- Audio Cassette (23 July 1996)
- Format: Import
- Label: Sony
- ASIN: B000002BEA
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Mini-Disc | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Sleep to Dream |
| 2. Sullen Girl |
| 3. Shadowboxer |
| 4. Criminal |
| 5. Slow Like Honey |
| 6. First Taste |
| 7. Never Is a Promise |
| 8. Child Is Gone |
| 9. Pale September |
| 10. Carrion |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Tidal is the debut album by Fiona Apple, a New York singer/songwriter/pianist who was 18 years old at the time of its 1996 release. Apple is obviously talented--she has a dark, smoky alto and a knack for an arresting turn of phrase--but she's still several years away from realizing her potential. For every fresh lyric she writes ("Daddy longlegs, I feel that I'm finally growing weary of waiting to be consumed by you"), she provides two examples of embarrassingly precious schoolgirl poetry ("Adagio breezes fill my skin with sudden red," from the same song, "The First Taste"). She also has yet to refine her moody piano chords into actual melodies, though "Shadowboxer" comes close. --Geoffrey Himes
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Fiona Apple has become one of those few singer-songwriters who is known for her talent, with only two albums to her name. Her debut "Tidal" is more uneven than her sophomore album, but Apple's rich voice and exquisite musicianship make up for the occasional lyrical stumbles.
"You say love is a hell you cannot bear/And I say gimme mine back and then go there for all I care," Apple sings in the first song, her alto suspended somewhere between a purr and a snarl. Backling her up is her own textured piano playing, backed by a heavy bass lick that pops up every few seconds like a tribal drum.
But unworthy lovers aren't the only topic that Apple tackles here. She also explores personal changes ("And I suddenly feel like a different person/From the roots of my soul come a gentle coercion"), hurting others in love, and "You'll say "don't fear your dreams"/It's easier than it seems."
Her songs are painfully deep in themselves, but it's all the more shocking and stunning when you realize that she was only eighteen when the album was released. Her music exudes the sorrow, anger and emotion of a woman twenty years older, mixed in with the ever-changing personality of a young girl. Music like this can't be calculated; it can only ever be real.
Her youth does show in songs like "Pale Summer," or certain awkward lines like "Oh, your love give me a heart contusion/Adagio breezes fill my skin with sudden red." It sounds a bit too overblown, in a high-school poetry way. But Apple has a rare way with simpler lines, giving them a verbal punch that a shadowboxer couldn't match. "I have never been so insulted in all my life/I could swallow the seas to wash down all this pride!" she snarls in the first song.
But honestly speaking, Apple could sing some really dreadful songs and they would still sound good -- her voice is another thing that was much older than she was, the sort of thing you'd expect to find in a thirtysomething torch singer. Her husky alto carries the songs with a rare intensity, backed with swelling strings and her delicate piano melodies.
There are a few lyrical stumbles in Fiona Apple's debut "Tidal," but it's still a pop masterpiece. Beautiful, intense, heartfelt and heartbreaking.
"You say love is a hell you cannot bear/And I say gimme mine back and then go there for all I care," Apple sings in the first song, her alto suspended somewhere between a purr and a snarl. Backling her up is her own textured piano playing, backed by a heavy bass lick that pops up every few seconds like a tribal drum.
But unworthy lovers aren't the only topic that Apple tackles here. She also explores personal changes ("And I suddenly feel like a different person/From the roots of my soul come a gentle coercion"), hurting others in love, and "You'll say "don't fear your dreams"/It's easier than it seems."
Her songs are painfully deep in themselves, but it's all the more shocking and stunning when you realize that she was only eighteen when the album was released. Her music exudes the sorrow, anger and emotion of a woman twenty years older, mixed in with the ever-changing personality of a young girl. Music like this can't be calculated; it can only ever be real.
Her youth does show in songs like "Pale Summer," or certain awkward lines like "Oh, your love give me a heart contusion/Adagio breezes fill my skin with sudden red." It sounds a bit too overblown, in a high-school poetry way. But Apple has a rare way with simpler lines, giving them a verbal punch that a shadowboxer couldn't match. "I have never been so insulted in all my life/I could swallow the seas to wash down all this pride!" she snarls in the first song.
But honestly speaking, Apple could sing some really dreadful songs and they would still sound good -- her voice is another thing that was much older than she was, the sort of thing you'd expect to find in a thirtysomething torch singer. Her husky alto carries the songs with a rare intensity, backed with swelling strings and her delicate piano melodies.
There are a few lyrical stumbles in Fiona Apple's debut "Tidal," but it's still a pop masterpiece. Beautiful, intense, heartfelt and heartbreaking.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
You cannot really describe music without adjectives getting all out of hand. You simply must listen to Fiona Apple.
Let's be straight -- I heard the name, saw the waif approach the mike, and I clicked off the late night TV and went to bed. Next day a friend laid a cassette on me for a long drive. I saw the name again and thought, okay whatever will keep me awake. One of the best things that ever happened to me musically.
Her voice is a rich, deep, incredible instrument. Her music complex, emotive, powerful, lyrical, soulful, mind-wrenching, gut-provoking.... you see what I mean about all these words not really giving it to you. You've just got to do yourself the favor of this musician's music -- get hold of any of it, any way you can.
Oh, and, one last thing must be said: Fiona Apple is incomparable -- critical comparisons to Morissette are unfortunate; like comparing the color pink to the color purple... one could do it, but why?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I actually bought Fiona's second album, "When The Pawn.." before I bought this album, but I bought it on the strength of tracks like ShadowBoxer and Sullen Girl which both appear on this album. Her sound on this album generally is obviously a lot younger, but that doesn't mean that the songs can't be just as captivating, and just as intense. The production is beautiful - just right for her smooth but potent voice, and there are some treats in store while she explores different styles and textures towards the end of the album. You can really appreciate what has been achieved in Pawn when you listen to the superb foundations that Fiona Apple laid with Tidal.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
AI
VERY CHEAP PRICE, BUT GOOD QUALITY, I LOVE FIONA APPLE, THIS PRODUCT IS GOOD TO KNOW HER! HER SONG IS AMAZING, STOP DOWNLOAD MUSIC PLEASE BUY!
Published 6 months ago by AI
A Promising Debut
This is the first Fiona Apple album I have ever heard. Very successful in America but nowhere near as well known in the UK this was a totally chance purchase. Read more
Published 15 months ago by L. C. Warne
One great song lost in a sea of mediocrity
Although she has a limited range as a singer and pianist I think she's a much stronger performer than she is writer. I've always wondered why she's a singer-songwriter? Read more
Published on 30 May 2010 by BS on parade
Stunning
It's amazing Fiona Apple is nowhere near as popular as she deserves to me. I heard about her through word of mouth, because I'd heard a lot of people that liked the same artsists... Read more
Published on 14 April 2006 by Emily
What A Talented Lady
I have to admit this isnt my usual taste of music im a neo-soul fan but Fiona Apple expanded my music taste not only is her song writing very good but her voice is sooooo cool its... Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2004 by "akoustik_soul2"
Invest in Fiona Apple
This a really original offering from Fiona Apple. Her Cd is about the lyrics which manage to be both personal and well polished, and the music which is jazzy, strong and very... Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2004 by "the_nitty_gritty"
Unbelievable.......
........that I have only just heard this album. The breadth of the talent of Fiona Apple is simply astonishing. Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2003 by Simon Stevens
Excellent, Excellent
I have never heard anything like this before. All I can say is excellent, excellent. Vocally and musically superb.
Published on 3 Feb 2003
Apple's just amazin'....
Nice to see a C.D. I bought in 1996 being released for a wider audience, the whole of this album from start to finish is a class act. Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2002 by Milt Ingarfield
Confident with her insecurity!
I said it all before, sometimes this girl just doesn't know whether she is coming or going! FABULOUS is the only word i can find! Read more
Published on 23 Aug 2001 by Duncan Hunt
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