Description:
There's back to the beginning, and then there's back to the beginning. It doesn't get much more elemental than "All There Is," the brief, swirling invocation of the essence of the universe with which Melissa Etheridge opens The Awakening, the ninth studio album of her singular career.

The story she tells through this involving, colorful song-cycle, though, is completely her own, a tale that runs from her first uncertain steps through her well-chronicled rise to rock star, human rights activist, parent, cancer survivor and 2007 Academy Award winner for "I Need to Wake Up," featured in the Al Gore environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth. It's a journey full of joys and tears, portrayed in songs that are at turns powerful and playful, at once confessional and engaging, personal and universal. In other words, Melissa Etheridge at her creative peak - and the most open she's ever been.

And it's Etheridge as we've never heard her before. "Message to Myself" rides an indelible pop hook that's sure to be the most buoyant sing-along she's ever led. The sly "Threesome" is a country-rocker that, well, it's unlikely you'll ever hear Carrie Underwood covering. "California," "An Unexpected Rain," "I've Loved You Before" and "The Universe Listened," among others, are poetically detailed chapters of her remarkable life and the epiphanies along the way. Co-produced by Etheridge and David Cole (whose extensive credits include Etheridge's two previous albums, 2004's Lucky and 2001's Skin) with sparkling play from her band (guitarist Philip Sayce, bassist Mark Browne and drummer Mauricio "Fritz" Lewak), the album embraces the music and emotions of an artist reaching a new peak.

"This is my ninth album and I wanted to get back to why I love music," she says. "It's already a success for me. I got to create it. That was the fun and joy."