Melissa Etheridge, 'Fearless Love'
Rockin' riffs, soaring runs and that unbreakable soul that even cancer couldn't stop – Melissa Etheridge welcomes back the slamming sound that made her a rock goddess. Tweaked, though, with some modern U2 siren-like guitars, notably on the wailing power-anthem "Fearless Love," her 11th album is as '90s as it can be while still keeping Etheridge relevant. More than ever, though, she's using her collective wisdom – nearing 50, and having wrestled with disease and inner demons, there's a lot of it – and imparting it into a galvanized and hit-heavy album that ranks as one of her best. It's a reflective road to self-love, finding it and then giving it, as she does on "Gently We Row" – an intimate acoustic wrap-up that builds to an intensely moving climax about her kids. She parts her own mirror on "Indiana," a piano-guitar seesaw that's an empowering tale of her wife's journey, and then on "The Wanting of You," about a woman resisting temptation. Both should be radio hits. Etheridge also gives a big ol' "suck it" to her home state on "Miss California," a scorching guttural-sung rant about Prop. 8 that she wails with such fiery passion and win-win sway, it could change legislation. "Fearless," indeed. Grade: A- (Out April 27)
Editor's Note: See next week's issue of Between The Lines for an exclusive interview with Melissa Etheridge.
Erykah Badu, 'New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh'
Naked as they come (and very naked in her au naturel "Window Seat" video), Erykah Badu has a husky rawness about her voice that connects to the heart and soul of her songs. She's as crafty a writer as she is a quirky vocalist, slipping in snappy rhymes and singing about love with the kind of laid-back vibe that might conjure up a summer romance and a bag of pot. Whatever weirdness that envelopes Badu, it's diluted with a more modern approach to R&B than 2008's "New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)" – a sociopolitical album as out-there as Badu herself, trippy and twisted and hard to warm up to with its unconventional sound. More lightweight and accessible, "Part Two" comes closer to the neo-soul smoothness of her debut "Baduizm," never working too hard to work: "Window Seat" stomps and claps its way into your head, "Umm Hmm" quilts a catchy chorus with a lo-fi sample and mellow standout "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long" rides atop a hella good groove. What she loses in mind-bending mechanics, she gains in melodic reverie. Only at the end does she truly venture out with a loungy-launched ballad that morphs into a hypnotic 10-minute-plus emotional cry – proof that, even with slighter material, we're missing a lot more than we think in that video of hers: some balls. Grade: B+
Also Out
The Disco Biscuits, 'Planet Anthem'
Should we listen to Adam Lambert? After Twitter-approving the Philly quartet, his call-out makes sense, even if it's not entirely warranted: Theirs is music to get lost in. And even if it's not disco, some of it still feels as silly, especially when it expands from futuristic electronica to alt-rock on the disjointed last half of their fifth studio album. "On Time," though, makes Lambert's kudos at least partially right on.
Amy Cook, 'Let the Light In'
The Austin musician's salty drawl would be enough to sell a song, but sneaky hooks that Sheryl Crow would kill for help a whole lot. Teeming with them – from the pop-Americana of "Get it Right" to the jolty rocker "I Wanna Be Your Marianne" – Cook's follow-up to 2007's "The Sky Observer's Guide" is edgier, bolder and far less vague. Having collabo-queen Patty Griffin sing harmony on "Hotel Lights" doesn't hurt either.
Laura Bell Bundy, 'Achin' & Shakin"
She's got the goods to make Dolly Parton fans smitten – ya know, a big personality and a big voice. But this Broadway big-shot's major country debut thrives off other influences, like the campy Shania-sounding "Giddy on Up." The two thematic parts should've been swapped – party first, relax later – but at least it ends on a strong note: "Everybody," the pick-me-up standout that feels as good as it sounds.
