Motherland (Natalie Merchant album)

Motherland
Studio album by
Natalie Merchant
ReleasedNovember 13, 2001 (2001-11-13)
RecordedJune 15 – September 9, 2001
StudiosAllaire Studios (Shokan, New York); Clinton Studios (New York City, New York); Sunset Sound and Cello Studios (Hollywood, California).
GenreFolk rock
Length58:22
LabelElektra
Producers
Natalie Merchant chronology
Live in Concert
(1999)		 Motherland
(2001)		 The House Carpenter's Daughter
(2003)
Singles from Motherland
  1. "Just Can't Last"
    Released: September 2001
  2. "Build a Levee"
    Released: 2002
  3. "Tell Yourself"
    Released: 2002
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar
Billboard(Favorable)
E! OnlineB+
Entertainment WeeklyB
Jam!(Favorable)
MojoStarStarStarStar
QStarStarStar
Rolling StoneStarStarStarHalf star
Slant MagazineStarStarStarHalf star
UncutStarStarStarStar

Motherland is the third studio album by Natalie Merchant, released on November 13, 2001, by Elektra Records.

History

Originally, a song named "The End" was supposed to appear on the album instead of "Not In This Life". Merchant noted that: "I'd take out one song, 'Not in This Life,' because it seems frivolous to me now. And I'd put back a song called 'The End,' which probably would have gotten me in trouble. Part of the lyric goes: 'That'll be the end of war/ the end of the law of Bible, of Koran, Torah.' I really wanted to put it on the record, but I felt there was so much serious material already that I chose something lighter, for balance." "The End" later appeared on Merchant's self-titled sixth studio album (2014).

Two tracks from Motherland, "Tell Yourself" and "Not in This Life", appeared on the television series Felicity and Alias respectively. The song "Henry Darger" is about "posthumously appreciated outsider artist" Henry Darger.

Track listing

All songs written by Natalie Merchant.

  1. "This House Is on Fire" – 4:42
  2. "Motherland" – 4:44
  3. "Saint Judas" – 5:44
  4. "Put the Law on You" – 5:01
  5. "Build a Levee" – 4:46
  6. "Golden Boy" – 4:10
  7. "Henry Darger" – 4:24
  8. "The Worst Thing" – 5:46
  9. "Tell Yourself" – 5:14
  10. "Just Can't Last" – 4:31
  11. "Not in This Life" – 5:22
  12. "I'm Not Gonna Beg" – 3:40

Personnel

String sections (1, 7, 8)

Production

Charts

Chart performance for Motherland
Chart (2001) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) 83
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)11
US Billboard 20030

References

  1. 1 2 AllMusic review
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Motherland by Natalie Merchant". Metacritic.com. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 1, 2001. p. 20. Retrieved November 13, 2024 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly review". Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  5. ↑ Jam! review[dead link]
  6. ↑ "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2007.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ↑ "Slant review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
  8. ↑ Singer, Barry (July 7, 2002). Natalie Merchant, Accidental Prophet. The New York Times.
  9. ↑ "Various – Felicity. Senior Year". Discogs. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Color Blind." Alias, season 1, episode 7, November 25, 2001. Directed by Jack Bender, written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman. American Broadcasting Company.
  11. ↑ "Natalie Merchant: Motherland : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". www.rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Motherland | Natalie Merchant". Nataliemerchant.com. May 4, 2017.
  13. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 185.
  14. ↑ "Charts.nz – Natalie Merchant – Motherland". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.