Ophelia (album)

Ophelia
Studio album by Natalie Merchant
Released 19 May 1998
Recorded July 1996 - May 1997
Studio Talking Dwarf Studios, Little Valley, New York & AIR Studios, London, England
Genre Pop, Rock, Folk
Length 56:38
Label Elektra
Producer Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant chronology
Tigerlily
(1995)Tigerlily1995		 Ophelia
(1998)		 Live in Concert
(1999)Live in Concert1999
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB[2]
Pitchfork Media(4.1/10)[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

Ophelia is the title of a 1998 album, film, and song by Natalie Merchant.

"Kind & Generous" was the most successful single of the album, reaching the Top 20 in the U.S. whilst Merchant was on tour with Lilith Fair. "Break Your Heart" also received single and video treatment. These and the other videos from the album, plus three from Tigerlily, were gathered on a Warner Music Vision home video, also entitled Ophelia. "I love the opportunity to flex my thespian muscle," Merchant quips on it.[5]

The song "King of May" is a tribute to poet Allen Ginsberg.

In 2009, a line from "My Skin," accompanied by images of animal abuse, served as the basis for an ASPCA commercial. It was also featured in the television series Alias some years earlier.

"Kind & Generous", "The Living", "Break Your Heart" and "Life is Sweet" appeared on Merchant's best-of collection, Retrospective: 1995–2005.

Track listing

All songs written by Natalie Merchant.[6]

  1. "Ophelia" – 5:10
  2. "Life is Sweet" – 5:12
  3. "Kind & Generous" – 4:07
  4. "Frozen Charlotte" (with Karen Peris of The Innocence Mission) – 5:23
  5. "My Skin" – 5:30
  6. "Break Your Heart" (with N'Dea Davenport) – 4:47
  7. "King of May" – 4:09
  8. "Thick as Thieves" – 6:57
  9. "Effigy" – 2:30
  10. "The Living" – 3:18
  11. "When They Ring the Golden Bells (with Karen Peris of The Innocence Mission) / Ophelia (Reprise)" (string arrangement by Gavin Bryars – 9:33

Charts

Chart (1998) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 56
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 26
US Billboard 200 8

Notes

  1. ↑ AllMusic review
  2. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  3. ↑ "Pitchfork Media review". Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  4. ↑ "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
  5. ↑ Q, , May 1999
  6. ↑ "Ophelia". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  7. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.