Tidal

When I was a little girl first hearing this album I was like “geez she’s angry” Grown woman Jordan gets it though

Practically have this album memorized. 9 fantastic songs on a 10-track album. The composition, lyrics, diction are all off the charts and she was 18/19 when she recorded it. Blows my mind.

Holy fuck. i had been avoiding this album much to my detriment. its one of the best albums I've ever heard. its also likely going to be a favorite. also sorry, my wifi had been out all week but I'm back and I'm finna go through these albums

This is my least favourite of her albums and it’s still an absolute barnstormer.

Through this site I find I'm enjoying experiencing how different people's reactions can be to the same music. A lot of people seem to love this and that's cool and you certainly don't need my blessing to enjoy it. I on the other hand wanted to shove pencils in my ears by about half way through.

There is a theatrical quality to Fiona Apple's voice that uniquely colors this record, which is inherently a marriage of alternative indie and soft-rock/jazz. Resonant and deep characteristics of her voice paint robustness - while unconventional for female vocals, it stands as a mesmerizing complement to the overall arrangement. Musically conducted in unison and uncomplicated, 'Tidal' serves as a great invention that subtly yet faithfully reflects Fiona Apple's life journeys.

Once again going last allows me to say I agree with all of you in one way or another. I wanted to like this one so much more than I did. “Sleep to Dream” is a banger and though I probably hadn’t heard it in ten+ years I was surprised by how many of the words I knew despite never owning this album. “Criminal,” on the other hand, didn’t spark the same level of enthusiasm now as I had for it when it was released. And that was the one song I definitely associated with this album and, really, with Fiona Apple overall. I don’t know… something about the drum sound? The drums felt mushy to me here with a few exceptions. And like Alex, I too was sadly bored by a lot of this. As in, pretty much every song after “Criminal.” I didn’t hate them and the last song stood out a little, but that one two punch of “Slow Like Honey” and “The First Taste” lost me and I never quite recovered. But! I think you’re right, too, Craig! I did find myself thinking as I was listening that this album probably would be extremely well-received if it came out right now. I think she would be treated differently by the press than she was back in the day and it seems like there are an awful lot of young listeners who are drawn to the vibe of a song as much as they are the catchiness of a melody or anything else. I’ve tried listening to Phoebe Bridgers, for example, and found that dull as paint but boy do people younger than me seemingly adore her. Or put a young Fiona Apple on tour with Billie Eilish and I wouldn’t blink an eye. I think this album would fit right in, yet still be it’s own thing and there’s something to say for that. Also, can you imagine if she had married Paul Thomas Anderson? Maybe she would’ve shown up in INHERENT VICE and that would’ve been weird.

God damn what an album. Every song is varied and yet fit together excellently. Her voice seems to add something different to every single track. It's one of those albums where as soon as you try to think of your favorite track, a small part of the first track to naturally pop into your head - maybe a specific rhythm, an interval, an instrument, the tempo, anything - reminds you of another equally good track, which then reminds you of a third, and so on until you've gone through every track and returned to the first one again. And you can do so many such loops because every time a track pops into your head you identify a new aspect of it that you liked.

so beautiful FUCK

Yes, I fancy her. I would shave off her pubic hair and keep it in a jar to eat at a later date.

This album is wayyyy better than “Fetch the Bolt Cutters”. There are actually several good songs on here, Criminal being just one of them, which honestly didn’t stand out to me. Never is a Promise really stuck out to me for some reason. Lots of switches in and out of dissonance, chest voice and falsetto. Really impressive and beautiful. I came into this expecting to give 2 stars maximum, but this is a really high quality album.

i can totally see why people like her however.. her voice just really annoyed me for some reason. it just wasn’t appealing to me and the vocals, although really good, bothered me.

First cut is hideous. But, it’s liking watching breaking bad, you have to get thru the first episode. However, it never gets great. Over and over same stuff. If you want to be depressed then this will be your friend. Shadow boxer was definitely the hit but also the only standout song. Not sure whatever happened to Fiona…

pretty boring. all of the songs are pretty much the same. also there is like 2 fucking minutes of instrumental at the end of each song thats infuriating. highlights are criminal and the first taste.

I don't really get what this was or why it has made this list. Beige

Melodic and beautifully sung but unaffecting and forgettable. Maybe it's me.

Woah! What an amazing album. This is my first time listening to Fiona. Shocking, right. What a vocalist and what a lyricist. Every song is amazing and just hauntingly beautiful. Long live Fiona!

uma deusa uma louca

Fiona é incrível e esse CD tem algumas das melhores músicas da carreira dela. Ainda descobrindo na personalidade dela e seguindo algumas fórmulas, mas você já sente o que viria pela frente. Um dos meus CDs favoritos

ICONIC ALBUM

Love Fiona. This was an amazing album when it came out - every song is great but SIX hit singles out of ten tracks? Greatness. And a perfect broody soundtrack for my angsty teen self. Swanky and jazzy at times, ragey and rocking at others, I really enjoyed the range of emotions displayed here.

'Tidal' is like a musical tidal wave – it swept me off my feet, left me drenched in its brilliance, and now I can't decide if I need a life jacket or just want to ride the waves again.

Classic artist and songwriter. Her voice, her lyrics, her harmonies and melodies - all beautiful. The passion and emotion she infuses in her music makes this record timeless and one to always feel empowered by. Grateful to have experienced Fiona during her peak.

I was always given the impression that people with external genitalia we're not equipped to "get" Fiona Apple. So I didn't really listen to anything she'd done until this album. I was pleasantly surprised by the first few tracks. Then I was pleasantly surprised by the next few tracks. Then... the whole thing fell apart. "Slow Like Honey" marked the beginning of the end. The album just drowned itself in self-indulgent, singer-songwtiter twaddle. Shame.

Le piano est très fort, il est en parfaite symbiose avec la voix. Une découverte très plaisant à écouter. J’ai bien aimé Je l’évite, écouter l’album en boucle, les tounes se ressembles beaucoup Je levite le piano fou raide

I thought I'd find her voice more grating than I do. Not my thing, but... I get it.

Not a fan, sorry! Never heard anything more than the singles in here before today. About halfway through the album she sings in a higher register and I received it like sweet relief from her normal singing voice, which to me sounds flat, both in terms of tone and intonation. She also sings with a "tough guy" attitude on some songs that feels unnatural to me. I like all the vibes and marimbas throughout the record. The music is otherwise not all that interesting to me and some of her lyrics sound awkward. I guess you can tell I never understood her appeal.

Instrumentals were nice. Apple sounds like she's trying too hard to be breathlessly sexy. She failed

Too down tempo and jazzy for my liking. She does have a nice voice however.

She's very talented but didn't really grab me.

The good news here is that Fiona Apple seems to have remembered how to end a song. The not so great news is that it is still Fiona Apple, containing all the likability an artist should have to achieve her success, but just leaving the experience in a scattered, existential crisis of why this album should be heard prior to death.

Girl next door aesthetics applied to the female diva stylistic. Female Jeff Buckley vocals, set back by the unimaginative musical backdrop. Probably influential, since everything that came after it sounds exactly the same. Shame, since all the Billies, Marinas, St. Vincents of today really watered down the style, despite the higher production value.

I don't get this. A couple of slightly tickly songs - 'Shadowboxer', 'Criminal' - cant compensate for what is a mostly dull excursion. I don't like Apple's voice very much, the songs are overly (as in, unnecessarily) long, and an underheated production job certainly doesn't help. This review is boring I realise, but I don't think I'm doing the album any disservice as a consequence.

my least favorite fiona apple album and still absolutely fantastic

Really cohesive album - songs blend together well.

the criminal video still peak 90s cinema

She's awesome.

Love the silky jazz. Instant add.

Didn't like it at first, but it's a masterpiece

Totalny pop banger

Absolute force of nature. Imagine writing this at 19??? Just love her voice and talent.

Was sad it over. Good to great 4.5

Yasss

😍😍

I loved the depth of the instrumentation on parts of the album, especially the closing track

Rounding up to 5 stars because it's hard to believe that Fiona Apple was only 18 years old when this was released. The vocals, lyrics and music are hypnotic.

Gotta admit, I never gave Fiona Apple the time of day because I thought she was a whiny poser (the full title of When the Pawn... didn't help). From the moment the album started, though, it was clear this is a pretty amazing album that I should have given a chance long ago. More importantly, reading about her life (on the most authoritative source: Wikipedia), I never realized the struggles she's gone through (I won't summarize them here). She also has done a lot of great charity work. It's all a good reminder not to pre-judge anyone. The 1001 albums continue to help break through my biases and preconceptions. Now that I'm listening to her with fresh and open ears, it's clear why this was such a breakthrough album. So, how to describe the album? Jazzy, sultry, edgy, deep. Her voice is captivating - as in it holds you captive and doesn't let go. There's anger in her voice and knowledge. How the hell was she 17 when she wrote most of this? Also, the instrumentation and production is outstanding (looks like credit to Jon Brion, who has worked with a ton of great acts). I'm regretting dismissing her and will definitely dig in to her catalog. Best tracks: Sleep to Dream, Criminal (what a song, and those lyrics pack a punch - I also noted that it sounded like there was a mellotron on Criminal, but turns out it's a "Chamberlin" which was a precursor to the Mellotron - look it up, it's pretty interesting), Sullen Girl (powerful song and lyrics), The First Taste (nice groove), and Carrion (really like the outro).

Loved it then, loved it now.

Loved it

Listened to this on my 2017 double LP 45 RPM 180 gram pressing. Such an amazing album it shocks me it was written and performed by a teenager. The vinyl really warms the vibraphone tones and her alto voice really suits the frequency range of vinyl. Do yourself a favor and find this record on vinyl and listen with open back headphones. It will change your life. What a record and what an artist. Easy 5/5.

Another one of my faves, and another that I'm lucky enough to have on vinyl. I think it was only pressed once, since it was released in the vinyl dark days of the 90s. The songwriting, performance and production are all perfect on this album. It almost sounds like she's in the room with you. I don't enjoy this one as much as her two later albums with ridiculously long titles. But it's still a solid 9/10 for me.

I was excited when I got assigned this album as Apple's reputation was high and was not disappointed. A great album for chill vibes, for house duties and walking. Listened to Criminal several times today which says enough for the 5 star rating.

Amazing singer and songwriter. Forgot how good this album is.

Fuck yeah Fioana Apple. Love her and love this album.

didn’t totally finish but will go back to this one. it’s been saved.

Fiona Apple good

Great vocals mixed with a great mixing track. Side A has a lot of energy and variety. It gets a little slow towards the end of the album, but the instruments perform CPR to keep it alive to the end.

queen

This is one of my all-time favourite albums. I am still stunned by the maturity of Fiona Apple's songwriting. She wrote these songs when she was in high school. I was also writing songs in high school. Suffice it to say that they were not like this. When this record came out I listened to it in secret, partly because it was mainstream and popular which I didn't think was cool, but mostly because I was so jealous of her. I didn't understand how this girl (who was my age!) was writing lyrics like "You'll never touch these things that I hold/The skin of my emotions lies beneath my own/You'll never feel the heat of this soul/My fever burns me deeper than I've ever shown/To you" when my lyrics were more like "I'm so alone, no one will ever understand me, I'll write it in a poem, very very sadly". It's been 25 years since this record came out and I still kind of want to be Fiona Apple.

This album is so fucking good. Fiona Apples vocals are unbelievable, she has different delivery on each track its Super impressive. Add in some really good song writing and instrumentation and you really got something special. God the jazz influences on slow like honey are just so good. Incredible.

love

Her voice and emotion and words. The fierceness and honesty. Love Fiona. Great album.

What a wonderful album.

Heaven help me for the way I am Save me from these evil deeds before I get them done I know tomorrow brings the consequence at hand But I keep living this day like the next will never come 5/5

Fantastic fantastic fantastic!

It’s wild that an album this good is a debut from a teenager. I hadn’t actually listened to the whole thing in a row before today so this project is already paying off.

Había escuchado muy poco de ella, despues de este disco FAN! Todo muy bien, gracias 100001 discos por obligarme a escucharla

omg a 10000000000000/10 if there ever was one

Very good songs, good beat. Like Tori worked with a blues writer.

awesome voice; record holds up very well

This is a 5-star for me. A little bit of that is sentimental, but I admire the shit out of her songwriting. She's one of those songwriters who goes wherever she wants with a song and never loses me. I remember hearing her first few singles on the radio and feeling like they were lightyears beyond what was getting a lot of play.

Good vibes for chores and addressing Xmas cards, oddly

The power at which this album hit me when I first heard it, and again while I listened to it entirely through multiple times. This woman is unparalleled in her lyrics, her voice and range, and rhythms. Just stunningly beautiful.

Wow. One of the most immaculately produced albums I’ve ever heard. Everything is powerful, dark, and sexy. The singing and playing are all too-notch, and lyrically each song has a little bit of fierceness and a lot of mood.

Pretty good.

YES SLAY FIONA I LOVE YOU LET'S GO TIME FOR MY FIONA ERA

9/10. Was stuck between a 9 and an 8 on this one, but I am feeling generous today, and if something stands out to me as good while I am working, that's a good sign. Shadowboxing was a good track, and I remember liking Sullen Girl as well, but I wasn't paying as much attention to what track I was listening to later on, but everything was pretty solid.

I have to be honest, the album didn't start to capture me until 'Criminal.' It was that song which made me start to appreciate Fiona Apple's voice and lyrics. I'd listened to 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters' once before and didn't really feel much, but this album felt like it had more passion and zest behind it. 'Slow Like Honey' showcased a broader range which I appreciated. 'The First Taste' is mystic and... man I'm starting to feel like I'm listening to a masterpiece honestly. She has such a quiet way with words that shines through on a full listen. I wasn't impressed to start, but Apple not only won me over but completely wowed me by the end.

Holy cats, she wrote these songs when she was 17?!

Excellent album. Sultry and melodic. I think I actually own this CD, stored deep in the archives. Would listen again.

Beautiful example of an alto voice in early pop. Incredible vocals.

One of my all time faves. I love Fiona. We were approximately the same age when this album came out. I was a senior in high school. I had always loved music, but I had never related to an album as much as I did this one. I haven't listened in years (other than occasionally catching Criminal on the radio) and I remembered every word. Masterpiece.

What a debut. Such mature singer songwriting from someone so young, powerful voice, powerful mood. It’s really very good indeed.

LOVE

hell yea fiona apple kicks ass! great debut album. Criminal is awesome. just a banger. The First Taste is also a good one

YESSSSS. For both objective and personally subjective reasons, this is easily a 5 star album for me. She is so raw, and in your face, and unafraid to be "imperfect" with her sound, but it all somehow sounds beautiful just the same. "Criminal" was obviously a cornerstone in my early development of musical taste way back in middle school, and this whole album has been revisited several times since then, most recently two weeks ago! Love her, and love her art. Forever a fangirl! <3

Pros: - It's so good. - Her sound checks so many boxes of what I would like for an artist. It's approachable, it has great hooks that are not only catchy but unique, it is confident, it's exploratory, it's memorable. - Her lyrics are so incredible and unique and have a quality that makes them sit in your head long after the song is over. - Amazing for a debut album. It sounds like someone who has been working on their sound for years and years! Cons: Misc:

One of the most influential albums from my youth

Excellent, love Fiona Apple

Absolutely 10/10 for me I remember being 17 and obsessing over Fiona's vocals in Shadowboxer and Criminal, and then in lockdown I came back to this album after years. Not to be dramatic but Sleep to Dream felt like a mantra to me when I was stuck at home trying to plan out my next steps and keep my head above water

é inacreditável que esse álbum tenha sido gravado quando a fiona tinha só 19 anos! confesso que nunca parei para prestar atenção nas letras, mas ela carrega tanta emoção na sua voz, uma energia, uma raiva na interpretação, em meio a arranjos tão bem trabalhados que uau. é uma das maiores cantoras em atividade, sem dúvida.

4.5/5. Very good and nice and lush and chill

Love it. Love her.

still know all the lyrics. Love her

Fiona feels like a rawer and rougher Norah Jones, and I absolutely adore that.

Such a beautiful voice

I loved this album for a long time. From the opening drum beat to the last pluck of the hard, this is mellow and subdued and lovely.

A fantastic album, from a wonderful artist.

i'm literally listening to her right now LMAO and i love tidal ofc

Every song is great. 4.5* therefore 5*.