''Breakdown'' is the sixth album by singer-songwriter

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

, released in 1999 (see

1999 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in 1999. Specific locations *1999 in British music * 1999 in Norwegian music * 1999 in South Korean music Specific genres * 1999 in classical music * 1999 in country music *1999 in La ...

). A Limited Edition version of the album was simultaneously released featuring three bonus tracks. "Scarecrow" is dedicated to the memory of

Matthew Shepard Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Po ...

, and his family and friends. "Into the Dark" appeared in episodes of '' Haven'' and ''

Night Visions ''Night Visions'' is the debut studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was released on September 4, 2012, through Kidinakorner and Interscope Records. The album was primarily produced by the band themselves, as well as Eng ...

''.

Track listing

All songs by Melissa Etheridge, except where noted #"Breakdown" – 3:54 #" Angels Would Fall" (Etheridge, Shanks) – 4:39 #"Stronger Than Me" – 4:08 #"Into the Dark" – 4:59 #"Enough of Me" – 4:39 #"Truth of the Heart" (Etheridge, Shanks) – 4:31 #"Mama I'm Strange" – 4:29 #"

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

" – 5:21 #"How Would I Know" – 4:15 #"My Lover" – 5:45 #"Sleep" – 7:10 tandard pressing/ 4:39 imited Edition pressing#"Touch and Go"* – 4:36 #"Cherry Avenue"* – 4:29 #"Beloved"* – 7:54 * Limited Edition bonus tracks

Personnel

*Melissa Etheridge – acoustic guitar, vocals *

Kenny Aronoff Kenny Aronoff (born March 7, 1953) is an American session drummer. Early life Aronoff grew up in Stockbridge, Massachusetts He developed an interest in music at an early age and gravitated to the drums as "drumming was one hundred percent ener ...

– drums,

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

, shaker *

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

– guitar *Mark Browne – bass guitar *

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...

– drums * Steve Ferrone – percussion, drums *Rami Jaffee – keyboards *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

– drums *

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cultu ...

– guitar, mandolin, lap steel guitar * Brian MacLeod – percussion,

drum loop In music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections can be repeated to create ostinato patterns. Longer sections can also be repeated: for example, a player might loop what they play on an entire verse of a song in order to ...

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific session bassist, he has played bass for acts such as The Who, the John Mayer Trio, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Jeff Beck ...

– bass guitar *

John Shanks John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. Early life and education John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...

–

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

, guitar, harp,

, background vocals *

Patrick Warren Patrick Warren (born March 26, 1957) is an American musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Magnolia'', ''Fifty Shades of Grey'', '' Boogie Nights'' and ''Red State'', as well as the television series ' ...

– keyboards *Gota Yashiki – programming

Production

*Producers: Melissa Etheridge,

*Engineers: Marc DeSisto, Greg Goldman *Assistant engineers: John Aguto, Tom Nellen, Geoff Walcha *Mixing:

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto (band), Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he ...

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

*Mastering: Bob Ludwig *studio technician: Brett Allen *Art direction: Scott Denton Cardew *Artwork: Scott Denton Cardew *Photography: Barbara Green, Rocky Schenck *Hair stylist: Bernhard Tammé

Charts

Certifications

Notes

{{Authority control Melissa Etheridge albums 1999 albums Albums produced by John Shanks Island Records albums