On the Wallflowers' debut album, frontman Jakob Dylan did exactly the things that would invite embarrassing comparisons with his icon of a father, Bob. There was the faux country drawl, the syllables held out for an eternity, the narrative array of sideshow characters and music dominated by a Hammond organ. Four years older and a whole lot wiser, the Wallflowers return with an eye-popping second album that casts their leader in a far better light.

Young Dylan's songwriting remains shaped by echoes, but here they come from some of his dad's other "children": The anthemic "One Headlight" carries a distinct Tom Petty-like urgency, and "Invisible City" may be the best song Bruce Springsteen hasn't written in years. There are still plenty of genetic imprints. "Josephine" turns on a chord change straight out of "Just Like a Woman," and lines like "I've learned to compromise good people for alibis" show that the apple continues to fall pretty close to the tree. This time out, that's a compliment. (RS 737)

BILLY ALTMAN