Melissa Etheridge‘s most recent album Fearless Love was reviewed all over the place long before it hit the shelves a week ago.

The reactions were mixed, but they all agreed on a few things.

1. It’s a true-blue return to Melissa’s late 80s, early 90s style. Really, it’s like Lucky and The Awakening (and to a lesser extent, Skin) didn’t actually happen. I’ll be honest; I like Lucky, and there are some things about The Awakening that aren’t awful. However, they were a massive diversion from the authentic, angsty, grinding rock that made her so famous in the 1980s and 1990s. However,

2. The album is overproduced. Best put by the Boston Globe’s Luke O’Neil

…it’s hard not to hear echoes of the charging arena shimmer of hit-makers Kings of Leon (or Coldplay, for that matter) in the title track of “Fearless Love.” It’s a cascade of delay-drenched guitars buoyed by a thrusting kick and snare so huge each record should come packaged with its own rapturous audience.

3. The last four songs on the album are largely… meh. This time it’s Jon Caramanica writing for the New York Times who puts the right two words together, “inspirational blandness”.

Now, the tracks.

Fearless Love — The much hyped title-track. It’s big with big angst and big guitars. It even says big things, “If you can’t hold me now, you can never hold me again” as she demands a love that is unconditional and consistent.

The Wanting of You — Thematically, this is the kind of song where Melissa really shines. It’s a narrative — there are two narrative songs on this album — about a woman who married out of high school and ends up with what everyone expects — a home, some land, a husband and children. The problem? She wants another woman, but she doesn’t want to hurt her husband. She has to choose between doing what she thinks she should, and what would make her happy.

Company — This is the kind of song you could cry yourself to sleep to. In fact, I’d be surprised if it turns out that’s not how the song was written. It just sounds like that kind of ache. If you’re the type to use music for wallowing rather than to cheer yourself up, this might be the song for you.

Miss California — While some reviewers have said that it’s a direct attack on the disgraced Miss California contestant, Melissa insists it’s a message to the state she calls home and that has recently turned its back on marriage equality with the passage of Proposition 8. It’s a tough, decisive song with a real edge to it, and a favourite of a lot of the reviewers out there.

Drag Me Away — This song, for me, comes out of nowhere, and sounds a bit like it’s from an earlier time, and only just recorded now. It’s a vow to a loved one that she will not die, that she’ll beat her illness,  referencing her battle with breast cancer in 2004.

Indiana — This is the other narrative song on the album. It seems to have been written about Tammy Lynn, or at least “inspired by”. Girl grows up in Indiana, no father, thinks she’ll find salvation in fame, finding it ultimately in giving her own children the kind of options that she didn’t have.

Nervous — My pick from this album is Nervous. I love Nervous. The song is so freaking Nervous that it’s kind of hot. God knows what inspired this track but I hope she doesn’t wait too long to publish an updated autobiography. It’s bluesy rock with frustrating restraint that keeps its character throughout. You might have to listen a few times before you get over the weird similarity to Shania Twain’s “Man I Feel Like a Woman” in the opening bars. But do, listen those few times. This song is worth it.

I want to shovel all the blame
I want to shoot out all the lights
I want to call you names and start a fight
Because you make me nervous tonight

Heart pounds hands wet mouth dry
I shake I scream I cry
No eat no sleep all night
I build my lonely cell with secrets I can’t tell
Frozen in my fright
Ooo you make me nervous tonight

Heaven On Earth — This is where it starts to get preachy, but she’s still kinda rocking, so we’ll go with it for now. Talking about expectations and silence, she evokes salvation symbolism to express a new-agey kind of sentiment about holding yourself back, and once you stop that, it’s heaven on earth.

The last four songs — well, you know how your mom told you, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”? Well, the last four songs are called We Are the Ones, Only Love, To Be Loved (which appears to be about reincarnation) and Gently we Row.

While the album may not be her best ever, for the sake of Fearless Love, The Wanting of You, Miss California, Indiana and Nervous, I think it’s worth picking up.

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