Melissa Etheridge - The Awakening
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Free Music Notes for The Awakening
Free Music Review: Powerful, haunting effort
Hit: 5 Stars
Melissa is back with another powerful work, on par or better than her early gritty works. I think not only does she have some great lyrics that make you listen to them, but she backs them up with a guitar that at times growls and howls in a bluesy way, like in "The Kingdom of Heaven." While in the liner notes she states that this album came out of her fight with cancer, I think it very much stands on its own as commentary on life and this world we live in. Very highly recommended!Free Music Review: The Awakening
Hit: 1 Stars
I have been a Melissa fan for years. Her songs have been a part of my life since I bought her first Cd and all those after that. I have seen her in concert and played her songs for my daughters. BUT...this Cd is not something I could even share with my daughters. I love her voice but, her messages are too political. Her music has always touched my heart and soul this cd is just political agenda I can get that from the news. Free Music Review: Concept Album - And That's Okay!
Hit: 5 Stars
From my title you might surmise that I'm not real big on concept albums. I like the concept of concept albums, but in execution I usually end up thinking they're more annoying than anything else. The Awakening is definitely an exception.
I've been a Melissa fan ever since I first saw her riveting performance of "Bring Me Some Water" on the Grammy's when she was up for best new artist. But even though I knew she'd released a new album I hadn't heard anything about it yet. Then I saw The Awakening for sale at the grocery store for $10 and thinking, "Hot damn!" I snatched up a copy. I then did what I usually do with a new CD, stuck it in the CD player in my car and listened to it the next few times I was driving. Don't do that with this album. I kept going, "Huh?" and scrambling for the cover to look at the song list to try and make sense of what was going on, which isn't good when driving! This one you'll want to put on at home, get comfy, and really listen to it uninterrupted.
My initial responses were things like, "Hmmm...'California' has a catchy tune, but it seems kinda like a retread, is this album gonna be a dud?", "What's with all these short little ditties?" and, "Am I losing my mind or are we on a different song now?" So after getting to the end of the album it was clear this wasn't a normal CD and I immediately played it through again with adjusted expectations and a more open mind. (Then after the second listen I finally read the liner notes, which of course helped further.)
After my second listen through I was thinking, "Hey this is pretty good stuff." By my fourth listen I was totally blown away. I especially like "I've Loved You Before" because I dig the whole loving through many lifetimes idea and the lyrics are quite moving. I like that she's mixed up music styles a bit more, with the really nice bluesy guitar on "An Unexpected Rain" and the playful, country flavor of "Threesome". There's also some very nice electric guitar work on several songs. "The Kingdom of Heaven" is probably my second favorite song on the album so far, quite powerful. The ending suite of songs is totally amazing and gets better each time you listen.
The Awakening is a very strong album with several songs that I'd consider to be classic Melissa in style and content, then moving through to the more political and spiritual stuff. Somehow they do all end up going well together and even the short interlude pieces add a little something special. Breakdown and Skin are still hanging on as my two favorite Melissa albums, but The Awakening is making a strong bid for favored status and is arguably her best album to date. Those who have called it brilliant and a masterpiece aren't wrong. The Awakening wouldn't be a good choice for a Melissa neophyte to start with I don't think, but for any fan it should definitely be added to the collection.
I'm finding it interesting that, despite how initially enraptured I was with Melissa's debut album, it's her later albums that are my favorites and the ones I listen to with the most frequency. Most artists for which I have multiple albums it's their early music that first engaged me that remains hard to beat and what I most prefer to listen to. But Melissa has been totally bucking that trend.
Free Music Review: Great Buy
Hit: 5 Stars
Hassel proof buy. Arrived promptly and as described. A delight dealing with the seller.Free Music Review: My Favorite Cd of the year!
Hit: 5 Stars
With just about a month to go, and most of the major releases now out I think I can say this is my favorite Cd of 2007. From Politcal themed ("Imgaine That") To one of the greatest love songs ("I've Loved You Before" to just plain good story telling ("Map Of The Stars") this cd rocks from the start. A great, great cd!