Donelly Bellies Up to the Big Time : Pop music review: The energetic lead singer’s captivating voice powers Belly but can’t carry it alone in its Palladium outing.

It wouldn’t matter if Belly played simplistic nursery rhymes instead of edgy pop music behind leader Tanya Donelly’s perfect voice. The group’s Hollywood Palladium concert Saturday suggested that the effervescent frontwoman would still make the New England band fly.

Belly’s 1993 debut album “Star” showed that Donelly, who had played second fiddle to her stepsister Kristin Hersh in Throwing Muses for years, and was more a contributor than a leader in the early days of the now famous Breeders, is a force to be reckoned with.

The album showcased a voice that had a dulcet, Emmylou Harris quality and was also able to convey truckloads of emotion in both its delicate and gruff moments. Donelly also wrote insightful, striking lyrics and subtle, often eerie pop tunes.

But last year’s follow-up, “King,” was a disappointment from a band that was saddled with such great expectations. Although Donelly’s voice was just as strong and her lyrics as intricate, neither had space to bloom inside the thud of the repetitive, rocking numbers.

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The Palladium show was a major test for the band, which had something to prove musically and was also moving up to a large ballroom after its earlier L.A. club appearances.

Sure enough, the set peaked during the numbers from the debut album, where the music complemented Donelly’s captivating voice, and leveled out during the newer songs, which relied too heavily on her singing to pull them through.

Dressed casually in overalls and a striped shirt, Donelly sang with ease, hitting impossible notes that caused the audience to whoop and holler in response. She jumped up and down and played her guitar hard on the faster numbers and swayed tranquilly on the quieter ballads.

Bassist Gail Greenwood frequently undermined Donelly and the power of the music with her heavy-metal antics--such as spitting water on the audience and strutting like David Lee Roth. But most of the music brushed her aside like an annoying gnat.

Belly showed that it has no trouble in a larger setting, but overall it came off as a competent band whose few bum songs brought the level down from incredible to good. The band seems to be missing its incredible potential by mere inches.