Additional personnel: Jesse Harris (acoustic guitar); Dan Seiden, Daniel Littleton (electric guitar); Jennifer Frautschi, Joseph Lin (violin); Eric Gaenslen (cello); Juan Patino (piano, background vocals); Steve Forman (percussion); Elizabeth Mitchell (background vocals).

Recorded at Juan Patino's apartment and 52nd Street Digital, New York, New York.

Personnel: Lisa Loeb (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Jesse Harris (acoustic guitar); Dan Littleton, Tim Bright (electric guitar); Joseph Lin, Jennifer Frautschi (violin); Eric Gaenslen (cello); Juan Patino (piano); Steve Forman (percussion).

Audio Mixers: Juan Patino; Brian Malouf.

Recording information: 52nd St. Digital, NY, NY; Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY; RPM Studios, NY, NY.

Illustrator: Ed Fotheringham.

Photographers: Mark Seliger; Eduardo Patiño.

Lisa Loeb is a rarity in the music industry. She released her first single -- the gentle "Stay," taken from the Reality Bites soundtrack -- before she was signed to any record label and saw it hit number one. Record companies were eager to sign her, and she eventually settled with Geffen. Instead of rushing out her debut album, she waited over a year, releasing Tails in the fall of 1995. Surprisingly, it didn't fade away, becoming a hit with adult alternative radio stations and listeners. That's because Tails delivers on the promise of "Stay." While the basic folk-rock elements of the song are present, much of the material on the record doesn't sound like her breakthrough hit; there are some distorted guitars here and there, and she even rocks out a little bit. Nothing on Tails is as good as "Stay," either; there are too many sophomoric lyrics and unfinished melodies, but it is a pleasant record and, in its own way, charming. There is an innocence and naïveté about Loeb that makes her music sweetly ingratiating, even when her ideas are underdeveloped. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

With strong melodies and a compelling vocal style, Lisa Loeb is emerging as one of the decade's most talented budding singer/songwriters. TAILS shifts gears between soft, lilting folk-rock and big, guitar-based pop, and proves that this talented New Yorker is clearly defining her sound with every well-placed note. Of course the tempting cliche, used too often by rock critic-types, is to proclaim any woman whose voice doesn't spit and snarl as "vulnerable." And yes, Loeb does have a certain wistfulness about her.

Yet the writer behind songs like "It's Over" and "Do You Sleep" is less vulnerable than confused, lovestruck and, at times, bitter. "Over" starts with a simple guitar strum, a la Joni Mitchell and early Suzanne Vega. But the song builds, through electric guitars, harmonizing voices, and a soaring chorus about a rough topic: "The drone in your voice and the fly on the wall said/It's over, it's over it's over it is." "Sleep" also starts quietly, but develops into near-anthem status, with Tim Bright's sweeping, ringing guitar work carrying Loeb to a new level of emotive strength. "Waiting For Wednesday" is another highlight, a clean-edged pop/rock jewel, faceted with luxurious guitars and fine, upper-register harmonies.

TAILS is a collection at once beautiful and spare, self-conscious and totally accessible. Loeb embodies that rarest of combinations--a fine singer and an even better writer. And in the end, listening to it is like sinking, slowly, into a pool of warm water on a cool night. The steam rises, but the body and spirit are calmed.