Skin (Melissa Etheridge album)

Skin
Studio album by Melissa Etheridge
Released	July 10, 2001
Recorded	2000-2001
Genre	Rock
Length	38:40
Label	Island
Producer	Melissa Etheridge, David N. Cole
Melissa Etheridge chronology
Breakdown (1999) Skin (2001) Lucky (2004)

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(73/100) [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B− [3]
PopMatters	[1][4]
Q	[1]
Rolling Stone	[5]

Skin is the seventh album by singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge, released in 2001 (see 2001 in music). During the singer's split from Julie Cypher, her companion of 12 years, Melissa Etheridge retreated to her home studio to pen songs about her searing pain and confusion. Skin peels back layers of Etheridge's pain and addresses her personal melodrama, as she takes the listener through the stages of grief and recovery. "Heal Me" features background vocals by Laura Dern and Meg Ryan. Etheridge plays almost all the instruments and penned all the songs.

Track listing

All songs by Melissa Etheridge

1. "Lover Please" – 3:26
2. "The Prison" – 4:59
3. "Walking on Water" – 3:04
4. "Down to One" – 3:56
5. "Goodnight" – 3:33
6. "It's Only Me" – 3:40
7. "I Want to Be in Love" – 3:34
8. "Please Forgive Me" – 4:43
9. "The Different" – 4:06
10. "Heal Me" – 3:39

There is one known outtake titled 'Whispers in the Heart' 'My Heart' or 'Heart Whispers'

Personnel

• Melissa Etheridge - guitar, harmonica, mandolin, keyboard, vocals, background vocals
• Kenny Aronoff - drums
• Mark Browne - bass
• David Cole - keyboard
• Abe Laboriel Jr. - drum loop
• Meg Ryan - background vocals on "Heal Me"
• Laura Dern - background vocals on "Heal Me"
• Gota Yashiki - loops

Production

• Producers: Melissa Etheridge, David N. Cole
• Engineer: David N. Cole
• Assistant engineers: Steve Genewick, Charles Paakkari
• Mixing: David N. Cole, Chris Lord-Alge, Sylvia Massy, Matt Silva
• Mastering: Ted Jensen
• Drum programming: David N. Cole
• Production coordination: Steven Girmant
• Assistants: Charles Paakkari, Matt Silva
• Art direction: Rick Patrick
• Photography: Dan Winters

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[6]	30
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[7]	35
Canadian Albums Chart[8]	18
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[9]	30
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10]	10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[11]	65
US Billboard 200[8]	9

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2001	"I Want to Be in Love"	Adult Top 40	20

References

1. Critic reviews at Metacritic
2. AllMusic review
3. Entertainment Weekly review
4. PopMatters review
5. Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived October 1, 2007)
6. "Australiancharts.com – Melissa Etheridge – Skin". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2014.
7. "Austriancharts.at – Melissa Etheridge – Skin" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2014.
8. "Skin – Melissa Etheridge Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
9. "Dutchcharts.nl – Melissa Etheridge – Skin" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2014.
10. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 2014.
11. "Swisscharts.com – Melissa Etheridge – Skin". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 2014.

External links

• Skin at Metacritic