In Brief

*** Ashley Cleveland, “Big Town,” Atlantic. Singer-songwriter Cleveland’s debut album showcases her fluency in several genres--including hard-rock, pop-folk and, with the foot-stompin’ “You Can Dance,” even dance-rock. With a deep, grizzled voice, she’s particularly adept at mournful, pop-folk ballads. She really makes you believe she’s suffering. By year’s end this should rank with the best debut albums of ’91.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic).