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The Garden is the first album by Australian singer Merril Bainbridge, released in Australia on 31 July 1995 (see 1995 in music) by Gotham Records. The album has a main genre of alternative pop songs — some written by Bainbridge herself, Owen Bolwell, Stan Paulzen (both of Tlot Tlot) and Siew. The Garden debuted inside the top ten on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and is her highest selling album to date, being certified double platinum by ARIA. The album nominated Bainbridge for eight awards throughout the 1995 and the 1996 ARIA Awards including; "Best Pop Release", "Breakthrough Artist - Single", "Best New Talent", "Best Female Artist", "Single of the Year", "Breakthrough Artist - Album", "Highest Selling Single" and "Highest Selling Album".

The Garden
Studio album by Merril Bainbridge
Released	31 July 1995 (1995-07-31)
Recorded	1994–1995
Studio	001 Studios, Carlton, Victoria, Australia
Genre	Pop
Length	46:36
Label	Gotham, Universal Music
Producer	George Siew Ooi, Owen Bolwell
Merril Bainbridge chronology
The Garden (1995) Between the Days (1998)
Alternative cover
The second cover of the album released in Japan.
Singles from The Garden
"Mouth" Released: November 1994 "Under the Water" Released: July 1995 "Power of One" Released: October 1995 "Sleeping Dogs" Released: February 1996

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Commercial performance and singles

The Garden was commercially successful in Australia and had minor success in New Zealand and the United States. In mid-August 1995, it debuted at number five on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart.[2] The album dropped off the chart after five months spending a total of twenty-two weeks on the chart.[3] The Australian Recording Industry Association awarded the album a double platinum certification for shipping 140,000 copies and became the twenty-seventh highest selling album in Australia for 1995.[4][5] At the 1996 ARIA Awards, the album was nominated for "Breakthrough Artist - Album" and "Highest Selling Album", but lost to Tu-Plang by Regurgitator and Don't Ask by Tina Arena respectively.[6] In New Zealand, The Garden debuted at number thirty-four and spent two weeks on the chart.[7]

"Mouth", the first single, became Bainbridge's most-successful single release, peaking at number-one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[8][9] Written by Bainbridge herself, it is a bubblegum pop song about relationship — "sometimes you feel you're in control and the next thing, you're insecure."[10] The single was released in October 1994[11] and failed to chart. When it was re-issued in 1995 it gained success, being certified platinum by ARIA and becoming the fourth highest selling single in Australia for 1995.[12] The song was nominated for "Best Pop Release", "Breakthrough Artist - Single" and "Single of the Year" at the 1995 ARIA Awards.[13] The second single "Under the Water" was written by Owen Bolwell and Stanley Paulzen in 1990. It became Bainbridge's second top ten hit in Australia.[14] The song was nominated for "Highest Selling Single" at the 1996 ARIA Awards, but lost to "Let's Groove" by CDB.[6] The third and fourth singles, "Power of One" and "Sleeping Dogs", had minor success on the chart peaking at number twenty-one and fifty-five respectively.[15]

"Sleeping Dogs" uses a coda that was previously used at the end of the track "Just Can't Get Enough" on Tlot Tlot's album The Live Set - Volume 1.

Track listing

In late 1996, the album was re-released in Australia with a bonus disc containing several music videos and three remixes.

Charts

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[19]	2× Platinum	140,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalogue
Australia	31 July 1995	Gotham Records	CD, cassette	GOTH95032
Japan	21 February 1996	BMG Japan	CD	BVCP-914
New Zealand	24 March 1996	—	CD	—
United States	24 September 1996	Universal Records	CD	53019

Personnel

References

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