Natalie Merchant - Motherland
I have long been a fan of Natalie Merchants music, but never so much as when I heard this album. I recieved Motherland as a Christmas Gift, and first listened to it on Christmas Morning 2001, with the smell of the dinner wafting from the kitchen, and the sounds of my family at their happiest. When the last strains of "I'm Not gonna Beg" faded out, my immediate reaction was to go back to "This House is on Fire" and listen to the whole thing through again.
In the 30 odd years I have been listening to music through a critical ear, I have never had an album impact me like "Motherland". This album is, in my humble opion, as close to a musical masterpiece as I have heard in the last 10 years.
From the get go, this album sets the soul on fire, and takes you on a musical journey that traces every emotion the human spirit can safely experience. From the soaring beauty of the title track, to the crushingly painful reality of "Tell Yourself" to the social Pariah that is "Saint Judas", you don't just listen to this album, you live it.
It gets into your blood, and flows through you, becomes part of you. I dare you to get a copy of this album, listen to it (I mean Really Listen to it) and Not Be Moved!
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