Lisa Loeb

With her thick-rimmed teardrop specs and songs that wordily explored the subtleties of romantic relationships, Lisa Loeb entered the public eye in the mid-'90s, looking and sounding like the epitome of the white collegiate folk chick. Her song "Stay," featured in the soundtrack to 1994's Reality Bites, made her a star before she even had a recording contract. Fetching in its modesty but just a tad precious, "Stay" reappeared as the closing track of Loeb's debut album. Few of the other songs match it, although the polite jangle-pop of "Waiting for Wednesday" is nice enough. Undeniably pretty, Tails is handicapped by the stuffy creative-writing-class aura that hangs over it.

Firecracker is more musically diverse and more mature, a few overreaching lyrics aside. "I Do" and "Truthfully" affirm that Loeb can pen a catchy tune; the smooth jazz stylings of "Dance With the Angels" are intriguing, if not entirely successful. Five years later, Loeb teamed up with Dweezil Zappa to produce Cake and Pie. Easily as good as its predecessor, the album once again demonstrates Loeb's crafty pop touch on songs like "The Way It Really Is" and "Everyday." Several tracks also pile on distorted guitars in an attempt to toughen up her sound -- not a bad idea, but unfortunately it falls flat. Try as she might, Loeb just doesn't make a convincing rocker. (MAC RANDALL)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide