You'd think in this day and age female singers would be past the whole Joan Jett/Pat Benatar posturing ... you know what I'm saying... looking tough as nails but delivering music that just fails to stand up to the image. I'm not trashing Joan or Pat, here ... they were great back in the day but things have changed. Women today can be whoever they want to be, right? Crank it up to 11 and all that.

So I'm staring at a CD cover that looks kinda cartoony and creepy. The band takes it's name from lead singer White Widow, and a name like that subtly implies some correlation with *black* widow, which is kind of cool. Once the music starts, however, it becomes painfully clear that this band is suffering from some sort of image or identity crisis and the results are disappointing, to say the least. Like a schoolgirl teasing, they come on strong, promising the goods but, in the end, they leave you high and dry.

Ok - there. I've vented my disappointment ... is there anything redeeming here? Well, had I been expecting some kind of pop/rock, whiny, sulky chick record (without balls) then I might have been mildly impressed by the songwriting, and the vocals were decent. Even then I might have been let down. There just didn't seem to be much of anything to latch onto here. The band's website goes to great lengths to point out all of their training and accolades, but that doesn't mean they are any good, unfortunately. It most definitely doesn't mean they rock!

After listening to this CD, though, the whole White Widow/black widow tie does come more clearly into focus ... The black widow is a bad ass - dangerous, exciting, a little scary, and maybe a tad bit creepy (but in a cool way) ... White Widow, on the other hand, is not.

She bellows out at the start of the CD "It's my birthday ... I wanna piss you off!" Mission accomplished... Just skip this.