The Words and Music of Melissa Etheridge

Award-winning singer, songwriter, and recording artist Melissa Etheridge's career has spanned well over two decades. Perone (music, Univ. of Mount Union, Alliance, OH) takes a close look at the components of Etheridge's development as an artist through a chronological examination ofher studio albums—from the early Melissa Etheridge (1988) and Brave and Crazy (1989) through the more recent Icon (2011) and 4th Street Feeling (2012). He analyzes intricately the songs from each album, placing them in solid artistic, sociological, and biographical contexts. This is not, however, a biography or general popular entertainment work. It is rather a scholarly, well-documented study of the creative output and career of a leading musical figure. Significant personal information is included, though, as it pertains to the content and style of Etheridge's songs; the author also offers insight into his subject's activism in the areas of gay rights and cancer issues. A thoughtful concluding chapter, with detailed supporting references, assesses the performer's place on the musical/cultural spectrum and comments on the dynamics of her universal appeal.