Melissa Etheridge

Exploding onto the late 1980s rock scene with this energetic, sensual, and shamelessly personal debut, Melissa Etheridge instantly proved herself a skilled singer-songwriter and thunderstorm of a performer. This radio-friendly rock collection lays out the Etheridge fundamentals. "Bring Me Some Water," the driven, bluesy plea of an abandoned lover, is easily the strongest cut here. Its infectious rhythmic backdrop perfectly supports Etheridge's rowdy, passionate vocals to make this sexually charged lament unforgettable. This album also launched the radio favorite "Similar Features" and "Like the Way I Do," another uptempo, jealousy-laden rocker. Actually, the album is almost overripe with scathing indictments of former lovers, but it also makes it clear that Etheridge is a growing musician. These early efforts are so power-packed that it's easy to overlook redundancy and focus on all that raw emotion. --Sally Weinbach