Somewhere along the way, Melissa Etheridge shook off her Midwestern roots and decided that she was an artist with a capital A, turning out nothing but somnolent somber songs.
Sobriety made perfect sense when Etheridge was coming out of the closet or surviving cancer, but when it's applied to a record that's merely a collection of songs, as it is on 2010's Fearless Love, the results are stultifying.
Etheridge doesn't avoid big themes here -- she strikes back at Carrie Prejean's anti-gay marriage stance on "Miss California" and supports Obama on "We Are the Ones," both playing like delayed hangovers, their tardiness accentuating the slightness of Fearless Love.
Slightness would be fine, even welcome, if Etheridge weren't compelled to produce every song as a stadium-busting anthem, an unholy combination of Springsteen, U2, and Coldplay stripped of any sense of majesty, hamstrung by Etheridge's dogged sincerity and literal mind.
Perhaps if this production were scaled back a notch or two, Fearless Love wouldn't feel quite so oppressive, but its oversized sound fits Etheridge's sense of self: she's boxed herself into a corner where she only makes music that sounds important…whether it actually is important winds up being beside the point.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fearless LoveMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 04:27 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 2 | The Wanting of YouMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | CompanyMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 04:53 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 4 | Miss CaliforniaMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 5 | Drag Me AwayMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 6 | IndianaMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 05:27 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 7 | NervousMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 8 | Heaven on EarthMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 9 | We Are the OnesMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 05:40 | 12 MB | 41 MB |
| 10 | Only LoveMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 05:42 | 13 MB | 37 MB |
| 11 | To Be LovedMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 05:15 | 12 MB | 33 MB |
| 12 | Gently We RowMelissa Etheridge | Melissa Etheridge | Play | 05:12 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 56 mins | 129 MB | |||||
| 56 mins | 395 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keith Armstrong | Assistant Engineer |
| 2 | Natasha Bedingfield | Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Kevin Bosley | Assistant Engineer |
| 4 | Carol Corless | Package Production |
| 5 | Melissa Etheridge | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Mando-Guitar, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 6 | Lars Fox | Pro-Tools |
| 7 | Steven Girmant | Production Coordination |
| 8 | Sean Hurley | Bass |
| 9 | Victor Indrizzo | Drums |
| 10 | Charles Judge | Keyboards, Synthesizer |
| 11 | Nik Karpen | Assistant Engineer |
| 12 | Jared Kvitka | Assistant Engineer |
| 13 | Chris Lord-Alge | Mixing |
| 14 | Stephen Marcussen | Mastering |
| 15 | James Minchin III | Photography |
| 16 | Jamie Muhoberac | Keyboards |
| 17 | Satnam Ramgotra | Tabla |
| 18 | Norik Renson | Guitar Technician |
| 19 | Jeff Rothschild | Engineer, Mixing |
| 20 | Andrew Schubert | Engineer |
| 21 | John Shanks | Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Producer |
| 22 | Joss Stone | Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | Shari Sutcliffe | Contracting, Production Coordination |
| 24 | Matt Taylor | Art Direction, Design |
| 25 | Brad Townsend | Engineer |
| 26 | Kristen Yiengst | Art Coordinator, Photo Coordination |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |