Tigerlily

by

Natalie Merchant

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When Natalie Merchant announced her departure from 10,000 Maniacs, there was much speculation about whether or not she would be able to match the quality of the Maniacs songs in a solo career. On my first listen through the Tigerlily CD in the summer of 1995, I knew for sure that Natalie had come through. Tigerlily was an amazing album. When I popped the DVD-Audio disc in my player and began listening, it was like the first time all over again. It's the same beautiful music and the same incredible songwriting, but the sound is exceptional.

The surround mix adds a quality to the music that can't easily be described in words, and the depth of the sound easily outpaces that of the CD. I found myself noticing subtle elements to each song that I had never heard before. Each instrument stands on its own, with much better seperation than exists in the stereo mix on the CD. Just to be sure I wasn't hallucinating, I listened to a track from the CD and then immediately listened to the DVD version. No contest. This is no minor difference. It's amazing.

As previous reviews have noted, you need a DVD-Audio player to take full advantage of the disc. The disc does contain Dolby Digital tracks, so it will play on a regular DVD player, but you won't be getting the best possible sound from it. This is not a video DVD, so don't expect movies, music videos or anything else. Buy this disc for the music, not for extras.