The sticker on the front cover is the tip-off: if you remember the go-go's, then you didn't forget Belinda Carlisle. Fair enough, given pop fans' inherent fickleness, but this is one marketing ploy that's bound to backfire. Even though it has its moments, a sleek, polished piece of product like Belinda is the antithesis of the Go-Go's intelligent girl-group gestalt.

Listening to Carlisle sing, it's...

With 'Live Your Life Be Free,' Belinda Carlisle maintains her standing as the high priestess of sugar pop. This, her fourth solo album since retiring as head cheerleader of the Go-Go's, suggests that while her vocal technique has improved, her taste in songs has changed very little. Her 1987 blockbuster Heaven on Earth seems to have been the platinum standard by which she has measured her more...