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.
Track listing
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
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
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! Chart (2001)
! Peak<br>position
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Albums Chart
|align=center|18
|-
|-
|-
|-
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!scope="row"|European Albums (Eurotipsheet)
| style="text-align:center;"|38
|-
|}
Singles – Billboard (North America)
{| class="wikitable" width="550"
!align="left"|Year
!align="left"|Single
!align="left"|Chart
!align="left"|Position
|-
|align="left"|2001
|align="left"|"I Want to Be in Love"
|align="left"|Adult Top 40
|align="left"|20
|-
|}