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Released: Sept. 21, 1993


Rating: 3.837 (average of 9 ratings)


Genre: neo prog rock


Quotable: --


Album Tracks:

  1. I’m the Only One
  2. If I Wanted To
  3. Come to My Window
  4. Silent Legacy
  5. I Will Never Be the Same
  6. All American Girl
  7. Yes I Am
  8. Resist
  9. Ruins
  10. Talking to My ANgel


Sales (in millions):

sales in U.S. only 6.0
sales in U.K. only - estimated --
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated 6.0


Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 15
peak on U.K. album chart --


Singles/Hit Songs:

  • I’m the Only One (9/18/93) #5a US, #1 AC, #10 AR
  • Come to My Window (1/1/94) #10a US, #4 AC, #22 AR
  • All American Girl (4/16/94) #24 AR
  • If I Wanted To (2/7/95) #16 US, #17 AC


Notes: --


Awards:

--


Yes I Am
Melissa Etheridge
Review:
Yes I Am is the album that catapulted Melissa Etheridge into superstardom.” SW “The title is generally thought to refer to Etheridge’s recent coming out as a lesbian, confirming long-standing rumours about her personal life.” WK “It’s hard not to notice the defiant acclamation in the album’s title. This barely concealed sense of sexual identity seeps out from the lyrics, and it informs the music as well, which is perhaps the most confident she has ever been.” STE

“It's also the most professional she’s ever been (perhaps not a coincidence), as she belts out these unapologetically anthemic numbers” STE “nearly all dripping with sensual lyrics and rousing rhythms.” SW She does it all “with a sense of finesse that’s suited to lifestyle newspaper pages, not rock & roll, thereby setting herself up for her bout with celebrity during the second half of the ‘90s.” STE

This all made the album “ideal breeding ground for a couple of career-enhancing music videos. The eerily possessive rock ballad Come to My Window hit the tube first with a bizarre twofold portrait of Etheridge and her guitar and actress Juliette Lewis having a nervous breakdown. This single brought the album into the public consciousness and was quickly followed by the similarly obsessive, slow-groovin’ I’m the Only One [actually the album’s lead single, but it first went to album rock stations] and the co-dependence-battling If I Wanted To.” SW

“But the album’s real strength is in the hidden gems untouched by MTV programmers. The slow-building Silent Legacy, the undulating blues scream Yes I Am, and the playful, acoustic Ruins are what make this album a whole.” SW

“The 1993 collection’s mercilessly driven, bluesy songs” SW “wouldn’t have been as convincing if it wasn’t so slick, though; her Springsteen-isms and Janis tributes are tempered by songs that work as album rock favorites, even if they aren’t as epic or passionate as their inspirations. She may not have songs as great as she did the first time out – ‘Bring Me Some Water’ remains her finest moment – but she has a sense of purpose and identity that suits her well.” STE


Review Source(s):


Last updated January 13, 2010.