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Tigerlily

For other uses, see Tiger lily (disambiguation).

Tigerlily is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, released on June 20, 1995, following her departure from the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs.

Tigerlily
Studio album by
Natalie Merchant
ReleasedJune 20, 1995
RecordedDecember 1994–March 1995
Studio
GenreAlternative rock
Length52:06
LabelElektra
ProducerNatalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant chronology
Tigerlily
(1995) 		Ophelia
(1998)
Singles from Tigerlily
  1. "Carnival"
    Released: July 1995
  2. "Wonder"
    Released: 1995
  3. "Jealousy"
    Released: 1996

Tigerlily peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified five-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2001.[1] It contained three singles that charted on the Billboard Hot 100: "Carnival" (No. 10), "Wonder" (No. 20), and "Jealousy" (No. 23).

Re-releases

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Tigerlily was re-released in 1996 as a 2-CD set, with the second CD containing a remix of the song "Jealousy" and live performances from her tour.

In 2015, to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary, Merchant rerecorded the songs from the album and released them as Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings.[2]

Background

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The song "River" is a tribute to River Phoenix.[3][4]

Aileen Wuornos requested that Merchant's song "Carnival" be played at her funeral, and the song later appeared in the credits of the 2003 documentary Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer. Merchant later commented:

"When director Nick Broomfield sent a working edit of the film, I was so disturbed by the subject matter that I couldn't even watch it. Aileen Wuornos led a tortured, torturing life that is beyond my worst nightmares. It wasn't until I was told that Aileen spent many hours listening to my album Tigerlily while on death row and requested "Carnival" be played at her funeral that I gave permission for the use of the song. It's very odd to think of the places my music can go once it leaves my hands. If it gave her some solace, I have to be grateful."[5]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
Chicago Tribune    [6]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[7]
The Guardian     [8]
Los Angeles Times    [9]
NME5/10[10]
Q     [11]
Rolling Stone     [4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide     [12]
Spin3/10[13]

Among positive reviews, J. D. Considine commented in Musician that Tigerlily shows "a far greater stylistic range than the Maniacs" and "Merchant conveys more passion and personality than in the past",[14] while Mark Cooper of Mojo highlighted "her flair for narrative songwriting and that habitual chafing between the sober and the sensual, sense and sensibility."[15] Los Angeles Times critic Jean Rosenbluth wrote that Tigerlily "presents Merchant as considerably more mature and womanly than the Maniacs gave her room to be" and "marks positive progress for a talent that is still in bloom."[9] In The Guardian, Caroline Sullivan opined that Merchant had surpassed her work in 10,000 Maniacs with an album of "11 moving lyrics, sung with great grace", singling out "Beloved Wife" as possibly "the most touching thing committed to disc this year."[8] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, David Browne observed that, "with its unadorned, keyboard-based arrangements, Tigerlily is more sparely produced than anything Merchant did with 10,000 Maniacs, yet the starkness works in her favor ... The hooks on this album are subtler, and ultimately Merchant sounds both more natural and affecting." While Browne expressed a desire for Merchant to "lighten up," he also praised her "uncompromising vision."[7] Brad Webber of the Chicago Tribune felt that Merchant's "characteristic trills and unique vocal stylism paint Tigerlily with bravura and make amends for some tepid songwriting."[6]

Al Weisel, however, said in Rolling Stone that Merchant's voice had "nearly deteriorated into self-parody", adding, "With its surfeit of blindly self-obsessed lyrics and lulling lite-rock arrangements, the bulk of Tigerlily provides a perfect soundtrack for the Prozac nation."[4] Elysa Gardner panned it in Spin as a "predictably tasteful effort" that "makes 10,000 Maniacs actually sound like ten thousand maniacs",[13] while Q's Phil Sutcliffe found it lacking in "conviction or soul",[11] and NME's Mark Sutherland deemed it "nice" yet mostly "routine reflection".[10] Critic Robert Christgau left no comment beyond an indifferent grade of "neither".[16]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine concluded that "the added emphasis on rhythmic texture works, creating an intimate but not exclusive atmosphere that holds throughout the record, even when her occasionally sophomoric, sentimental poetry threatens to sink the album in the weight of its own preciousness".[3] Tom Moon, in the 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide, compared the songs on Tigerlily to the "ambitious, unconventional material" Merchant wrote as a member of 10,000 Maniacs, "which made good use of her porcelain voice and exotic lyrical imagery."[12]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Natalie Merchant, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."San Andreas Fault"3:57
2."Wonder"4:26
3."Beloved Wife"5:03
4."River"5:32
5."Carnival"5:59
6."I May Know the Word"8:07
7."The Letter"2:12
8."Cowboy Romance"4:39
9."Jealousy"2:41
10."Where I Go"3:59
11."Seven Years"5:31
1996 bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Jealousy" (remix edit) 2:44
2."Sympathy for the Devil" (live)
5:17
3."Baby I Love You/Son of a Preacher Man (Medley)" (live)
5:54
4."Take a Look" (live)Allen Toussaint3:45
5."The Work Song" (live)
3:52

Personnel

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Additional musicians

  • John Holbrook – electric guitar (1, 9), organ (3, 9)
  • Adrián López Guevarra – percussion (5, 10)
  • Matt Henderson – electric guitar (1), bass guitar (1)
  • Jay Ungar – violin (8)
  • Michelle Kinney – cello (11)
  • Katell Keineg – backing vocals (5)
  • Eric Schenkman – electric guitar (9)
  • Randy Grant – percussion (1)

Technical

  • John Holbrook – engineer, mixing
  • Natalie Merchant – package design
  • Frank Olinsky – package design
  • Dan Borris – portraits of Natalie
  • José Picayo – band photographs
  • Todd Vos – assistant engineer
  • Paul Antonell – assistant engineer
  • Suzanne Dyer – assistant engineer
  • Andrew Page – assistant engineer
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[26] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Silver 100,000[28]
United States (RIAA)[1] 5× Platinum 5,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b "American album certifications – Natalie Merchant – Tigerlily". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  2. ^ "Nonesuch to Release Natalie Merchant's 'Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings' with Companion Documentary on DVD November 6". Nonesuch Records. August 13, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Tigerlily – Natalie Merchant". AllMusic. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Weisel, Al (June 29, 1995). "Natalie Merchant: Tigerlily". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  5. ^ "News: Aileen Wuornos Documentary". NatalieMerchant.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  6. ^ a b Webber, Brad (July 27, 1995). "On Her Own". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Browne, David (June 23, 1995). "Tigerlily". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Sullivan, Caroline (June 23, 1995). "Natalie Merchant: Tigerlily (Elektra)". The Guardian.
  9. ^ a b Rosenbluth, Jean (June 18, 1995). "Natalie Merchant 'Tigerlily' Elektra". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Sutherland, Mark (June 24, 1995). "Merchant of V Nice". NME. p. 57.
  11. ^ a b Sutcliffe, Phil (August 1995). "Natalie Merchant: Tigerlily". Q. No. 107. Archived from the original on November 12, 2004. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Moon, Tom (2004). "Natalie Merchant". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 537–538. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  13. ^ a b Gardner, Elysa (August 1995). "Natalie Merchant: Tigerlily". Spin. Vol. 11, no. 5. pp. 93–94. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  14. ^ Considine, J. D. (September 1995). "Short Takes". Musician. No. 202. p. 93.
  15. ^ Cooper, Mark (July 1995). "Natalie Merchant: Tigerlily". Mojo. No. 20. p. 110.
  16. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Natalie Merchant: Tigerlily". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 204. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  17. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Natalie Merchant – Tigerlily". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  18. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2760". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  19. ^ "Charts.nz – Natalie Merchant – Tigerlily". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  20. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  21. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  22. ^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  23. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1995". Billboard. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  24. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1996". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  25. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1996". Billboard. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  26. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1998 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  27. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Natalie Merchant – Tigerlily". Music Canada. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  28. ^ Jones, Alan (January 29, 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Bowie album chart domination continues". Music Week. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  29. ^ "British album certifications – Natalie Merchant – Tigerlily". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
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