''This Is M.E.'' is the thirteenth studio album by

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rock/pop musician

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 on September 30, 2014 by Etheridge's own label ME Records, which is distributed by Primary Wave Records. It features eleven tracks on the standard release and four bonus tracks on the

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exclusive version.

Reception

Chart history

In its first week on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of ar ...

, ''This Is M.E.'' debuted at No. 21. It also debuted at No. 23 on the Digital Albums chart, and No. 5 on the Top Rock Albums chart, selling 14,000 copies in the first week. The album has sold 50,000 copies in the United States as of September 2016.

Critical reception

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said of the album, "There's something appealing in hearing Etheridge try a number of new sounds: not everything fits but the restlessness is admirable", and awarded the album three stars. ''

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'' also awarded the album three stars, and wrote "As always, her voice can walk a fine line between passionate and histrionic, but when she dials it back on the smoldering 'Like A Preacher', it's clear that this honeymoon might be the start of a whole new her."

Promotion

Album cover

On June 18, 2014, Etheridge posted a video to her

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page calling for fans to submit photos of themselves for her new album cover. Etheridge said of this "Because my fans are such a huge part of ''ME'', and I wouldn't be ''ME'' without ''YOU'', I took photos submitted by my fans and turned it into my album cover". The finished album cover is a mosaic of numerous small photos of fans, with colors slightly tinted to form the appearance of Etheridge.

Press tour and YouTube duet

Etheridge embarked on an extensive promotional tour in support of the album, appearing on such shows as '' The Meredith Vieira Show'', '' Entertainment Tonight'', '' The View'', '' Good Morning America'', and ''

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''. On October 3, 2014, singer/songwriter

Sam Tsui Samuel Tsui (born May 2, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter and video producer. He rose to fame as an internet celebrity known for doing covers and musical medleys of songs by pop artists. He has since released original songs and expanded t ...

released a video on

of his cover of "A Little Hard Hearted," in which featured Etheridge as well.

Track listing

All songs written or co-written by

Personnel

Performance Credits *Melissa Etheridge – guitar, harmonica, piano, vocals *Bernard Grobman – guitar, steel guitar *Jon Levine – Hammond organ, bass guitar, piano, glockenspiel, keyboards *Randy Cooke – drums *Angela Hunt – vocals *Angela Hunte – vocals *Natalie Walker – vocals *Jonathan Li – voices *Farrah "Fendi" Fleurimond – vocals *MBF – voices *Jerrod Bettis – bass guitar *M B F – voices *Jon Levin – Hammond organ, piano, keyboards *Melissa Papp – voices *Amritha Vaz – strings *Neyla Pekarek – cello, vocals *Jon Sosin – banjo, ukulele *Bruce Crews – voices *Jamale Hopkins – percussion, drums *Roccstar – guitar *Brie Biblow – voices *Natalie Loren Walker – vocals *Robert L. Morris – drums, percussion Technical Credits *Melissa Etheridge – Composer, Executive Producer *Stephen Marcussen – Mastering *Jon Levine – Composer, Producer *Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis – Composer, Producer *Josh Grabelle – Artwork *J.J. Blair – Engineer *Arden Altino – Composer *Angela Hunte – Composer *Sergio "Sergical" Tsai – Engineer *Adam Kapit – Composer, Producer *Nick Radovanovic – Associate Remixing Engineer *Arden "Keyz" Altino – Producer *Daniel Piscina – Engineer *Christian Seibert – Composer *Josh Gwilliam – Engineer *Andrew Robertson – Engineer *Jerrod Bettis – Composer, Producer *Lance Powell – Engineer *Todd Hurtt – Engineer *Roccstar – Composer, Producer *Ralph Rhim – Engineer *Noah Diamond – Composer *Kelsey Eckstein – Composer *Ralph Phim – Engineer *Marcel Pariseau – Public Relations

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Melissa Etheridge albums Albums produced by Jon Levine Albums produced by RoccStar Albums produced by Jerry Wonda