Natalie Merchant (album)

Natalie Merchant
Studio album by
Natalie Merchant
ReleasedMay 6, 2014 (2014-05-06)
Studio
[1]
Length47:25
LabelNonesuch
ProducerNatalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant chronology
Leave Your Sleep
(2010) 		Natalie Merchant
(2014) 		Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings
(2015)

Natalie Merchant is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, released on May 6, 2014 by Nonesuch Records. Her first studio album consisting of all original material since Motherland (2001), it revisits a characteristic theme of Merchant's, of "characters, and women in particular, struggling in a culture where odds are stacked against them".[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Drowned in Sound6/10[5]
Exclaim!7/10[6]
PopMatters7/10[7]

Upon release, the album received mostly positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the album received a score of 73, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]

Commercial reception

In the United States, the album debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on its first week of release,[8] selling around 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week. It also debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Folk Albums,[9] and No. 5 on the Rock Albums chart.[10] As of October 2015, the album has sold 44,000 copies in the US.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Natalie Merchant

Natalie Merchant track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Ladybird"6:37
2."Maggie Said"4:27
3."Texas"5:02
4."Go Down Moses"5:01
5."Seven Deadly Sins"4:51
6."Giving Up Everything"4:20
7."Black Sheep"4:08
8."It's A-Coming"3:50
9."Lulu (introduction)"1:03
10."Lulu"4:15
11."The End"5:11
Total length:47:25

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.[1]

Charts

Chart performance for Natalie Merchant
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12] 87
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 153
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 72
UK Albums (OCC)[17] 34
US Billboard 200[18] 20
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[19] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[20] 5
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[21] 8

References

  1. ^ a b Natalie Merchant (CD liner notes). Natalie Merchant. USA: Nonesuch Records. 2014. 541042-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) Retrieved 17 December 2022 from Discogs.
  2. ^ Hermes, Will (7 May 2014). "Album Review: Natalie Merchant". NPR. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Natalie Merchant by Natalie Merchant". Metacritic. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  4. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Natalie Merchant - Natalie Merchant | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  5. ^ Lukowski, Andrzej (April 29, 2014). "Album Review: Natalie Merchant - Natalie Merchant". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  6. ^ Henderson, Stuart (May 5, 2014). "Natalie Merchant Natalie Merchant | Exclaim!". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  7. ^ Casarino, Matt (May 8, 2014). "Natalie Merchant: Natalie Merchant, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  8. ^ "Billboard 200". Billboard. May 24, 2014.
  9. ^ "Folk Albums". Billboard. May 24, 2014.
  10. ^ "Rock Albums". Billboard. May 24, 2014.
  11. ^ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015.
  12. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 19 May 2014" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1264). ARIA: 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-20. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Natalie Merchant – Natalie Merchant" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – Natalie Merchant – Natalie Merchant" (in French). Hung Medien.
  15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Natalie Merchant – Natalie Merchant" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Natalie Merchant – Natalie Merchant" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  17. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  18. ^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  19. ^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard.
  20. ^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  21. ^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.