No Fairy Tale

Audio Mixer: Brad Wood .Photographers: Lindsey Byrnes; Frances Iacuzzi.Lisa Loeb's recording career has frequently found her caught in a tug of war between the quiet, introspective side of her musical personality, typified by her first and biggest hit, "Stay (I Missed You)," and her fondness for writing big, bright pop hooks ("I Do" from Firecracker was such a seemingly perfect single it made most of the album that followed sound dreary). Eighteen years after "Stay," No Fairy Tale finds Loeb throwing caution to the wind and letting her pop instincts hold sway for almost an entire album; Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory co-produced the sessions with Loeb and plays lead guitar on most tracks, and if his standard-issue SoCal electric guitar crunch doesn't sound all that special within the context of his own band, here it gives Loeb's melodies a sharp kick in the butt, and Loeb seems to be having a grand time throwing her music into third gear. Loeb's lyrics on No Fairy Tale are informed by