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Natalie Merchant Music Collection : Motherland

Motherland


Price: $2.44

Artist: Natalie Merchant

  1. The House Is On Fire
  2. Motherland
  3. Saint Judas
  4. Put The Law On You
  5. Build A Levee
  6. Golden Boy
  7. The Ballad Of Henry Darger
  8. The Worst Thing
  9. Tell Yourself
  10. Just Can t Last
  11. Not In This Life
  12. I m Not Gonna Beg

Just as Natalie Merchant donned a mythical persona for her last proper solo release, 1998 s Ophelia, the buttery-voiced performer enjoys another stint as a quick-change artist on Motherland. From the trilling Middle Eastern flavor of opener This House Is on Fire to the evocative Latin classical guitar tones on The Worst Thing, Merchant seems to enjoy pressing her steadfast, throaty vocals into new terrain as much as she does trying on dresses and high heels. While most of Motherland resides in the downtempo, ballad-heavy world that Ophelia did, most of the singer s diehard fans will appreciate her thoughtful phrasing and pastel soundscapes. There may not be fireworks, but the ex-10,000 Maniacs frontwoman knows her way around a sad song: Golden Boy excels as a wispy November poem, while she wiggles into torch-singer mode on Put the Law on You. But the record s true standout is Tell Yourself, an almost sprightly tune with sunny acoustics that resemble the Maniacs Don t Talk. Merchant may not be inherently comfortable in her own skin, but, like a salamander, she s excellent at transforming her surroundings without sacrificing her creative soul. --Kristy Martin

Not her best - I am not writing to slam this album so much as to give some balance to the reviews here. I think it s normal for fans of an album, for the most part, to do Amazon reviews and so even mediocre CDs often wind up with 4 star rankings.I own everything by the 10,000 Maniacs, John and Mary, and Natalie Merchant. I m a big fan of her work and the work of the Maniacs, but I thought this CD was about the least listenable product she has released, either with or without the Maniacs. Her first solo CD (Tigerlily) was very poppy and strong, her second (Ophelia) had catchy melodies but had a greater depth and more somber tone overall, her third solo studio CD (Motherland) was her attempt to write an original folky masterpiece. She would in fact record a great CD following Motherland where she covered traditional folk songs (House Carpenter s Daughter). Motherland feels like the awkward step between her writing pop masterpieces like Tigerlily and Ophelia, and recording classic folk songs on House Carpenter s Daughter. Where the CD kind of loses me is in its inclusion of one too many slow-tempo somewhat overlong numbers. I can t help thinking that if even one of these slow songs was removed (How about removing Put the Law on You?) the CD would flow a lot better.

i know what you tell yourself - this is just such a perfect album. it s haunting and spare and creepy, like rain pattering against the roof of an abandoned farmhouse where you re waiting out the storm... the darkness and cohesiveness of Motherland lift it way above the (often-brilliant-but-unambitious) stuff she d been doing up til then. all the songs are strong, but Tell Yourself is my favorite Natalie Merchant song ever - sad and simple and stirring.

Not for the casual fam - This is a good album by Natalie Merchant, but not being a fanatic, I prefer to stick with her first couple of solo albums. I found this to be beautifully produced and performed, but wasn t willing to invest the time in a dark, slower album.

Beautiful voice - Natalie has a wonderful throaty voice which carries a song farther than one could imagine. If you like to listen to the voice of a woman and not a teenager, pick Natalie Merchant!

What Happened to Natalie s Voice? - What is Natalie trying to prove now? I ve got just about all her albums...great stuff...and love the few times I ve seen her live on television...but what is wrong with her voice? I ve listened to this album several times over the years I ve had it here, and just keep thinking that she sounds like someone who was advised to smoke a lot of cheap cigars, in an effort to lower or deepen her voice...and possibly a daily ration of scotch to go with that. She sounds tired, gray, and as if someone has slowed down the record...like someone trudging through a foggy day. I suppose it could be that her overflowing social conscience has her thinking she s a woman of color now, and she s trying to emulate the sound of a black woman blues singer...I don t know...but it s sad.



Motherland