Toni's most recent album, The Woman's Boat, brought her to Geffen Records. Released in 1994, the single "Lay Down Your Pain" earned Toni her third Grammy nomination, for Best Female Rock Performance.

Reviews

The album really fits together, and is much more complex than either of her previous two. Recorded partially in India, using some of the Zap Mama singers as background singers (as well as Peter Gabriel on one track), she incorporates all kinds of different ethnic influences that result in a style uniquely her own (unlike Union which tended to sound quite similar to some of Paul Simon's African-influenced work). The emotions range from subtle, quiet moments of tenderness and hope, to loud, abrasive moments of rage and fear. She also incorporates noises like alarm clocks ticking, sirens wailing, babies crying, heartbeats, children singing nursery rhymes, etc

The opening and ending tracks "Womb" and "Death", tie the album together, making it work thematically as a whole. I think my favorite track is "Welcome to the World"--about the birth of this "new daughter". It talks about the good and the bad in the world, offering hope, but recognizing the problems, and the acceptance that all the emotions together make the world the beautiful place it is.
     
So check it out. It's a pretty powerful album. (jjhanson@att.net)

As far as I can tell, this has been universally panned in the press, but I still thought it was an amazing album, and very powerful. It's sort of a concept album of a woman's journey from birth to death. So beautiful. (neal)

A great album but too nerve-wracking to listen to it as a whole. (Dirk.Kastens@rz.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE)

Dash out *now* and pick up The Woman's Boat. It's a brilliant concept album that follows the course of a woman's life, from the womb to the grave. Sort of like Skylarking by XTC, only COMPLETELY different. And Peter Gabriel's influence is all over it.... (burka@jeffrey.net)

This is a really powerful album, one that I don't listen to that often (probably because it requires an intensity, giving to it as well as receiving, and it's better to listen to the whole thing). It's most rewarding that way. I think it is really an achievement--unique, poignant. Highly recommended. (JoAnn.Whetsell)

When I first heard a cut off of this album, I was completely blown away. I think it was on WXPN in Philly, and they actually played a couple of cuts. Maybe it was the Featured Album or they played it during the Woman's Music Hour?
     
Anyhow, I was very much entranced. I had heard Toni before, but never this forceful, never this powerful. When I bought the album and played it, my heart cried out. I'm not a woman, so I can't say this for certain, but her music seemed to give me a glimpse at a woman's life: the highs and lows, the anguish and the soaring joys, all wrapped up into one album. I had never had such a sense of someone's life journey delivered to me that way, and I haven't since.
     
Each one of us is entitled to their own opinion, of course, but I would have to disagree with Dirk's: listen to this album from start to finish, and experience it! (joc@netaxs.com)

An Acquired Taste, September 9, 2004

Reviewer: Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX)
A friend in San Diego introduced me to this CD several years ago and at the time I was impressed by it. Last year, I saw it in the used CD section at my favorite Encinitas record store and picked it up after remembering my first impression.
When I got it home, I put it on, listened to it, then put it on the shelf wondering what had ever possessed me to buy it. It might have gathered a thick coat of dust if I hadn't decided to take it on a long trip and give it another chance.
On the trip, I let it play through half a dozen times and gained a new appreciation for it. While there are parts, like the children's chorus and the squalling baby, that I still dislike there is much here to enjoy. My favorites here are the growling Predator, Wild Bride, and Sacrifice.
I am not familiar with Childs' other works, so I have no point of comparison to make with them. But I can tell the new listener that Childs delivers her songs with passion. Though her music is definitely an acquired taste, I have heard enough here to make me want to hear more.

Reviewer: kamb@jps.net" (Santa Cruz, CA USA)
I've been a fan of Toni Childs for along time, and her music is filled with passion. This CD, hands down, is the most emotional CD to date from her. As a parent, it wells up all my emotions (happiness, sadness, etc) for my child in a well rounded album. It covers the start of life to the end. The best to date. PERIOD ~Kam (^8*

TONI RULES! WHETHER YOU'RE MALE OR FEMALE!, June 30, 2000

Reviewer: "nick82e" (BUFORD, GA United States)
I WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPELLED TO WRITE A REVIEW ON "UNION" OR "HOUSE OF HOPE" BEFORE THIS CD, BUT THE FIRST REVIEW FOR "THE WOMAN'S BOAT" REALLY STEAMED ME. FIRST, THE ALBUM IS A KNOCKOUT. THE KEY HERE IS TO BLOCK OUT ANYTHING ELSE YOU KNOW ABOUT TONI'S PREVIOUS MUSIC AND GO ALONG FOR THE RIDE. THE ALBUM STANDS BEST ISOLATED, AND ON ITS OWN. SECOND, IT NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME HOW WOMEN CLAIM TO "WANT MEN TO UNDERSTAND THEM" AND THEN MAKE COMMENTS LIKE "THIS IS A CD THAT CAN ONLY FULLY BE UNDERSTOOD BY WOMEN". WELL, I DO GET IT, AND I WOULD MUCH RATHER LISTEN TO "IT" THAN LISTEN TO "THAT".COMMENTS WELCOMED AT nick82e@hotmail.com.

Plumbing a broad spectrum of emotional depths, March 5, 2000

Reviewer: A music fan
Each of Toni Childs's releases has constituted a clear progression in the development and expression of an ever-broadening emotional maturity. This is a cd that can only be fully understood by women, and it can only be fully appreciated by those who experience music as an emotional experience--not just from the shallow surface of critical mind. Introspection; an understanding of the necessity that what is "light" necessarily rests upon the shadowy; and a certain maturity of life-wisdom are pre-requesites for meeting Ms. Childs on her own ground in this musical offering.

Her best album, January 25, 2000

Reviewer: Igor Birsa (Trieste, Italy)
So you are looking for a musical experience, a 'story' composed of songs? Look no further. Lining out this excellent album, Toni shows the maturation of her musical style. All the songs possess a unique, I'd say 'dark', style, with her strange voice and her touching lyrics. Simply wonderful. The previous albums are collections of good songs, this is a unique path from beginning to end, you will not put this CD in your player for hearing a single song. Very good.

Artist's work that is written to stand for a life & lifetime, February 13, 1999

Reviewer: A music fan
While I have always loved the worldbeat sensibility of Toni's first album, "Union", I did not have a clear sense of who she was until "The Woman's Boat". "House of Hope" pointed, soulfully, in this direction, like an arrow poised, but "Woman's Boat" speaks, not only for herself but for many women, as well as men. This is the album I cannot get enough of. This is the album that leaves me expectantly eager for her next one as well as fearful that I have heard her best. If it is, it is enough.

A thoughtful, gorgeous-sounding album, January 11, 1999

Reviewer: Vincent E. Vizachero (Houston, TX United States)
Toni Childs never fails to make me think, and on this album she never fails to make me FEEL!!
This album is both intelligent and emotional, and Toni does a better job of stirring the soul than any other pop singer I've heard. Sarah McLachlan at her best doesn't rival the emotional blitzkrieg of "The Woman's Boat." This is a masterpiece and must-have for any music lovers who consider themselves both intelligent AND sensitive.