The complex musical landscapes of Out of the Silent Planet, this eclectic rock trio's 1988 debut, reach dazzling new proportions on the band's second effort. If the fable that accompanies the lyrics provides a clue, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska is a concept album – a sort of musical Alice in Oz. It tells of the mind-blowing obstacles and odd characters our heroine encounters in her quest for the land of her dreams: Nebraska (go figure). Toward the end of the story, Gretchen is swept up by a waterfall (the King's X version of a rabbit hole, no doubt) and subsequently meets a wizened being who offers her an earth-shattering revelation. Just what he reveals is rather nebulous; the fable's Old World rhetoric isn't exactly conducive to making a point.

No matter. Whether the album's message has to do with the power of dreaming, the danger of preconceived notions or that old standard, There's No Place Like Home, the real power behind Gretchen Goes to Nebraska is its sound. The album is a dizzying tapestry of smoldering guitar, ragged, soulful vocals and tight three-part harmonies.

Throughout Gretchen, the band members (vocalist and bassist Doug Pinnick, guitarist Ty Tabor and drummer Jerry Gaskill) display a wonderful disdain for musical boundaries. They hop from genre to genre, slamming some points home with wrecking-ball force and softly whispering others. Bone-crunching tracks like "Out of the Silent Planet" and "I'll Never Be the Same" share the bill with calm, artful acoustic songs; "The Difference" and "The Burning Down" are quiet masterpieces employing sad, offbeat chords and mellifluous harmonies. Special touches – like the delicate bells and sitar of "Out of the Silent Planet" and the ethereal pipe organ of "Mission" – abound. From start to finish, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska is a feast for the senses. (RS 563)

KIM NEELY