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 Refreshing & Taunting, Sexy & Sultry Jan 09, 2009
Can't believe this album was her first. Undoubtedly wise beyond her years, Apple's rhythmic melodies and smooth velvety voice are a joy to behold. And her lyrics? Bold, brutal and honest to the core, but the jazzy overtones set for a more mature message than a rant. I'm a late bloomer to her music, but happy to say, better late than never.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Amazing first work Nov 24, 2008
This is Fiona's first album. Although not yet fully developed, her talent was already impressive here.
Criminal was a big hit, but the album is great all the way, with nice and easy listening songs all through it. Her voice blends so perfectly with the piano chords and Brion's producing is high quality. The band that plays on it is also extremely professioanl.
And let's face it, how many real talented women do we have nowadays singing rock? By far my favourite female voice!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
some of the best 90's music you'll find.. Sep 11, 2008
I still remember when this cd first came out, back in 1996 (around that time). This cd captures some of the best music in the 90's. So take a trip down memory lane and enjoy this.
Fiona's subsequent cds are also good. She is very talented vocally and with the piano.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Her Best Album! Sep 03, 2008
I just love this album...beautiful, intense and powerful. My newest favorite is Arrica's new album,La La Lost. Check her out if you like Fiona.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Bad Girls, Broken Promises, and Berated Lovers [4.5 Stars] Sep 01, 2008
Released in 1996 at the height of the female singer/songwriter movement, Fiona Apple's startling debut, Tidal, blatantly refused to be stereotyped as another "wronged-feminist" record. Not to say Fiona shies away from the topic of relationships, (some of the album's best songs deal with angry lovers, unhappy trysts, and lonely nights) she just approaches them in a unique and beautifully raw way. Throughout most of the album, Fiona's sultry alto purrs, snarls, and laments over polished piano and orchestral melodies as electric guitars and heavy drum beats bring the sound together. This interesting fusion of alternative rock and jazz creates one of the saddest, angriest, and sexiest albums of the past few decades.
To Fiona, emotion is a weapon. Showcasing this with Tidal's sinister opening, "Sleep to Dream," Apple's angry, uneven alto sneers down vehemently upon her uncaring lover, backed by ethereal beats and claps. The mood takes a somber shift as Fiona's voice changes from contempt to grief. "There's too much going on/But it's calm under the waves/In the blue of my oblivion." Fiona cries out in "Sullen Girl," a track recalling Apple's experience of being raped. "Shadowboxer," arguably one of the best songs on the entire disk, is also the most polished one. Here, Apple puts her piano to good use, while her voice moves to dangerously low octaves.
This segues into the ever-so-popular "Criminal." Fiona's confessional lyrics (I've been a bad, bad girl/I've been careless with a delicate man/And it's a sad, sad world/When a girl will break a boy/Just because she can) are amazingly complimented by the almost menacing alt rock sound. Made famous by its raunchy video, Criminal won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
After "Criminal" the album slows down. "Slow Like Honey" has Fiona's silky voice linger over a hesitant piano. Beautiful in its simplicity, this track is arguably one of the quietest of Fiona's. The album hasn't gone completely still, however, as evidenced by the up-tempo sixth song, "First Taste." Definitely the most uneven track on the album, "First Taste's" lyrics sometimes feel forced, and the vocals don't seem to really flow that well with the rest of the music.
"Never is a Promise," the next song, is pure heartache. A ballad in every unconventional way, this orchestral gem remains to be one of the most heartbreaking tracks I've ever heard. Fiona's true knack for musical poetry comes through here: "You say I need appeasing/When I start to cry/But never is a promise/And I never need to lie."
Fiona's tragic, "The Child Is Gone," is another work of sheer brilliance. The track's beautiful strings blend well with her somber arraignment, while its follow up "Pale September" continues in the same pattern, though lyrics alone give "The Child is Gone" a bit of an edge over its successor. Concluding the album is the amazing "Carrion." Uneven, brassy, quiet, loud, sexy, sad, happy, angry, contemplative, and dark, this is the best song to summarize such an amazing musical journey. Truly one of the album's best moments.
Hardly as quiet as Tori Amos's irrevocably dazzling Little Earthquakes or as screechy as Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill, Tidal is a powerful debut by a talented singer/songwriter, who is stunning in not only her rawness, but also her ethereal beauty. If you're in the mood for a lush, haunting, and all around superb album, pick up Tidal. I promise you won't be disappointed. [4.5 stars]
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