Lucky

Sixteen years after charging out of the gate with an attention-grabbing debut album, full of heart-on-sleeve singer/songwriter introspection mixed with full-throttle rock, Melissa Etheridge sticks firmly to her guns on 2004's LUCKY. While pop melodicism abounds, and many of the lyrics mine Etheridge's introspective streak, there's no shortage of wide-screen rock & roll abandon here. The intro to "Secret Agent' might have you thinking you've stumbled onto an Alice In Chains outtake by mistake, and "Giant"--seemingly a gay-rights empowerment statement from out lesbian Etheridge--is powered by crushingly heavy guitar-and-drum figures. Along the way, there's also acoustic-oriented balladry ("Meet Me in the Dark") and some bluesy/funky grooves ("Kiss Me"), but whatever the stylistic mode, Etheridge's raspy, emotive wail and nakedly soul-baring lyrics are at the forefront.

Rolling Stone (3/4/04, p.66)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "[Etheridge can] rock, in the classic sense of snarling guitars and glass-shard vocals, which seems to be much of the point of LUCKY."