"[5]Among positive reviews, J. D. Considine commented in Musician that Tigerlily shows "a far greater stylistic range than the Maniacs" and "Merchant conveys more passion and personality than in the past",[14] while Mark Cooper of Mojo highlighted "her flair for narrative songwriting and that habitual chafing between the sober and the sensual, sense and sensibility.

"[15] Los Angeles Times critic Jean Rosenbluth wrote that Tigerlily "presents Merchant as considerably more mature and womanly than the Maniacs gave her room to be" and "marks positive progress for a talent that is still in bloom.

"[9] In The Guardian, Caroline Sullivan opined that Merchant had surpassed her work in 10,000 Maniacs with an album of "11 moving lyrics, sung with great grace", singling out "Beloved Wife" as possibly "the most touching thing committed to disc this year.

"[6] Al Weisel, however, said in Rolling Stone that Merchant's voice had "nearly deteriorated into self-parody", adding, "With its surfeit of blindly self-obsessed lyrics and lulling lite-rock arrangements, the bulk of Tigerlily provides a perfect soundtrack for the Prozac nation.

[16] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine concluded that "the added emphasis on rhythmic texture works, creating an intimate but not exclusive atmosphere that holds throughout the record, even when her occasionally sophomoric, sentimental poetry threatens to sink the album in the weight of its own preciousness".

[3] Tom Moon, in the 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide, compared the songs on Tigerlily to the "ambitious, unconventional material" Merchant wrote as a member of 10,000 Maniacs, "which made good use of her porcelain voice and exotic lyrical imagery.