didn't win the first Nashville Star in 2003, but she sure is the first bona fide star the televised music competition has produced, as her stellar 2007 sophomore album, , proves beyond a shadow of a doubt. Taking her cue from the vengeful spurned woman of her hit debut single, has built her second album around a tough-chick persona, something that may be clear from the very title of the album, but this isn't a one-dimensional record by any stretch. Sure, she plays the crazy ex-girlfriend of the title track -- stalking her beau and his new girl to the local bar, which she promptly starts tearing apart -- but that's hardly the extent of her hell-raising here. She takes righteous revenge on a guy who slapped her around on the rocking opener, ("he wants a fight, well now he's got one"), she's stranded without booze in a and she breaks hearts left and right on the surging, hard-edged while she searches in vain for a good fling on where she wonders what became of "all the boys that only want one thing." That line reveals that has a sly sense of humor, but she's not joking around: these are lean, hard-hitting, tuneful songs, delivered with a classic strut and a vicious modern punch. If has a thin, almost girlish voice, she's hardly girly -- there's an edge to her delivery that leaves no doubt that she possess nerves of steel. But for as strong as she sounds on the plentiful rockers here, also lets her guard down on , as she as she soaks her with tears, sweetly sighs in and sadly wishes she was as she looks on as her ex-lover returns to his old love. This last song provides a neat flip side to the rampaging title track, which also hints at this album's complexity. There are songs that are larger than life, songs that are achingly intimate, and they all add up to rich artistic statement of purpose that is also a hell of a lot of fun. knows exactly who she is as a musician, and nowhere is that clearer than how the three covers here -- co-wrote and penned (which popularized), and authored (also heard on her own 2007 album, ) -- blend seamlessly with 's eight originals. Every one of the 11 songs shares the same spirit and 's is strong enough of a writer to hold her own with such heavy-hitters, possessed with a wry wit and clear eye for little details, mining the unexpected from such familiar subjects as love and loss and jealously and rage. would have been impressive if it was just a showcase of her strengths as a singer or as a songwriter, but since it is both, it's simply stunning, a breakthrough for and one of the best albums of 2007, regardless of genre. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine