Freedom Knows My Name

by Charles DonovanFreedom Knows My Name followed another recording hiatus in Melanie's checkered career. By now her voice had markedly coarsened, and sounded not unlike a heartier, drug-free Stevie Nicks. The album's material ranges from the good to the so-so. The morbid humor of "Estate Sale" ("Going through dead people's houses/Wonderful things they have collected/Open the drawers, the trunks, the closets/Don't leave a corner uninspected") suits Melanie well, and the rhythmic folk title track, propelled by a great bassline, is her best shot as a writer in a while. Another highlight, "Gone with the Wind," is an entertaining career summation in song. The production (as always, courtesy of her husband) avoids the pitfalls of her '80s work, and for the first time in over a decade, Melanie's songs are allowed to come across unbutchered.