Driven Ford : Check List ****<i> Great Balls of Fire</i> ***<i> Good Vibrations</i> **<i> Maybe Baby</i> *<i> Running on Empty </i>

**LITA FORD. “Lita.” RCA. The ex-Runaway guitarist is still searching for her true identity, it seems, and on her third solo album she’s hard to pin down. Is she the passionate pop-rock mistress of “Under the Gun” or the heavy-metal mama of “Can’t Catch Me”? Perhaps Ford herself isn’t sure--she tends to lose herself in the songwriting styles of her collaborators. She’s weakest when working with her keyboardist/arranger David Ezrin. She fares better with her metal compatriots. “Can’t Catch Me,” co-written by Ford and Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, is a frenzied rocker with pumping drums and shredding guitar. Ford’s pairing with Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx, “Falling In and Out of Love,” is a pleasant surprise--Ford provides a good vehicle for Sixx’s underrated songwriting talents. Only “Close My Eyes,” a duet with Ozzy Osbourne, falls flat. Perhaps as Ford continues to grow as an artist, so will her self-confidence.