound, which is a rare progressive step on an album devoted to people making bad choices or harboring ugly self-opinions. Hatfield, who once penned a track called "Nirvana," lets the rock references fly, with not-so-subtle nods to Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks as well as John Mellencamp.

In 2000, she issued two albums simultaneously. The quieter Beautiful Creatures, originally intended as a slate of demos, unveils a distinctly adult point of view. Despite its title, "Cool Rock Boy" is invective more personal than professional; "Choose Drugs" is a heartbreaking junkie tale ("I say it's me or drugs/You choose drugs"). Finally, the characters in Hatfield's songs are taking control, which comes across better still on the noisy, assertive Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure (though the title suggests she just can't leave the little-girl imagery behind). The previously wallowing Hatfield spews vitriol like buckshot (toward bad corporations, bad drivers, bad parents, bad dressers, and the bad music industry), and goes nearly an entire record without dishing pity, even for herself.

After an indie-rock excursion in the band Some Girls (Feel It [Koch, 2003]) with Blake Babies drummer Freda Love and bassist Heidi Gluck, Hatfield returned with In Exile Deo, a gratifying album on which she mingles laid-back grooves and wistful sounds with doses of familiar jangle and aggressive rock. While dark themes still lurk, Hatfield finally sings like she's ready to claim responsibility for liv-ing. "I've been sleeping through my life," she says. "Now I'm waking up and I want to stand in the sunshine." (CHRIS NELSON)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide