If you are only concentrating on sexuality when it comes to Melissa Etheridge, you are missing a big boat of riffs and one of the most dynamic female rock voices of the past 30 years. Mixing equal parts Janis Joplin and Robert Plant, Etheridge has been making meaty rock since 1988ยs breakthrough eponymous debut. A string of singles with razor-sharp hooks like ยCome to My Windowย and ยIยm the Only Oneย from 1993ยs coming-out party Yes I Am cemented her as a commercial and pop-culture force to be reckoned with. Her personal life may have taken center stage the past decade, but all the while Etheridge was making quality records, with her trademark guitar-playing staying ever fiery and massive. With Aprilยs Fearless Love, Etheridge channeled her private setbacks into one of the loudest albums she has ever made.
Sat., July 31, 7 p.m., 2010
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2010.