Although Melissa Etheridge was directly compared to Tracy Chapman when these two singer-songwriters both debuted self-titled albums in 1988, they don't seem to share much more than the same gender. Etheridge from Kansas (unlike the fragile Chapman) is above all a 'heartland rocker' in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and Tom Petty. She is blessed with a powerful soul voice with
… which she evokes memories of Janis Joplin or with which she approaches Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) at more subdued moments. On this album her songwriting career was not yet in full bloom but producer Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Warren Zevon) provided a clear, muscular and guitar-dominated sound that still hardly sounds dated today.more
