Artist: Melissa Etheridge
Album: 4th Street Feeling
Twenty-four years after her debut, rocker Melissa Etheridge is still at it, releasing her twelfth studio album "4th Street Feeling" and keeping things fresh.
I honestly haven't followed Melissa much since her comercial breakthrough, not really connecting with recent albums... but my friend, and reader, Nick, a huge fan and strong supporter, played me a couple tracks from the new album and it was enough to get me to take a listen to the whole record.
"4th Street Feeling" goes for a much grittier, bluesy, direction than her pop-rock recent work, and I immediately connected with it. Opener "Kansas City" sets a dark, dangerous mood and is rich with personal reflection and on-the-road imagery that recalls, yes a bit Springsteen... but it's all Melissa.
Another gem is the dark groove of "The Shadow of the Black Crow," again highlighting the poetic imagery that really shines on the entire record. It's a perfect example of the feel to this album, which the more I listen really takes advantage of sounding less pop, and succeeds because of it. It's Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, and I do hear a little Tom Waits influence here, no doubt spurred by working with Waits producer Jacquire King.
Nick played me the last track; the unbelievably sexy, slinky "Rock and Roll Me," which apparently brought the house down at a fanclub/industry show at Joe's Pub recently, working the mostly Lesbian crowd into a energy-bursting ferver. I wish I'd been there! The song sounds classic even on it's first listen, but it's the slow-groove, Joplin-esque singing that just burns through a thousand candles and ignites a fire under this listener.
Let's just say... I'm well turned on and I ain't even into chicks.
Enjoy.
Rock and Roll Me
No comments:
Post a Comment