''Tidal'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released five albums from 1996 to 2020, which have all reached the top 20 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Apple has received numerous awards a ...
, released on July 23, 1996 by The WORK Group. ''Tidal'' produced six singles: " Shadowboxer", "Slow Like Honey", "
Sleep to Dream
"Sleep to Dream" is a song written and recorded by American alternative singer-songwriter Fiona Apple. It was released on April 14, 1997 by Work Records and Columbia Records as the second single from her debut studio album, ''Tidal''.
The song's ...
", "The First Taste", "
Criminal
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
" 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".
Background and reception
"When I did ''Tidal''," Apple said in 2000, "it was more for the sake of proving myself; telling people from my past something. And to also try to get friends for the future."
''Tidal'' was received well by critics, with Jenny Eliscu of ''Rolling Stone'' and Richard Harrington of ''The Washington Post'' describing it as a mature effort comparable to the work of singer/songwriters
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with two ...
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' ranked the album at number 83 among the 100 greatest albums of the 1990s. The following year, ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yo ...
'' placed it at number 74. The album is featured in the book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. In 2022, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the album at number 25 on its list of "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time", claiming that it was "just the beginning — and Apple has kept topping herself artistically ever since."
As of July 2016, the album has sold 2.9 million copies in United States.
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
*Fiona Apple – vocals (all tracks), piano (1–3, 5–9),
Optigan
The Optigan (a portmanteau of Optical Organ) is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions (built under ...
(2)
*
Jon Brion
Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score comp ...
– guitar (1–2, 6, 10),
vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist, ...
marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbr ...
Amber Maggart
Maude Amber McAfee-Maggart (born February 24, 1975) is an American cabaret singer and recording artist who performs throughout the United States and Europe, but most often in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City.Patrick Warren – piano (1, 4), Chamberlin (1–3, 5–6, 8–10)
*Evan Wilson – viola (7)
* Van Dyke Parks – string arrangement (7)
Production
*Andrew Slater – production
* Mark Endert – recording, mixing
*Claude "Swifty" Achille – additional engineering
*Brian Scheuble – additional engineering
*Jim Wirt – additional engineering
* Niko Bolas – additional engineering
*Troy Gonzalez – assistant engineering
*Al Sanderson – assistant engineering
*Tom Banghart – mixing assistance
*
Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' '' Come Away with Me''.
Biograp ...
– mastering
*Valerie Pack – production coordination
*Nathaniel Goldberg – photography
*Fred Woodward – art direction