Tidal
Fiona Apple
1996
Album Summary
Tidal is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, released on July 23, 1996 by The WORK Group. Tidal produced six singles: "Shadowboxer", "Slow Like Honey", "Sleep to Dream", "The First Taste", "Criminal" and "Never Is a Promise". "Criminal", the album's most popular single, won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1998. In 2017, Tidal got its first vinyl run as a Vinyl Me, Please exclusive "Record of the Month".
WikipediaWhen 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.
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.
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
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
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.
Yes, I fancy her. I would shave off her pubic hair and keep it in a jar to eat at a later date.
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 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.
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!
hell yea fiona apple kicks ass! great debut album. Criminal is awesome. just a banger. The First Taste is also a good one
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.
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.
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.
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.
Había escuchado muy poco de ella, despues de este disco FAN! Todo muy bien, gracias 100001 discos por obligarme a escucharla
Fiona Apple will always gets 5 stars from me. She is one of the most authentic, human, and original artists that I know of. She puts herself out there in a way that can make her vulnerable and I think it's really brave. That she consistently manages to make that vulnerability sound so beautiful and powerful is nothing short of amazing. She is one of those rare artists who I view as having a nearly flawless discography because she only makes an album when she truly has something meaningful to express.
soncially cohesive, even on tracks like slow like honey and never is a promise, where it seems to diverge from the usual 'sleazy' like guitar sounds, it makes its way back from the jazzy piano tunes. I still think the songs with the sleazy guitar sounds with fionas aggressive tone are standouts
I think I knew at the time (but I had since forgotten) that Fiona Apple was still a teenager when Tidal came out but this album has never sounded like a teenager wrote it. It is emotional, raw, and definitely more musically complex than the standard radio fare of the mid to late 90s. To teenage me, these songs were permission from an older, wiser, much cooler girl to be whatever I wanted to be, whether that was sultry, angry whatever. It's a message I still need to revisit sometimes and this album will forever be in rotation for me.
I first heard this album live when she played the Capital Ballroom in Washington, DC. The album had barely been released and Shadowboxer was just starting to get some airplay on the alt-station here. I instantly fell in love with her sound - the growling, alto voice that can soften achingly on a dime, the almost classically-based piano creating the bedrock of the songs, the bass-heavy riffs and lush instrumentations that fill in the gaps. A 19-year-old writing so clearly, so confidently, so movingly about her experiences, some so horrific that might rather forever silence a young woman, elevates the music to another level. Many laud the musical experimentation with which Apple pushed the envelope in her later albums, but this one is stronger to me for being more traditional. There is a counter-point between the sound, reminiscent of adult contemporary artists like k.d. lang, and the poeticized angst of her painful youth - and that brings her message and music home with more feeling, more resonance. This album only gets better with repeated listenings, deeper as more time passes. A masterpiece of a debut.
This album is unbelievably brilliant. It's mature and soulful and witty and snarky and just really, really impressive. And... yeah, what's that, Kate? She was 19 when she made this!? I just don't know what to even compare that to. I'm more used to 18-19 year olds singing someone else's lyrics in the poppiest most button-pushing way possible. How was Britney Spears' debut just 2 1/2 years after this? The only thing I can think of that comes anywhere close to what Fiona Apple pulled off would be maybe Lorde, who was a couple years younger when "Pure Heroine" came out, but while it was impressive and refreshing it is nowhere near the level of "Tidal." If you're not blown away by Fiona Apple, you might not like music.
Really good album. I can’t believe she has such a vocal range at that age, but she was excellent. The music was really well crafted too. Just a great album.
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.
Fiona feels like a rawer and rougher Norah Jones, and I absolutely adore that.
talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before
I would listen to Fiona Apple’s answering machine and still fully believe that it is High Art. She is just so phenomenal. This isn’t my favourite album of hers however, it is SO GOOD.
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
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:
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
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.
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.
Excellent album. Sultry and melodic. I think I actually own this CD, stored deep in the archives. Would listen again.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Her voice and emotion and words. The fierceness and honesty. Love Fiona. Great 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
I really enjoyed this album, something about the brash and uncompromising sound
One of my top albums of all time. Glad to see it on this list. My wife would argue that my love of Fiona Apple's "Tidal" is a large part of why I married her. Hauntingly beautiful (I think that's the phrase you use to describe Fiona Apple), sexy, and moody all spring to my mind, too, when I need to describe this collection of songs. The amount of effort that goes into the composition is astounding. I guess that's why she's only released a few albums in the 20+ years she's been gracing us with music.
another fucking 90s album are you fucking kidding me. oh my GOD. listened late relative to when i woke up. 11pm. not that late but im still fuckin rtired bc i woke up at like 8. this is a good thing because it gives me more time with my girlfriend star (or yufi? not sure which shed rather be called here). the album is good too but not as good as my girlfriend. not rly a fair comparison though since no album is. sorry all you nerd asss bitches making music u cant even compare. anyway ummm this album is pretty cool. ive been tired this whole time so ive just been letting it wash over me. first 4 songs and the first taste are all really good, shadowboxer is my fav. rly good sound. idk. nice mixture of energetic and kinda dense and alternative and a tiny bit edgy with some piano grace and restraint. after that it leans too far into the slower side of things and its very pretty and shes a good singer but it doesnt hold my interest quiiite as much. it.s worth checking out this album though :)
Jazz singer vibes. Really good album but probably will never listen to it again.
really moody, full voice with thinner instrumentals and just a powerhouse of a voice, kind of darker tone, i really like the way this feels to listen to... as in, i feel pretty Kool while listening to it