*** Suzy Bogguss

GIVE ME SOME WHEELS

(Capitol Nashville)

Suzy Bogguss set out to make "a great driving album"; Give Me Some Wheels, however, delivers more than music for cruising. Wanderlust plays a part in her lyricism, but where past hits like "Drive South" and "Outbound Plane" suggested a feckless escapism, Wheels' songs focus on finding one's wings. On the title track, Bogguss laments leaving a lover, declaring, "I need a man/Who won't mind letting me drive." "Traveling Light" is less about leaving than about letting go and starting over. Throughout, Bogguss's voice soars with an intensity and newfound maturity, breathing life into the fear-of-commitment ballad "Let's Get Real." "Fall" addresses the dilemma of overanalyzing one's feelings rather than accepting them.

Despite this revealing of a serious side, Bogguss hasn't lost her playful, freewheeling spirit. "No Way Out" takes a humorous approach to the trials and tribulations of married life, with a killer slide guitar propelling the tune's R&B overtones (memo to Bonnie Raitt: cover this song!) And couples everywhere will relate to "She Said, He Heard," which puts a comical spin on male/female relations: "He looked at her like she was speaking Chinese/With some of the letters left out."

-- David Gérard