Flaming Red

Griffin's follow-up to the acoustic, lyric-based material of Living with Ghosts shifts gears so dramatically, it hardly seems like the work of the same artist. In an electric wonderland of dense percussion tracks (played by Kenny Aronoff) and tricky guitar attacks (handled by producer Jay Joyce), Griffin reveals herself as a muscular rock & roll singer as well as an emotionally vulnerable balladeer. If the Ramones-loud title track seems to be trying too hard to rock and other cuts just sound busy, overwhelming the song with production--the chaotic rant of "Wiggley Fingers," for one--the anthemic pulse of "Tony" and the modern soul of "Christina" are gorgeous and convincing. They're the work of an imagination set free, if not fully grown. --Roy Kasten