*** Melissa Etheridge

BREAKDOWN

(Island)

Etheridge's sixth album finds her in her usual form, applying her flame-thrower voice to slow-burning contemplations and blazing declarations about raw, thorny emotions. What's new with this dependable flag bearer of singer/songwriter rock (or maybe the category's "hard folk"?) is that she's broadened her sound. The slide guitar of her on-stage foil and co-producer, John Shanks, helps touch the romantic core of the soul-searching ballad "Stronger Than Me." Greg Leisz's steel guitar is also prominent, and the textures are deepened with drum loops, more keyboards, and Pino Palladino's chiaroscuro bass lines. But the sonic tinkering doesn't alter Etheridge's agenda. This ain't no trip-hop, this ain't no aggro, this ain't ambient-ing around. These songs are as plain as Etheridge's Midwestern roots. Nothing gets in the way of her fine vocal melodies or her hook-smart, intimate-sounding lyric about mental unraveling, personal sacrifice, love, and identity. And why the hell should it? She's got a good thing going on.

-- Ted Drozdowski