Fall CD Releases - Boston.com

From a battle with breast cancer to winning an Oscar in February for her song in the documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth,' it's been a trying but triumphant past few years for Melissa Etheridge. Her celebratory new album reflects those times with some of her most compelling songwriting in years (particularly 'Map of the Stars') cast in her usual power-rock framework. But there are a few clunkers here, too. Songs like the generic rocker 'Threesome,' in which she declares, 'I don't wanna have a threesome/ I don't wanna sleep with nobody else,' are beneath her (ahem). Sprinkled throughout the album are short interludes from the John Lennon school of affirmation: 'God is in the people' and 'all we can really do is love one another.' -- JAMES REED

Melissa Etheridge, "The Awakening" (Island)

From a battle with breast cancer to winning an Oscar in February for her song in the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," it's been a trying but triumphant past few years for Melissa Etheridge.

Her celebratory new album reflects those times with some of her most compelling songwriting in years (particularly "Map of the Stars") cast in her usual power-rock framework. But there are a few clunkers here, too. Songs like the generic rocker "Threesome," in which she declares, "I don't wanna have a threesome/ I don't wanna sleep with nobody else," are beneath her (ahem).

Sprinkled throughout the album are short interludes from the John Lennon school of affirmation: "God is in the people" and "all we can really do is love one another."

-- JAMES REED

(AP Photo)

What's the best new album you've heard so far this year?

E-mail to a friend | More in A&E