Have I Been Blind? Have I Been Lost Inside Myself and My Own Mind?
Monday. Not much happening here today. I spent most of the morning working on my post-upload spreadsheet, and then another spreadsheet after that. Right now I am finishing up working on the miscellaneous adjustment account cleanup that I started last Friday. Other than that, not too much new and exciting. The Big Boss Lady was supposed to be in town on Wednesday of this week, but she canceled. I'm kind of disappointed, not because I love having the big boss around, but because I wanted to butter her up for my review in June by riding the positive wave from my amazing collections month and the successful presentation I gave at the end of March. Oh, well. I guess that means I will just have to stretch out this upswing even longer...
This morning I listened to Tigerlily by Natalie Merchant. For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Merchant, she formerly provided vocals for the band 10,000 Maniacs. In 1993 she left the band in order to pursue a solo career. Her first release of this new career path was Tigerlily in 1995. This album was successful for Ms. Merchant, and firmly set her solo career into motion.
Tigerlily is a good album. I particularly like the track Carnival, which gets some mild airplay on the "adult contemporary" format radio station here in town. Two other songs were released as singles as well, Wonder and Jealousy. For those who know the 10,000 Maniacs, Tigerlily may sound a bit familiar. Not that that's a bad thing, since I happen to enjoy the smooth, mellow vocals that Ms. Merchant provides. But it does make you wonder about how difficult it must be for a vocalist to produce a solo album without it sounding too much like their original band. Is there really much difference between Tom Petty's solo stuff and the stuff he did with the Heartbreakers? Janis Joplin was still Janis Joplin whether she was in Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Kozmic Blues Band, or when she was going solo. Donald Fagen's new album sounds just like Steely Dan. Mark Knopfler still sounds like Dire Straits. Can there really be any escape when your voice is what has defined a band for so long?
Anyway, Tigerlily is pretty good, especially for a long, mellow early morning drive to work. I recommend it.
This morning I listened to Tigerlily by Natalie Merchant. For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Merchant, she formerly provided vocals for the band 10,000 Maniacs. In 1993 she left the band in order to pursue a solo career. Her first release of this new career path was Tigerlily in 1995. This album was successful for Ms. Merchant, and firmly set her solo career into motion.
Tigerlily is a good album. I particularly like the track Carnival, which gets some mild airplay on the "adult contemporary" format radio station here in town. Two other songs were released as singles as well, Wonder and Jealousy. For those who know the 10,000 Maniacs, Tigerlily may sound a bit familiar. Not that that's a bad thing, since I happen to enjoy the smooth, mellow vocals that Ms. Merchant provides. But it does make you wonder about how difficult it must be for a vocalist to produce a solo album without it sounding too much like their original band. Is there really much difference between Tom Petty's solo stuff and the stuff he did with the Heartbreakers? Janis Joplin was still Janis Joplin whether she was in Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Kozmic Blues Band, or when she was going solo. Donald Fagen's new album sounds just like Steely Dan. Mark Knopfler still sounds like Dire Straits. Can there really be any escape when your voice is what has defined a band for so long?
Anyway, Tigerlily is pretty good, especially for a long, mellow early morning drive to work. I recommend it.
posted by john at 4:25 PM
7 Comments:
actually there can... but ONLY if the vocalist was singing against their true style or is totally changing.
I've always loved Nats voice. I've got a decent collection of her music. But I've got to say that of everything I've heard of her, nothing and I mean nothing compares to MTV's unplugged with the 10,000 maniacs. After that album, everything she's produced has been a sort of let down for me.
Sass- I've been thinking all day of an exception to the rule, but I really can't think of any except perhaps the respective Beatles' solo careers. But then again the Beatles evolved so much between albums it is hard to tell if the solo projects were just part of that evolution. There has to be some example out there of a lead vocalist who sounds radically different than when he/she was in a band, but it is still eluding me... any thoughts out there readers?
LSD- I don't have the 10,000 Maniacs unplugged album (yet). I actually liked a lot of those unplugged sessions that MTV used to run. Whatever happened to those? Oh, wait. That would require Music Television to actually play music, something they phased out completely about 7-8 years ago. Perhaps if they re-branded it Real Road Rules Room Raiders Dating My Mom Unplugged they could find a way to bring it back...
john: well i have a weird one
i mother earth broke up because the singer turned out to be a pop singer. the band brought in someone else but the magic was gone.
but that's a somewhat obscure toronto band.
:)
Jame Maynard Keenan (sp) sounds very different with A Perfect Circle vs. when he's fronting for Tool. Of course he sounded very different between Tools first two albums and their later stuff as well. So who knows?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
You know, LSD, I used to work with a guy who was a huge Tool fan. When A Perfect Circle came out he told me that it was something completely different than Tool. I listened to it and it still sounded like Tool to me. I think he was kinda offended when I told him that I couldn't tell the difference. Maybe it's just me...
Sass: I'm not familiar with I Mother Earth. What kind of music did they play before the singer departed for the pop scene?
Apparently Feist used to be in a punk rock band and released a rap album before putting out her recent release Let it Die. From what I heard, she had strained her vocal cords so badly that the doctors told her that she would never sing again if she didn't take it easier. So, she took some time off, recuperated, and began releasing more mellow stuff.
Also... Izzy Stradlin left Guns'n'Roses to form a band called the JuJu Hounds. I know, he wasn't the lead singer, but he ended up putting out an album that sounded NOTHING LIKE G'n'R. I was extremely doubtful going into it, but it is actually pretty good. Check out the song Shuffle it All and then feel free to wonder how this guy ever ended up in Guns'n'Roses...
Post a Comment
<< Home