Breakdown

During the four years between BREAKDOWN and 1995's YOUR LITTLE SECRET, Melissa Etheridge concentrated on starting a family and continued staying on the sidelines as her record label got caught up in corporate restructuring. This extended down-time had a settling effect on the leather-lunged vocalist that resulted in her sixth release being the most sedate and introspective record to its point. more...

Gone is the bar-band banshee whose fervour on songs like "Bring Me Some Water" could peel paint off the wall. Instead, the native Kansan kicks back, digs deep and writes about the intricacies of relationships, yearning and loss in a way that would make her hero Bruce Springsteen proud. Infidelity is sunken into a dream state throughout "Into the Dark", thanks to lots of shimmering guitar and disconnected background vocals that hint at Kate Bush. Unrequited love also gets a thorough reading as Etheridge masterfully piles on the religious imagery throughout "Angels Would Fall". Although BREAKDOWN's darkest moment comes out within the jagged "Scarecrow", a tribute to murdered gay teen Matthew Shepard, Etheridge offers up a ray of hope with "Truth of the Heart", a jangly message of optimism that reflects her newfound parenthood.

Rolling Stone (10/28/99, p.103)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...heartfelt, introspective, robustly sung....There's a welcome fragility in the acoustic-led arrangements....Etheridge the artist eclipses Etheridge the human being."