On FUNDAMENTAL, Bonnie Raitt trades in the smooth, rich L.A.-sounding production of Don Was for the edgy, reverbless, angular studio approach of Mitchell Froom. Another FUNDAMENTAL difference is that Raitt is writing more of her own material, a trend that's been slowly developing for some time now. Besides her own tunes, there are contributions from Raitt regulars like John Hiatt and Paul Brady as well a tune by Los Lobos' David Hidalgo and Louie Perez ("Cure For Love") and one by NRBQ's Joey Spampinato, who appears here with keyboard-playing bandmate Terry Adams. One thing that hasn't changed is Raitt's muscular slide guitar work and strong, emotional vocal style, both of which are in evidence here.