One of the reasons that Joan Jett has endured as a rock artist is because she respects rock's rich musical past while embracing the better parts of what its modern sounds have to offer.

Still considered by many to be a one-hit wonder after "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" spent several weeks at the top of the charts a quarter-century ago, Jett has released
a considerable amount of good music as a solo artist after her stint as a teenager with the girl group The Runaways in the '70s.

After playing with Evil Stig and collaborating with Bikini Kill in the '90s, Jett fully embraced her punk rock roots, which in turn brought her music to an entirely new legion of fans.

This probably explains Jett's continued popularity and inclusion on bills such as the Warped Tour, which feature artists far younger. Thirty years after getting into the music business, Jett stays current by staying young at heart.

On "Sinner," Jett's first studio album in more than a decade, the artist proves that she can still play a mean guitar riff and snarl out a lyric as convincingly as any of today's teenage rockers.

"Riddles," the politically charged rocker that opens the CD, finds Jett wasting no time in directing her musical anger, while songs such as "A.C.D.C.," "Fetish," and "Baby Blue" deal with human issues.

Le Tigre's Kathleen Hanna, herself a protege of Jett's, supplies some powerful vocals on songs such as "Watersign," "Tube Talkin'" and "Five."

Jett even resurrects a great song from her past, "100 Feet Away," and gives it a 21st-century edge. All in all, this is a surprisingly solid album from an artist who, through the last couple of decades of changing musical tastes, has never compromised her artistic
vision or musical attitude. (A-)

Devin Grant