Merchant was the lead singer of the band 10,000 Maniacs from 1981 to 1993, before going solo. I'd say her genre is folk rock, but some of her music could just be called "folk" or "rock" (or "pop"). She had a couple of studio albums I had some interest in getting, "Tigerlily" and "Ophelia", but I never got around to buying either of those. And now I feel more likely to get a retrospective album, if I get anything at all (aside from the live album I'm reviewing on this page).

tek's rating: ½

Live in Concert
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This was recorded June 13, 1999, and released on CD that November. (The disc is packaged in a digisleeve.) I have a vague recollection of buying it, probably sometime in late 1999, at either a record store or a book store, I forget which. Anyway, it's not important. The CD contains a few songs from her first two solo albums (which I've mentioned above), as well as some songs that aren't on those albums. I usually don't like live performances as much as studio recordings, though there are exceptions. Not necessarily for full albums of live songs, but sometimes for individual songs. There's also a DVD of the concert, but I don't have that.

1. "Wonder": This is originally from the album "Tigerlily". I like the live version well enough, but I still prefer the studio version.

2. "San Andreas Fault": From "Tigerlily". It's not something that I remember, but it's nice.

3. "Beloved Wife": From "Tigerlily". I don't remember it, but it's quite nice.

4. "Space Oddity": This is not from a previous album. It is, of course, a cover of the David Bowie song. I like this version a lot, though not quite as much as Bowie's version. I think of it as a highlight of the album, mainly because, as far as I know, it's only available on this album. And aside from a couple of Merchant's hit songs, it's the only thing on the album that I find memorable.

5. "Carnival": This is originally from "Tigerlily", but it sounds nothing like the studio version on that album. I like this version, but not as much as the studio version. The live version has a rawness and I might say a grunginess that I think sounds good, but... my appreciation of it is clouded by my ears straining in vain to hear any similarity to the studio version.

6. "Dust Bowl": As far as I know, this isn't from any other album. I definitely like it.

7. "After the Gold Rush": This is apparently a cover of a Neil Young song, but I'm not familiar with the original. I like it.

8. "Gun Shy": Not from any other album. It's good.

9. "The Gulf of Araby": This is a cover of a song by somebody I've never even heard of. But it's quite good.

10. "Ophelia": This is the title track from Merchant's second studio album. I'm not sure if I've ever heard the studio version, but I like this. At the end there are some spoken lines in a few different languages, I think. I'm not sure who was speaking the lines, nor do I know what they have to do with the rest of the song, but it's all good, I guess.

11. "Seven Years": From "Tigerlily". I'm not familiar with it, but it's good.

Well, I quite like the sound of every song on the album, because Merchant is a great singer. Objectively, I believe the album deserves a higher rating than I've given it, for its quality. But at the same time, I don't really find much of it memorable. Maybe I would if I listened to the album repeatedly, but that's just not something I do with most albums.