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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.
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Produced with plenty of rock-radio muscle by her original guitarist, John Shanks, the 12-song set comes packed with the kind of room-rousing choruses Etheridge specialized in during her early-'90s commercial heyday
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Most of the moments of quiet introspection sag, though. It’s only in those heavier numbers where Etheridge’s best asset, her scarred, emotive croon works its visceral voodoo.
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As far as a full-on comeback album, Fearless Love‘s songs as a whole aren’t strong enough to make for a great rock album, due to a lack of indelible hooks, yes, but also because nothing here really boogies.
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Q MagazineAt its worst Etheridge is a sub-Springsteen mistress of the lyrically obvious. But when she hitches a poetic directness to a thumping tune on The Wanting Of You and Company, she's in a league of her impassioned own. [Aug 200, p.119]
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Fearless Love, Melissa Etheridge's feistiest disc since her 1988 debut, blurs the difference between hard-earned personal experience and social commentary.
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Mostly, though, she’s tough, and this album, ambitiously produced by John Shanks, matches up, with broad, bruising rock arrangements. (The second half of the album softens musically and the lyrics veer toward inspirational blandness.)
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 1 out of 7
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Feb 27, 2011This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.