Natalie Merchant - Ophelia
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Free Music Notes for Ophelia
Free Music Review: Natalie Merchant at her best
Hit: 5 Stars
Initially, i didn't buy Ophelia because of the catchy pop-sounding "Kind and Generous" single that I heard on the radio. That was just an added bonus after I heard a sampling of the entire album at a Borders bookstore. The opening track "Ophelia" was so haunting and willowy, that I was submerged into an otherwordly place when I first heard it. Natalie Merchant has the most unbelievable way of transporting you from where ever you are to where ever she wants to take you with her tender voice. Stuck in rush hour? Pop in "Life is Sweet" and you will feel a lot better about your station in life at that moment. She creates a unique ambience to her music that is trademark Merchant-like. Hey lyrics are astoundingly deep and they truly provoke those who listen to them. And even if you don't know what the hell "pilgrims march to Compistelo, visions of their saint in yellow" means, you still are intrigued to decipher what she is trying to throw at you. That is powerful music; music that stirs your brain cells up a little while you tap your feet. Critics have bashed Natalie on being too morose in her composition and style. Well, if she doesn't want to blast annoyingly trite hooks that wear thin within a matter of weeks...more power to her. Listening to this album offers a new experience everytime. It caters to the times you want to soak in your own tears when things go wrong with your significant other; it makes you want to smile when you thought the day was really gonna suck. Regardless of whether you are a fan, she will still tug at your heart with some of the best songs out there. This album is a definite keeper. By the way, I saw her in concert on Sunday night....and she is soooo cute jumping around on stage. You just have to love her.Free Music Review: I love this CD!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
I really love Natalie Merchant's "Ophelia." Rarely do you find a CD where you like all of the songs. I like almost every song on the CD. My favorites are "Life is Sweet," "Kind and Generous," "My Skin," "Break Your Heart," "King of May," "Thick as Thieves," and "When They Ring The Golden Bells." Others, like "Frozen Charlotte," and "The Living," are perfectly fine and charming, they just don't stand out as the others do. I must say that I loved this CD so much (I recieved it as a gift) that it persuaded me to go and buy "Tigerlily," which I also enjoyed. I feel in "Tigerlily," Natalie was quite redundant in her songs and melodies, and she has come a long way since then. "Ophelia" is much more sorrowful and moving. My only criticism is her lyrics are extremely hard to understand, which takes away from her wonderful instrumenal pieces.
"My Skin" makes me want to cry when listen to it. It has cellos and pianos which are beautiful backgrounds to her crooning voice. And the few songs that pick up the beat, "Life is Sweet," "Break Your Heart," and "When They Ring The Golden Bells," make you sit back in relax. They have a beautiful, sweet melody.
In short, I recommend this CD. You have to be in the mood for slow, meaningful songs. You don't exactly get up and dance to her music. But I love it. And "Tigerlily,' is also a good buy. It's less mature, but it still has some good songs, like "Carnival," "Wonder," and "Jealousy." I'm so glad I discovered Natalie Merchant, because her CDs have rarely left my CD player. Take my advice and buy them. You won't be sorry.
Free Music Review: A great album, requires several listens to fully appreciate
Hit: 5 Stars
A beautiful, beautiful album. At first listen this seems like another "Tigerlily", which was pleasant but forgettable, because the songs are also slow and serious. But don't be fooled. Natalie Merchant continues to grow as a songwriter and performer, and this album is her best work in every way.
On the records she made with 10,000 Maniacs, there were always a few songs which were stunning in their emotional intensity and beauty ("Cotton Alley", "Gun Shy", "Verdi Cries", "Dust Bowl Days", "The Big Parade", "Jezebel", "How You've Grown", "Noah's Dove"). On "Ophelia", almost all the songs are this revelatory, and their collective range of feeling is most impressive, despite some reviewers' complaints about the absence of any uptempo hard-rocking songs.
The arrangements are colorful and complexly layered, and some of the songs are quite experimental and require a few listens to "get" (especially the title track), but they all work. The fifth star in the rating is essential, because "Ophelia" is not only a wonderful CD, it is so unlike any other one that those who don't have it will have a serious gap in their musical experience.
All the tracks are strong and interesting, but I would like to single out "My Skin" and "The Living". Merchant's uniquely lovely voice is almost unbelievably moving here; her very subtle inflections, powerful and intricate lyrics, emotionally precise delivery, and simple but remarkably beautiful piano playing put these tracks at an artistic level frequented only by Bob Dylan at his best.
Free Music Review: It touches and moves you, this CD transports the senses.
Hit: 5 Stars
This CD transports the senses and takes the listener to a deep, cavernous place in the soul, at once filling the listener up in an overwhelmingly sensory overload. She has reached a new depth and maturity that was not as evident in her debut solo effort, Tigerlily.Natalie's music has the ability to make the listener recall the most vulnerable memories and feel as though they have all been washed away in the process of day to day growth and maturity. She reminds listeners that we are all somebody to someone at some place in time; that human connection is a strange and transforming thing. "The Living", My Skin ", and "Thick as Thieves" are particularly introspective and memorable. "Kind and Generous" uplifts and makes you so thankful to be blessed with lifelong friendships acquired through much time, effort, and understanding.
Growth and renewal seem to be her overall specialty. Prepare to shed a few tears, or at least be plunged into a photographic- memory snapshot session of days past and emotions long since forgotten. Her voice and the piano create and symbiotic prensence that is timeless.
The instrumental arrangement of "Ophelia" by Gavin Bryars at the end of the disc is a gorgeous finale to all of the feelings Natalie has evoked.
She is all about brotherly and sisterly love (in the most unpretentious way) and her CD will make you look inward at yourself and look outward in THANKS for the irreplacable non-material human relationships you have acquired through time and tears. A soulful chick-- This music is DEEP, pick up this CD today.
Free Music Review: I want Natalie Merchant to adopt me
Hit: 5 Stars
I have been a fan of Miss Merchant since I first heard the words "the color of the sky as far as i can see is coal grey", in 1987. The social and political messages in her songs completely escaped me as a young child, only to have me find all new meanings and re-learn her music as a young adult. It still moves me to every possible emotion in the book, be it sadness, joy, gratitude, loneliness, anger, or simply reflectiveness. -Ophelia- is perched atop the mountain of Natalie CDs in my room, and it shows no signs of moving. This album is the most beautiful Natalie has produced, and one of the most beautiful I've ever heard. Many dismiss it as a funeral dirge, but at least every note is *felt*. Not since Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" has a song brought me to tears as often as "Frozen Charlotte" or "My Skin". And who would have thought a muted trumpet could voice the concerns for humanity as well as the one in "Break Your Heart"? This past spring, the life-affirming point of view expressed in "Life Is Sweet" stood alone on an island in a sea of teenybopper chirps and woes. Natalie's new turn into more introspective music suits her well as she matures, moving away from the passionate-activist persona of her youth. The stories told on -Ophelia- may not be as clear as her songs with 10,000 Maniacs, but her hopeful outlook and compassionate nature still shine through. Natalie Merchant is my role model, I'm not ashamed to say that, and I will gladly tell anyone so 10,000 times.