Track Listing

1. This House Is On Fire
2. Motherland
3. Saint Judas
4. Put The Law On You
5. Build A Levee
6. Golden Boy
7. Ballad Of Henry Darger
8. Worst Thing
9. Tell Yourself
10. Just Can't Last
11. Not In This Life
12. I'm Not Gonna Beg

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44031 in Music
• Released on: 2001-11-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Just as Natalie Merchant donned a mythical persona for her last proper solo release, 1998's Ophelia, the buttery-voiced performer enjoys another stint as a quick-change artist on her latest, Motherland. From the trilling Middle Eastern-flavour of opener "This House Is On Fire" to the evocative Latin classical guitar tones on "The Worst Thing", Merchant seems to enjoy pressing her steadfast throaty vocals into new terrain as much as she does trying on dresses and high heels. While most of Motherland resides in the down-tempo, ballad-heavy world that Ophelia did, most of the singer's diehard fans will appreciate her thoughtful phrasing and pastel soundscapes. There may not be fireworks, but the ex-10,000 Maniacs frontwoman knows her way around a sad song: "Golden Boy" excels as a wispy November poem, while Merchant wiggles into torch-singer mode on "Put The Law On You". But the record's true standout is "Tell Yourself", an almost sprightly tune with sunny acoustics that resemble the Maniacs' "Don't Talk". Merchant may not be inherently comfortable in her own skin, but she's excellent at transforming her surroundings without sacrificing her creative soul. --Kristy Martin

CD Description
Third solo album by former 10,000 Maniacs frontwoman. Classic, melodic, melancholy, adult-orientated pop music with influences of country, folk, rock, ska and hip-hop. Reminiscentof prime Tracy Chapman or Michelle Shocked.

Customer Reviews

Motherland: Another Classic by the Poet Laureate of Pop
Most of today's musical artists don't write their own material. Most artists are constantly seeking that extra dollar. Most artists don't take on such weighty causes as homelessness, religious freedom, self-image, and abortion rights. Most artists are never quoted regularly in textbooks and scholarly journals. Most artists who leave a band to go solo rarely regain their former magic. Well, most artists aren't Natalie Merchant, who, on her third studio solo album, "Motherland," lives up to her bill as representing all that is good and true in pop-alternative-folk rock.

"Motherland" is an exquisite display of Merchant's talent: her corduroy voice coupled with poetic verse (fitting for the stuff you read in your college English course, perhaps even more so) shines throughout the album, in what will undoubtedly go down as her most ambitious work to date.

In "The Ballad of Henry Darger," Merchant's voice sends us chills as she eulogizes a relatively unknown folk artist (whose 15,000 page epic, discovered only after his death, is now on display at the American Folk Art Museum in New York): "Who'll tell the story of him, Henry Darger, Henry Darger/Who'll tell it all to the world/Henry, Henry, Oh Henry/Oh Henry." The centerpiece of the album, this song is worthy of Merchant's other middle-album songs written in the past, such as the haunting "I May Know the Word" (Tigerlily, 1995) and evocative "My Skin"(Ophelia, 1998).

Make no mistake, "Motherland" is not a collection of somber ballads (though, coming from her I doubt many would really mind). In "Tell Yourself," Merchant comes to the rescue of the typical American teen who finds themselves constantly up against the likes of glitzy boy-girl bands: "Tell yourself that you're not pretty/Look at you/You're beautiful/Tell yourself that no one sees/ Plain Jane, invisible me/Just Tell yourself/Tell Yourself/You'll never be like the anorexic cuties in the magazine." Again, she comes back with more comforts in her upbeat single "Just Can't Last": "If I could just explain it/If I could help you understand/I can see that your hurting/ Way down like a beast of burden/About to break your back/God only knows that you're human/Believe me they don't understand/That you have the weight of the world on your back."

"Motherland" also has elements of reggae, folk, and funk instilled in it, thanks mainly to legendary producer T-Bone Burnett (Counting Crows, "O Brother Where Art Thou?) and help from The Wallflowers, talented folk songstress Gillian Welsh, and alternative-rock icons such as Freedy Johnston. At times the album sounds straight out of 1960's soul and 1970's reggae -- the first track, "This House is On Fire" could have been written by Bob Marley -- yet it is ever so relevant: in this age of thoughtless lyrics and top-40 tunes, Merchant's music stands up against cliche, commercialism, and just plain bad music.

Amazing (if slightly different...)
Natalie Merchant revels in her obscurity. Because her music is so massively different from that of the mainstream trash, the singers posing as artists, the "anorexic beauties" and the thoughtless maddening nonsense that saturates the charts, she remains uncorrupted by the trivialities of being "popular".

Her music is beautiful, unique, intruiging and diverse. The song "Motherland" is a meditation on the loss of innocence and nostalia. Other notable songs include "This House Is On Fire", about the divided nature of the United States during the Presidential election and "Golden Boy", a haunting song about the glorification of violence and the celebrities made out of violence in our society.

The album is a must for old fans and new fans alike. But a word of warning - the first time you listen you will not like her new sound. It has obviously been heavily influence by producer T-Bone Burnett, and sound more soulish (if the word exists). Listen to it again and you appreciate its brilliance, a shining diamond in the rough of today's commertialism and thoughlessness.

Darkly Beautiful, but not for depressives
Natalie Merchant doesn't sing at you. She takes you with her into her world. There's beauty in that world, but there is darkness also and I don't recommend this album to anyone easily depressed.

However, for those looking for music to sink into and thoroughly experience, MOTHERLAND is for you. Even the radio hits are high quality, and that's indeed unusual. "Tell Yourself", the most positive and closest to happy song on the set, has something to say and entertains while saying it. "Just Can't Last" also is rather uplifting, tuneful, and good listening.

Getting away from the more commercial material, there's appeal to the world music fan in the opening "This House Is On Fire" with definite Middle Eastern flavor, and in "The Worst Thing", with Latin classical guitar tones.

The title track, "Motherland", is a song for the times we're living in. "Golden Boy" is sad, but in a wispy, ethereal way. "Saint Judas" and "Build A Levee" are blues songs. "I'm Not Gonna Beg" has a country gospel flavor. There is much here for all listeners.

However, don't expect to be taken by this record on the first listen. You might be, but it might take a few plays to truly experience it. I find myself wavering between giving it four or five stars, and settle on four because there are those who will find it overly depressing.