TORONTO - The last two times I saw Marianne Faithfull - at the Phoenix in 2002 and 1997 - she blew me away.

Nobody can make the most of a biting lyric, a simple gesture, or telling a story, the way this husky-voiced, blond-haired, 58-year-old British chanteuse can.

And even if that mind-blowing feeling didn't come over me as often as I would have liked during Faithfull's show on Monday night at the Mod Club Theatre, her flashes of brilliance definitely outweighed any sluggish moments. For the latter, I mainly blame Faithfull's not-up-to-par four-piece band -- guitarist Barry Reynolds being the notable exception.

Faithfull herself was not 100%, either, as she was getting over bronchitis and took a seat on a speaker at the back of the stage numerous times during her one-hour and 35-minute set.

Dressed simply in a black shirt and black jeans with some diamonds dangling from her neck, Faithfull opened the evening somewhat sedately with Trouble In Mind and Falling From Grace.

The show, which drew about 500 people, finally came to life during the guitar-heavy, rock-infused The Mystery of Love, from her latest album, Before The Poison, featuring collaborations with PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Damon Albarn and Jon Brion.

"These new songs are really difficult," she said before making new tunes like Last Song, No Child Of Mine and Crazy Love among the evening's standouts. "They're kind of worth it. They're good songs."

Faithfull also trotted out such gems as The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan -- which she introduced as "this old beauty," and could have been talking about herself -- Incarceration Of A Flower Child and Strange Weather.

"It's been 41 years since I've been making these records," said the singer, who has survived a suicide attempt, heroin addiction and homelessness. "I'm living every one of those 41 years again tonight -- for you!"

But Faithfull really became her potent, soulful, fiery best during Times Square, her cover of John Lennon's Working Class Hero, Guilt, Why D'ya Do It, and her first single, As Tears Go By, written by former boyfriend Mick Jagger and Keith Richards back in London's swinging '60s.

"This is where the whole damn thing started," she said.

Faithfull also revived the Jagger-Richards tune, Sister Morphine, for which she wrote the lyrics and recorded before The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers.

"I actually thought if I sang it, everybody would rush out and do morphine," Faithfull explained. "Then I realized, 'Hey, they're not that stupid!' It's a great song and I sing it really well. So Sister Morphine is back in the Faithfull repertoire for your delight. Do whatever you want!"

Sadly, missing in action was her big comeback tune in 1979, Broken English. Faithfull's latest props, a music stand for her lyrics and reading glasses, served her stage persona well.

"I need these," she said of her glasses, which she dropped at one point. "They're my last crutch. I'm not smoking anymore!"

She paused before adding the punch line. "(It's been) two weeks!"