Melissa Etheridge
Lucky (Island Records)
Record Review by TC Krentz
| Lucky is the sound of the dormant heartstrings of Melissa
Etheridge waking up. It’s clear most of the tunes on her 8th release
here were penned under the influence of a righteous love. Songs like Mercy,
This Moment, Kiss Me, When You Find The One depict Melissa’s
revival of joy that only love could inspire. Surprisingly, one of the
stress tracks “Breathe” (used in Showtime’s “The
L Word”) marks the first song she has released that was not co-written
by her. But it certainly has been sent through the Etheridge Creative
Process and may be one of the best tunes she’s ever recorded. Lucky
kicks off with its fantastic title track branded with one of her more
infectious guitar licks and a nice catchy chorus to boot.
There is also a prominence of pride on this record. The tracks Giant, Meet Me in the Dark, Secret Agent, and the very earnest Tuesday Morning (dedicated to Mark Bingham, one of the 9/11 heroes of Flt. 93) take us on a field trip of all the ranges of pride experienced by being burdened with the label “unacceptably different.” There’s quite a handful of radio worthies on
Lucky. Her timeless rockin’ signature style remains the same which
should thrill her diehard fan base. Although the CD travels through
many moods from hard rockin’ fun to seriously touching, you’ll
still consider Lucky a well rounded record when you’ve landed
at the end of track 13. |
