1. Worthy 2. Tiptoe 3. Cradle And All 4. Shy 5. Sorry I Am 6. Light Of Some Kind 7. Not A Pretty Girl 8. The Million You Never Made 9. Hour Follows Hour 10. 32 Flavors 11. Asking Too Much 12. This Bouqet 13. Crime For Crime 14. Coming Up 15. Bonus Track

On Not a Pretty Girl, her seventh release on her own Righteous Babe label, Ani DiFranco exudes all the style and confidence of the major star she has become. Unlike some previous releases, where DiFranco relied on acoustic power chords and sheer vocal firepower to get her music across, here she creates a lush blend of electric guitar, bass, and her inimitably nervous acoustic strumming driven by the drums of her touring partner Andy Stochansky to create a dense instrumental storm equal to the vocal tempest she summons. She spits out the words of “Asking Too Much,” a plea for ‘someone who can flatten me with a kiss that hits like a fist or a sentence that stops me like a brick wall’ with all the passion and adrenaline she can muster. The vividly abstract imagery of “Coming Up” is delivered as spoken word over a simple, edgy guitar and thumb piano figure. The gentle acoustic apology to a disappointed lover, “Sorry,” packs increased emotional wallop set among all the tumult of DiFranco’s other works. A more frenetic apology, this time to a man who has been left for another woman, is offered on the breathy “Light of Some Kind.” On “The Million You Never Made,” DiFranco offers up a fiery kiss-off to the major record labels and the price belonging to their club exacts. DiFranco speaks her mind and frames her words with equally emotive, angular, music. In doing so, she has struck a chord with her Generation X peers, and offers a direct, if sometimes disturbing, view into the collective soul for anyone who stops to listen. Michael Parrish (St. Charles, IL)