'Fragile,' of course, was a very successful album for us, especially here in the States. It had a lot of solo pieces on it, though.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The Beginning of Survival is my best album. I am very proud of it, and I am surprised at it, too. I thought some of Travelogue was a little heavy, but I don't think this is heavy.
The first album is a classic record and I think the prototype of a sound that no one else does.
Where I'm fortunate and why I think I've thrived and survived, through the not having albums out every year-and-a-half, is not taking the songs lightly and trying to make sure I've got consistency.
Every album that I've attempted, I suppose, has been different - it's bound to be.
The first album was a very successful record. It made me very visible and it's an immediate association, but I don't do that anymore. Now I'm true to myself as an artist again. I'm more vocally oriented.
I could have taken the easy life and just done classical, but I felt very strongly about the album, my first pop album, the first time that I'd fused so many influences. I was very proud when it was in the charts in 25 countries at once.
What I've always lacked is a really strong band to back me up.
Slow, Deep And Hard was a great album, even though it was probably our least selling record.
But thankfully, my first album, 'Wide Screen,' was sort of a critics' darling - everyone raved about it, but no one bought it. They only manufactured 10,000 copies; I wasn't even in the running for failure!
I don't think that bands that make it on their first album are as strong as bands that don't: there is nowhere to go but down.