Bayside Melissa

Punning title aside, This Is M.E. doesn't necessarily play like an affirmation of Melissa Etheridge's core strengths. Rather, this 2014 album – her 12th studio set – finds the veteran singer/songwriter stretching her legs, trying a lot of different sounds, all with the assistance of a diverse cast of collaborators. While Jerrod Bettis, a writer who previously worked with Adele and Gavin DeGraw, might seem like an easy fit, the big surprise is that Etheridge chooses to work with several R&B producers and songwriters, including Roccstar, Jon Levine, and Jerry Wonder. The difference is immediately apparent from the beginning of This Is M.E., as it opens with the wall of sound of "I Won't Be Alone Tonight," a surging piece of AAA pop that does play a bit like Adele spliced with Roccstar.

On her fifth album, Melissa Etheridge mixed her primary musical influences–a lot of Bruce Springsteen, some Led Zeppelin, a little U2–with a set of directed love lyrics–a lot of "you," some "I," a little "they"–that seemed to revolve around a romantic triangle. Etheridge's emotional concerns were specifically same sex-oriented, not so much because she flaunted her lesbianism as because of the way she thought about sex and relationships. Her lyrics were full of references to exchanges of identities between lovers: "I really like you, baby / I want to be you"; "Please let me into your eyes"; and "Spend the night inside of my skin" in a song called, "I Could Have Been You."