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

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.

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

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.

so beautiful FUCK

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.

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!

ICONIC ALBUM

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Wow. This was a mind blowing listen. I’ve always been rather fond of Fiona Apple, though admittedly only from the radio singles I’ve heard here and there. I’ve never actively sat down and listened to one of her records, and man am I ever glad I did. This is an absolutely gorgeous record. It’s impeccable from top to bottom. The tone is dark and defiant, it’s introspective and sharp as hell, but there’s this overarching softness and vulnerability to it. Instrumentally it’s excellent, you can tell that the musicians working on it really felt the music, and it sounds like it was a very fun album to record. Fiona’s piano work is absolutely fantastic. “Shadowboxer” stands out as my favourite song instrumentally, its slow and driving piano riff is equal parts smoky jazz hall and film noir waltz. It’s such an intensely dark song, and it’s so beautiful in that darkness. Vocally it’s absolutely incredible, Fiona’s voice is so soulful and deep, and every note feels very intentional in the best way possible. The breathy vocalizations on “Slow Like Honey” are enough to send shivers down one’s spine. Lyrically this album is absolute poetry in its purest and most wonderful form. It’s emotional and sad and powerful, it’s deep and brave and confessional. One listen to “Pale September” and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. I truly feel richer for having given this album the time it deserves. I’m looking forward to diving further into Fiona Apple’s discography in the future. I’d give this one 6* if I could.

Where has this album been all my life? This is exactly the type of thing I love!!! The songwriting, the vibes, the VOICE. I can’t even decide what my favorite song is, I love and am deeply moved by them all. I listened to this twice yesterday and will keep it downloaded and listen to it many more times. So influential to SO much music I love. Sad girl Rosetta Stone.

my least favorite fiona apple album and still absolutely fantastic

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

She's awesome.

the criminal video still peak 90s cinema

😍😍

Really cohesive album - songs blend together well.

Yasss

Was sad it over. Good to great 4.5

Totalny pop banger

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

Love the silky jazz. Instant add.

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

A deeply great album. I loved Criminal back in the day and I still think it is a nearly perfect song. Back to back with Shadowboxer on the album makes for an interesting exploration of the roles of hunter and prey. Also I just love her voice.

Seems like I should have given "Tidal" a proper listen a long time ago, huh? Fiona Apple had always eluded me, back then, when this album could have fit right in after Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" and my time with Amos' "Under The Pink" and then later, when, here and there incidentally, I caught glimpses of what seemed like a cracking human and I'd had a cursory peek into one of her albums only to not be quite grabbed, kinda genre-wise? But: 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘴! Happy to redeem this here and today. This is astoundingly great! A magnificient album.

Nella lista non c’è “When the Pawn…” che è sicuramente il suo album migliore e per quanto non sia corretto darò 5 a questo in onore di “When the Pawn…” (bello anche Tidal però un po’ monotono)

I wish I could give this a 6/5. I love this record SO much. I can't believe she was only 18 when this came out. I can't really explain how much this record means to me. Maybe to some people it's indulgent or tedious, to me it means everything in the world and more. I don't think I've ever felt so understood by a record or artist. I wish I could bury myself inside this record forever.

This is one of my all time favs. insane debut album. the raw rage and talent with the most powerfull voice. she ate

If I could only pick 10 albums to listen to for the rest of my life, this would be on the list. This is another album that love deeply and have listened to regularly for at least half my life. The very first strikes of the drum on “Sleep to Dream” are an immaculate start to the album, as is the entire track, which is one of my favorites. Most of the other relatively higher-energy tracks are among my favorites, namely “Shadowboxer” and “The First Taste”. When the full instrumental suite kicks in on “The First Taste” is just *chefs kiss*. My favorite track of all is perhaps “Carrion”. Which is not to say the slower, sadder numbers, of which there are many, are lesser songs. The songwriting and lyricism throughout this album astounds me every time I listen to it. To consider that Apple was a teenager when she wrote these songs is genuinely baffling to me. The maturity, emotional depth, and poeticism of her words is far beyond anything I could dream of writing as a grown adult or even what most professional songwriters put out. It’s a beautiful, devastating, flawless, no-skips album. I love every evolution of Fiona Apple’s style and every album she’s put out since Tidal, but for me this debut album is one of those lightning-in-a-bottle releases that achieves something that few albums can. 10/10

Most excellent. This is the gateway drug to Fiona.

great

Man, Fiona Apple is so good. I mostly listen to her more recent work, but going back to this debut really illustrates how strongly she started and how she has just gotten better with each release. To listen to this and then realize for the thousandth time that she was under 20 years old writing these songs and recording this album is still so shocking. She has always had a wisdom and weariness that is familiar to any woman but hard to confidently convey. And she was right: this world is bullshit - go with yourself.

听完以后会觉得世上或许再也没有这么完美的专辑了…这次返听也比先前多注意到了trip-hop的存在。

Wow - intense debut album stands up 18 years later, Never heard complete, but listened repeatedly today. Sorry I failed to notice years ago. You can hear so many who have been influenced by her - - Applause!

I was astonished to learn how young Apple was when this was recorded. In her vocals, arrangements and lyrics, she sounds wise beyond her years.

Sleep to Dream is in the running for best first song off a debut album. The title is also apt, there's a dreamlike quality to the piano and vibraphone. Sullen Girl is also appropriately named, the vibe fits the title or maybe vice versa. Shadowboxer was the first single and her first hit. It got overshadowed by Criminal later, partly because the video had her in various states of undress. Norah Jones is a pale, poppy imitation of Fiona Apple. The First Taste has a Latin(?) or Middle Eastern (?) vibe that doesn't really fit the rest of the album. But I'm nodding my head to it, maybe it's her big dance number. Never Is a Promise is a beautiful song. Pale September is great too. There's an aggressiveness coupled with a vulnerability in her voice and these songs that is amazing. Carrion too. This album is amazing.

I have very limited experience with Fiona Apple, and I’m glad I got to listen to this. Melancholic and beautiful. It’s hard to believe she was only 18 when this came out.

Might be my #1 album from this entire list. There are very few albums where I think every single song is fantastic. I love Fiona's voice. I love the downtempo, the piano and strings, the strong emotion. I love it all.

I was in high school when Fiona Apple dropped “Criminal”, and I remember just being mesmerized by her voice and the music video. Yet I didn’t fully appreciate the entire Tidal album at the time. As I got older I really started loving the album, and today it is definitely up there as an all time favorite. Her voice just pulls you in and makes you pay attention. Absolutely great entry on the list.

I'm a pretty big fan of Fiona's already, but I'm admittedly way more familiar with Extraordinary Machine on, so this is almost a fresh listen for me apart from Criminal and Sleep To Dream which, if you grew up when I did, you couldn't avoid hearing at least a few times. I'm struck by how mature she already sounds here. It's a bit slower than her later records, but this is fucking strong songwriting for an 18 year old. I was quite prepared to see lots of disparaging reviews for this given that female voice = bad here most of the time, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Well done y'all! My main complaint is that there are no other Fiona Apple albums on this list. Wtf. She gets even better than this, so if you like this, go listen to at least the next two albums of hers.

Imagine turning out an album like this when you're only nineteen! Excellent stuff; I enjoyed this more than "Bolt Cutters"

women

Real good , only heard 1 of her songs ever but now I'm a fan

Love.

LOVE Fiona Apple 🍎🍏🍎🍏

alot of jazz in those vocals!

Love love love this album. I can still remember the first time I heard Fiona Apple. It was late at night watching VH-1 and the video for Shadowboxer was on. Hooked! I got this album and listen to it on stop. Thanks for the reminder❤️

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CkEHikn17eU

makes it feel like you're walking through new York

Knew and liked ‘Criminal’ from back on MTV but really the first time delving into any of Fiona Apple’s catalog. This was a fantastic album! Really liked each song, great variety but also worked well together. I’ve been missing out! 5/5

Love it

Love it

Loved!!!!

Cerramos la semana con disco debut de una artista actualmente en las sombras. En la línea de Alanis Morissette pero más oscuro e introspectivo, es un muy buen primer trabajo, con una Fiona Apple explotando su voz (con toques de Patti Smith en Shadowboxer: impresionante) con su tono y con la interpretación que hace de cada canción, sumado sus dotes en el piano. Todo soñado. Buen fin de semana.

Love this album

9.1

This is just magnificent. Her arrangements are unique, and her voice soars to heights equalling the depths of her emotions. Her voice is mature yet playful, exquisitely smooth yet simultaneously haunting when she calls for it. You can feel her pain and exasperation as if the songs are an intimate glimpse into a complex yet relatable soul. Yet, it isn't depressing or demeaning. Give this an honest and attentive listen, and you will be richly rewarded with a uniquely beautiful experience.

Increíble de principio a fin, cada canción tiene una emotividad increible de las voces de Apple, Increíble técnica y talento. 100% seguiré sus otros proyectos. 10/10

Goes without words, 2nd great artistic statement this week.

Wasn't real tuned into this one when it came out, and I should have been. It's a great album.

Great

Fav: Carrion Least Fav: The First Taste

The start of something special.

One of the best and most innovative artists of our time in my opinion. Even at her first album she was fantastic, and knowing how her work evolved and developed past it is only a testament to how well it holds up.

I love this album. Held up beautifully over time.

This slaps so much.

Really great album. She has such a range of emotion in her voice that pairs so perfectly with the music and the poetry of her lyrics that is unlike any other artist

Primeiro álbum que ouvi dela. Braba, feroz, atacante. 10/10.

I’m already familiar with Fiona Apple as a singer-songwriter, having heard her album Fetch the Bolt Cutters when it dropped in 2020. I very much enjoyed that album, and that same amount of enjoyment can be applied to her debut album as well. This can be attributed to how Fiona is able to take emotionally complex relationship drama drawn from her fraught adolescence, and make her stories accessible with well-written hooks. Add to that Jon Brion and Patrick Warner’s contributions on various instruments like the marimba and Chamberlin organ, and you got a piano-driven album with variance. Themes explored range from sexuality with “Criminal”, temptation with “Shadowboxer”, fantasizing with “The First Taste”, and even reminiscing about an ex-lover with “Never is a Promise.” There’s also no denying the impact of the wistful closer “Carrion”, where the relationship comes to a point where there is no saving it, as her love for her partner fades amidst the tickling ivories and jaunty guitar soloing. Overall, I enjoyed Tidal very much, as it serves as a good introduction to Fiona if you haven’t checked her out.

Not bad have interesting songs on it, cool piano and violins

I love this record. It’s not quite as musically sophisticated as her later work but is chock full of bangers.

This heavily reminds me of Portishead's "Dummy". The songs are great, not one miss. My favourite song on "Tidal" is "Carrion". The last few minutes are fantastic. It looks like this week will be a wonderful musical experience. I'll give "Tidal" 5 stars.

full is not heavy as empty, not nearly my love. 🦢🌊🕸🐚🌧️ highlights: sleep to dream; slow like honey; the first taste. see also: love deluxe (sade, 1992); heroin chic; gilmore girls; debut (björk, 1993).

This was beautiful and amazing.

Beautiful voice- well composed songs. I don’t recall ever listening to this entire album before - But I will again.

one of my favorite singers from middle school/high school. i've seen her twice in concert (once with Nickel Creek). this is her best album by far.