Published on Dec 3, 1998
She made a mockery of grace while accepting an award at one of
those MTV award shows that gets replayed every couple hours. Don’t
be like us, she said, because this is all bullshit. My first
thought was, “Now here is one dumb bastard. People all over dream
(but don’t sleep to, of course) about making it in the biz…and
this freak, a certified Sony corporate product created in a
boardroom, is telling the masses not to dress like her.” Of course
I was watching the award show in the first place, so who the hell
am I to judge, right? I do, however, give people a lot more credit
than Fiona Apple apparently does.
She presents a serious problem (which I find to be interesting,
which is probably why I’m doing this review). Hopefully my thoughts
aren’t too ambiguous as a result. Despite her obvious premeditated
stardom, and rambling on the lunatic fringe, she has a fine, fine
voice. A voice I would marry. Her pipes sound wizened and anything
but post-adolescent. She has a supple and schooled delivery that
can change colors when necessary.
Tidal‘s conception may have been based on displaying Apple’s
voice in many different settings. Despite this thought, it’s
surprisingly focused on her music (she wrote all the songs).
I first saw her on a young artist show a couple years ago, and
she was performing one of her soon to be singles, “Shadowboxer”.
Honestly? I thought it was a great song. Here’s this cute, slightly
pudgy girl with the ability to do torch songs, and she’s really
rocking. But after the song ended, she slinked up to the mic and
proceeded to whine and moan about various issues she felt were
important enough to ruin the whole set. This went on for a good 10
minutes! Thus the conflict: The Voice, and The Idiocy. Of course,
her handlers have now molded her into a vixen with the requisite
heroin chic look of skinniness and sunken eyes. I hate MTV.
Tidal opens with a musky bass drum dirge, on what is the
album’s best song, “Sleep To Dream”. The subtle problem with “Sleep
To Dream” reflects an issue I have with the whole image building
process in music. This doesn’t sound altogether like a Fiona Apple
song to me – it sounds like the Producer’s song. Not that it’s a
bad thing; the production has a lot of endearing elements. However,
I hate the feeling that I’m not listening to the artist’s complete
vision – it bothers me and takes away from the overall experience.
Regardless, “Sleep To Dream” is strong enough to set a standard for
the rest of the album (as all good opening tracks should).
It’s worth mentioning that Apple has the necessary pedigree to
succeed as an overly emotional singer songwriter: showbiz parents,
her much talked about rape, and a bevy of apparently worthless
ex-boyfriends. I’ll admit I resisted the strong urge to fast
forward through a lot of the slower, piano and voice oriented
tracks, as I usually find these types of songs dreadfully boring.
There is a caveat, and this will probably define Apple in the next
few years – her voice really carries the slower numbers.
The players on
Tidal are excellent. The backdrop to Apple’s voice is
impeccable and surprisingly intricate for the type of music. They
say Apple played piano on the album. If this is true she’s a damned
good player – I’ll leave it at that. Van Dyke Parks, who did the
instrumental arrangements, deserves special attention. His
arrangement gives
Tidal‘s backing tracks a unique flavor among the recent rash
of female oriented confessional albums. Interesting groups of
woodwinds and strings appear and vanish; this establishes a
dream-like quality that maintains the atmosphere throughout. And
this is where
Tidal completely succeeds: it takes a listener to another
place and keeps them there with its wonderful consistency in
production.
Another strong track (and single), “Criminal” is a favorite.
Since this song displays all the elements of a classic (excellent
music, catchy melody, and characteristic vocals) I can listen
multiple times in one sitting. A thought occurred that more songs
in this vein, where Apple plays the part of a heartbreaker rather
than a victim, would make for a more interesting sequence.
An interesting tune worth noting is “First Taste”. Despite the
obvious Sade’ influence, the song takes off into Apple’s vision of
a romance (I think…the lyrics are less than illuminated). Her
voice is gorgeous here, and mixes well with the samba beat behind
her. “Carrion” is another tune with a strong melody. Unfortunately
the chorus is extremely forced, to the point of being overly
contrived.
Although I now fast-forward often while listening to
Tidal, I think it’s a worthwhile investment if only to hear
Apple sing. And the fact is, as much as I want to maintain my
rocker façade, I do listen to it often. It bothers me (but
it doesn’t keep me up at night) that an artist feels she has to
dictate rebellion to her fans (which is utterly ridiculous – that’s
assuming people still think on their own). Maybe Apple knows
something I don’t. She does have a lot of fans to deal with. And
that, I think, says it all.