Skin (Melissa Etheridge album)

Skin
Studio album by Melissa Etheridge
Released	July 10, 2001
Recorded	2000–2001
Studio	The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, California
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 studio album by American singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, released by Island Records on July 10, 2001. The album explores the pain, confusion, grief, and recovery Etheridge went through following her split from Julie Cypher, her companion of 12 years. "Heal Me" features background vocals by Laura Dern and Meg Ryan. Etheridge plays almost all the instruments and penned all the songs.

Skin peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200, and the lead single "I Want to Be in Love" earned Etheridge a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Melissa Etheridge.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lover Please"	3:27
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"	3:43
8.	"Please Forgive Me"	4:43
9.	"The Different"	4:06
10.	"Heal Me"	3:39
Total length:		39:20

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

Personnel

• Melissa Etheridge – guitar, harmonica, mandolin, keyboards, vocals, background vocals
• Kenny Aronoff – drums
• Mark Browne – bass guitar
• David Cole – keyboards, programming
• Abe Laboriel Jr. – programming
• Meg Ryan – background vocals on "Heal Me"
• Laura Dern – background vocals on "Heal Me"
• Gota Yashiki – programming

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)[7]	30
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8]	35
Canadian Albums Chart[9]	18
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10]	30
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11]	10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12]	65
US Billboard 200[13]	9
European Albums (Eurotipsheet)[14]	38

Singles – Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2001	"I Want to Be in Love"	Adult Top 40	20^[citation needed]

References

1. Critic reviews at Metacritic
2. AllMusic review
3. Entertainment Weekly review
4. PopMatters review
5. "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
6. "Melissa Etheridge". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
7. "Australiancharts.com – Melissa Etheridge – Skin". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
8. "Austriancharts.at – Melissa Etheridge – Skin" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
9. "Skin – Melissa Etheridge Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Melissa Etheridge – Skin" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
11. "Offiziellecharts.de – Melissa Etheridge – Skin" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
12. "Swisscharts.com – Melissa Etheridge – Skin". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
13. "Melissa Etheridge Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
14. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 19, no. 33. August 11, 2001. p. 8. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.

External links

• Skin at Metacritic