Joan Jett, Sinner (* * *)

With the music industry churning out cookie-cutter pop stars and the outside world broiling in social intolerance, Jett's new CD arrives not a moment too soon. Driving tracks such as Naked and Turn It Around prove the seminal chick-rocker has lost none of her edge, while the pointed Everyone Knows and Androgynous mix playfulness and yearning with a bold conviction heard too rarely on top 40 radio these days. "I'm
here/I ain't goin' anywhere," Jett sings on Change the World. Sinner gives us no reason to question her resolve. - Gardner