Melissa Etheridge

”˜Fearless Love,’ Melissa Etheridge’s feistiest disc since her 1988 debut, blurs the difference between hard-earned personal experience and social commentary. In ”˜Miss California,’ she voices her frustration with California’s recent anti-gay-marriage amendment by addressing the state as if it were a wayward lover: “I know the hand that’s trying to hold me down/Is the one I’m trying to hold.” For ”˜The Wanting of You,’ Etheridge sets ”˜Born to Run’ riffs against a tale of a married woman who constantly lusts for another, reminding you that she’s best when she brings both intensity and compassion.

Key Tracks: “Miss California,” “Fearless Love,” “Indiana”