Rocktrospectiva: The Formidable "Tigerlily" Turns 30

Released on 20 June 1995 "Tigerlily" was the debut studio album by US singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, released on June 20, 1995, following her departure from the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. The album spawned three singles "Carnival", "Wonder" & "Jealousy" and the album peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200.

 

Natalie Merchant's first solo album in where she finally broke free of pop limitations, she moved away of the 10,000 Maniacs sound, the singer changed the jangly folk-rock for a sound quite similar as "Our Time In Eden" which was her last full album with the Maniacs. A pitch-perfect, bright vocals, emotional rescue that made of the entire album driven by her voice and sounds, a full-poetic album the honour beauty.

 

The album has fantastic tunes from the groove and indie "Carnival", the rolling "San Andreas Fault", a piece so emotionally that told the story of the seedy Hollywood dream,  "Wonder." was a simply story about a young baby girl and how she is amazing just sitting there in her crib, with the world on a string and her whole life in front of her.  It was about powerful girls and women, the emotional "Ruver" a tribute to the late actor River Phoenix, that succumbed on Sunset Blvd, here on this track, Merchant is not only mourning his death but criticized the media for dissecting his life. "The Letter." is a lament letter to an old lover that she has yet to pen.

 

Critics praised the album. The intensity and passion flowing throughout the album are exactly why it needs to be in the Newbury St. Collection. The album showed a far greater stylistic range than the Maniacs and Merchant conveys more passion and personality than in the past, a considerably more mature and womanly than the Maniacs, on the other hand, some critics noticed her voice had nearly deteriorated into self-parody, and the album provided the perfect soundtrack for Prozac Nation. In the end, the album has been awarded into an ambitious material far beyond as her legacy with the 10,000 Maniacs. 

 

Tigerlily Track List: 

 

1. San Andreas Fault 

2. Wonder

3. Beloved Wife

4. River

5. Carnival

6. I May Know The Word

7. The Letter

8. Cowboy Romance

9. Jealousy

10. Where I Go

11. Seven Years