Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos
Atlantic, 1991

Reviewed by Sharna Marcus

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Before there was Lilith, there was Tori, singing the tunes of the madness, sadness, callousness and craziness that goes along with being a modern woman. Amos captures sorrow, fright, love, hate and sexual longing with intense, haunting music and thoughtful - although at times abstract - lyrics.

Amos' ability to re-create these desperate emotions is best revealed in "Leather," a song about a woman allowing herself to be used in a relationship:

I could just pretend that you love me. The night would lose all sense of fear. But why do I need you to love me if you can't hold what I hold dear.

Amos shows unprecedented bravery by describing her rape in "Me and a Gun." The music and the lyrics are simple. She hides nothing.

But the songwriter reveals her inner turmoil with more than her words. Nine of the 12 tracks rely almost solely on Amos' piano playing. She pulls it off, combining the beauty of classical music with the creativity and callousness of the 20th century, without sounding like Elton John. In "Winter" the keyboard sounds like it is singing a duet with Amos, complementing her voice and style.

Little Earthquakes paved the way for the late '90s artist to express personal emotions without the heavy marketing of '80s stars like Whitney Houston and Madonna. But it's still questionable if any of the music of the Lilith's daughters can compare to Aunt Tori's sonic earthquake.

"With rarely a weak moment, Little Earthquakes is one of the strongest musical statements of the decade."

Jonathan Cohen
- NATN Associate Editor

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Related Links
Tori Amos Homepage