Title: Splendid Solo Debut From Natalie Merchant
Product review: I was vaguely familiar with Ten Thousand Maniacs, so hearing "Tigerlilly" for the first time was a wonderful surprise. Merchant is a fine songwriter who deftly blends folk, pop, and rock. The smash hit "Carnival" may be this album's best tune, followed closely behind by her folk masterpiece "Beloved Wife", but I also treasure "Wonder", "San Andreas Fault" and her elegy to the late actor River Phoenix, "River". "Cowboy Romance" features the talents of fiddler Jay Unger, best known for his performances on Garrison Keillor's "Prarie Home Companion" and as the composer of "Ashokean Farewell", the theme to the Burns brothers' documentary masterpiece "The Civil War". Fans of Natalie Merchant will surely treasure this fine CD.
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