So you're having a breakdown...
She writes her own music, and tends to wear her heart on her sleeve. It's hard to choose a favorite Melissa Etheridge album. She invites you into her world, and captivates you with her voice and her magic. This would be pretty close to my favorite album by her. It's just so raw and unapologetic. It's like she's just putting it out there and saying "Here are my feelings, how you choose to respond is up to you". The album is deeply personal and rooted in emotions. The title track just grabs you with its honesty. "Angels Would Fall" is the album's first single, and it's a great song. The quieter moments on the cd are what grab me more, like the moving ballad "How Would I Know", or "My Lover" and "Sleep". "Enough Of Me" is a no holds barred song that is just moving with it's passion. Other highlights include "Mama I'm Strange", "Scarecrow" and "Stronger Than Me". This is the version to get as it includes some great b-sides, including "Touch and Go", "Beloved" and the uptempo "Cherry Avenue" (another favorite). Great album!.
Great, underappreciated album
It's excellent - her best since "Yes I Am". I don't know why so many people want to skip right over this album. It returns a bit to her raw rockin' emotionality best found in her first album. Sadly, this album chronicles the "Breakdown" of her relationship with Julie Cypher - which gives you a good idea of the pain very evident in parts of this album. Although Melissa can do ballads, and sometimes do them very well, she's at her strongest when she's pounding out her feelings in good old fashioned rock. There's lots of that here. Get the album - it's well worth it - and better than the later release "Skin".
Self-discovery, recovery, and tribute
Themes are about self discovery and love and relationships. This is a softer CD than some of Melissa Etheridge's previous ones. The music is excellent, and I love all the songs on this CD.
"Scarecrow" is a tribute to Mathew Shepherd(the young man who was brutally murdered because he was gay), and brings tears to my eyes. There is such pain and love expressed in this song. . . . it's so sad and beautiful.
Sadly Underappreciated
She turns in a commanding performance on this truly introspective and deep album. Melissa Etheridge's 1999 album BREAKDOWN, her first since 1995's YOUR LITTLE SECRET, barely garnered any attention, which is a shame. If you were lucky you got the limited edition album, which came in a digipak cd case with new artwork and three extra songs along with the other eleven from the original. Lyrically this is one of her strongest efforts, lots of introspective lyrics which just make sense and aren't complicated to understand. She pays homage to the young man who was killed in a violent act of rage on the chilling "Scarecrow", one of the album's highlights. The album had two singles, the upbeat "Angels Would Fall", and the affirming "Enough of Me". Songs like "My Lover" and "Sleep" are very acoustic, and beautiful in their instumentation and lyrics. "How Would I Know" takes a look at a failing relationship, whereas "Stronger Than Me" admits self defeat. One of the catchiest songs on here is "Mama I'm Strange", definately check that one out. The extra tracks include "Touch and Go", a very acoustic like track, "Cherry Avenue", which is quite catchy and would fit well on the normal album, and the inspiring "Beloved". Overall don't leave BREAKDOWN behind, give it a listen!.
Go, buy!!!
More 'real' & emotive, Melissa indulges in a great deal of self-analysis than before in a more traditionally folk-rock style that her initial albums conveyed. Why soooo overlooked? Was it the lack of supersonic electric guitars & bombastic chorusses of the Yes I Am & Your Little Secret albums? So what? This album actually makes those albums lack in places. The title track KILLS me. So angst-ridden it's unreal. The guitar, Melissa's ohh's build up into a powerful crescendo as a partner needs her by her side. The single Angels Would Fall is basically an rip-off of Joan Osbourne's One Of Us, but a charming song nonetheless about Missy admiring a partner's charming ways. Truth of The Heart is another heartfelt rock-ballad, & the song My Lover is a true gem. Guitar, Melissa & a pulsating drum beat where Missy admires her Lover & the feelings she evokes in her.
One of the most poignant songs on the album is a tender ballad called Scarecrow which recalls the horrendous homophobic murder of Matthew Shephard. The title alone of Breakdown suggests this is not a typical Melissa album. Much of the material appears to be autobiographical & suggests initial frays in her relationship with Julie Cypher. Ain't That Enough is perhaps the most revealing where Melissa appears to be 'breaking down', unable to cope with her partner's needs ('And I gave you my need & my seed. . . . now, ain't that enough?'). Allusion to Melissa's joint pregnancy with her partner?? One suspects so. Okay, so it didn't go uber-platinum, but that doesn't mean Melissa has lost her touch; in fact some might say, she found it on this album. Best enjoyed by the fire with a good glass of red-wine. Indulge. A smouldering work by one of my all-time fave musicians.
You can see a complete list of all Melissa Etheridge discography, or go back to the Melissa Etheridge tabs
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