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Second Skin Review

Refusing to fit any molds either the mainstream or Christian music community might have in mind for her, Ashley Cleveland is one of the strongest and most righteous voices on the face of modern pop music. Cleveland has won multiple Grammy and Dove awards and toured with John Hiatt, but Second Skin, her fifth album, is her most ambitious and gritty recording to date. The release includes take-no-prisoner rockers, sweet pop tunes, soulful ballads, and slow-burning blues songs, plus splendid hybrids of them all. Her voice is smooth, strong, and incredibly expressive, adaptable to a wide array of song styles. She might remind you of Melissa Etheridge on one song, Bonnie Raitt on another, and Sheryl Crow on the next, but mostly she'll just remind you of herself. Cleveland smartly retools Hiatt's "Riding with the King" in a manner that implicitly replaces its original subject--Elvis--with Jesus Christ, while her covers of Tom Waits and Neil Young are irresistibly straightforward. Her own songs, especially "Wired" and "Don't Let Me Fall," reveal grace, humility, and courage. Now this is how rock gospel oughta sound!

Review by: Mike McGonigal, Amazon.com