WHY have one album when you can have two? For here, you get Kristin Hersh in two flavours - solo and acoustic, or reunited with the triumvirate of the Throwing Muses in glorious electric.

And wait, listen, is that ex-Muse Tanya Donnelly chirping away in the background? The differences between the albums are more substantial than whether or not someone remembered to plug in the amp - The Grotto being a quieter, more reflective album, while the Muses album has a touch of thunder, rumbling and roaring along. Neither has the class of Hersh's last solo release, 2001's spiky Sunny Border Blue, but the Muses album is the more essential. Hersh is always an intriguing artist, and The Grotto is quiet and insistent; but her flair comes out in the bigger, broader sound of the Muses. Despite the lack of hits in her past, any new album by Hersh is a landmark occasion. She is one of those artists able to change your perspective and can make a little moment in a song matter far more than the entire repertoire of other performers. And someone like that should never be overlooked.

Updated: 09:25 Thursday, April 03, 2003