Flyer (studio album) by Nanci Griffith

This is probably her best album of original material. Great stuff.

On the heels of a Grammy award for "Other Voices Other Rooms," "Flyer" is Nanci Griffith's tenth studio album. At the time, Elektra was good place to be for unorthodox singer-songwriters and Griffith took advantage of this with a new album of originals. It was nominated for a Grammy, but lost it to Johnny Cash's American Recordings LP.

Storms and Late Night Grande Hotel were good albums and it was nice to see Griffith focus entirely on the pop framework. Griffith's voice is front and center on Flyer, with production that works better when it supports her vocals and acoustic , rather than trying to stand on its own.

Flyer is a nice collection of excellent songs. Perhaps the only critique is the record gets a little too comfortable with its sentimental presentation and the album would drags on too long if it wasn't for the appropriate collaborations and more upbeat tracks. Adam Duritz of Counting Crows co-writes and sings on "Going Back to Georgia." Peter Buck also continues as a producer.

Griffith hasn't sounded this comfortable sitting between genres since "Storms." For the average listener who isn't familiar with Griffith or pop music rooted in folk, Flyer would be a wonderful introduction.

Track Pick: Going Back to Georgia
Gems: These Days is an Open Book, Don't Forget About Me