Tigerlily Oklahoma

Tigerlily

Natalie Merchant

Elektra Records, 1995

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 10/01/2002

One can only speculate why Natalie Merchant chose to leave 10,000 Maniacs, the band with whom she first tasted fame, in 1994. Maybe it was that she was getting tired of doing songs with a commercial edge, and she wanted the freedom to create songs which were true to her own artistic vision, even if they didn't get a sniff of notice from radio.

Tigerlily, Merchant's solo debut from 1995, did indeed spawn three hits, and cemented her role in the field of alternative rock. But this disc also showed that when Merchant turned more introspective and turned down the intensity on the music, the whole picture suffered.

Admittedly, I've never been a big fan of the song "Carnival," the first single off the album, but in terms of the big picture, it's really not so bad. It does have a somewhat catchy beat, even if one wishes there had been a little more in the lyrical department in terms of quantity. "Wonder" does a better job as a single, even though it reverts back to the pop sensibility that marked Merchant's time with 10,000 Maniacs.

But for the most part on Tigerlily, Merchant eschews the glamour of pop and follows her own muse - a muse which can be summed up in one word....