Tim Brough's Black Leather Bookshelf

Belly Wishes
3 Out Of 5 Stars

The long and often frustrating career arc of Tanya Donelly finally reaped commercial success when she broke free from both Throwing Muses and her brief stint in The Breeders to form Belly. While that success was fleeting (only one other album, which sold poorly), it was curious to see Donelly gun so hard for the pop charts.

The double edge of "Star" is that the songs are really good, but the template is pure 90's alt-rock. Big hooks buried in grungey sludge, with whispered, almost monochromatic vocals on most of the songs. When Donelly went for the massive poptune, it made for a pair of bonafide hits with "Gepetto" and "Feed The Tree." There is also the slow-groove to the moody "Red Dog" and "Full Moon Empty Heart." Unfortunately, these songs are surrounded by paint-by-numbers dream-pop like the album opener "Someone to Die For" and the lost-girl tale of "White Belly."

I won't begrudge Belly their success, after all, this album probably sold more than any given pair of Muses albums. It just seemed that, given the huge curve between the really great stuff on "Star" and the bad, maybe Donelly needed Kristin Hersh a little more than either sister wanted to admit.