If there is such a thing as the perfect hard-rock voice, Lou Gramm has it. Strong and supple, his voice is versatile enough to manage everything from bell-like purity to sinew-straining passion, muscular enough to handle even the highest notes at full power.

It's a voice that begs to be shown off, and Gramm rarely disappoints. Listen to the way he paces himself through "Angel With a Dirty Face," the first song on his second solo album, Long Hard Look. Starting quietly, he bites the lyrics into impatient syllables, building momentum and intensity as his voice arcs upward and his phrases are stretched longer and longer until, by the end of the verse, he's almost screaming. Then, with deceptive ease and maximum drama, he pulls back, pauses a beat and delivers the chorus with breezy efficiency.

It's such a masterful piece of singing that it's shameful to see it squandered on formulaic tripe like "Angel With a Dirty Face." But Long Hard Look is full of such waste, saddling Gramm with an array of pop clichés and hard-rock contrivances. Whether it's the calculated pop sheen of the first single, "Just Between You and Me," or the semi-metal thunder of "Hangin' on My Hip," the album is oppressively predictable – all prefab hooks and by-the-book guitar solos, a sound as close to meaninglessness as rock gets.

What's sad is that Gramm is capable of so much more. To that extent, the only good Long Hard Look achieves is reminding us how great Gramm sounds with Foreigner. Otherwise, this album is a waste of time – his and ours. (RS 570)

J.D. CONSIDINE