Natalie Imbruglia

When Natalie Imbruglia arrived in 1998, the former Australian teen soap star managed to conquer the American pop charts without much battle, thanks to an undeniable hit, "Torn." Resurrected from the catalogue of alt-rock also-rans Ednaswap, the addictively catchy song deserved every bit of radio overplay it got. However, Left of the Middle, Imbruglia's debut, never matches its standout track. Instead, the album tries a little of everything -- some Alanis Morissette rock ("One More Addiction"), some Portishead trip-hop noir ("Leave Me Alone"), even some old Madonna house ("Impressed") -- without much distinction. Imbruglia's voice, with a guileless sweetness that worked so well on "Torn," seems unremarkable elsewhere.

Its followup, White Lilies Island, improves upon the debut by offering a more consistent medium-rock sound -- less stylized, and seeming less market-researched to capture the latest hot sounds. Here, the reference points are more random: the rushing vocals and swirling music of "That Day" sound like Pink singing Morrissey; "Satellite" is Crosby, Stills, & Nash–style pop-folk. "Wrong Impression," meanwhile, makes a valiant attempt at rewriting "Torn" but doesn't quite match its predecessor's heart-on-the-sleeve tunefulness (or, it turned out, its chart success). Like its predecessor, there's little essential listening on White Lilies Island, but the album works perfectly well as somewhat generic, slightly left-of-center mainstream pop. – Roni Sarig

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide