Tori Amos
To Venus And Back
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Tori Amos
To Venus And Back
Atlantic, 1999
RiYL: Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Sarah McLachlan, Kate Bush |
The space/dance elements of Amos music, which seemed experimental on the 1994 Under The Pink track "Waitress" (included on Live: Still Orbiting), are now as vital to Amos' allure as her piano, which is still the backbone of the music but isn't quite as dominating. "Juarez," almost the musical sequel to "Cruel," is filled with dark and dense beats that would make D.J. Spooky or Tricky gush, while "Lust" and "Bliss" are driven through the techno-abyss by her eerie ivories and increasingly enchanting vocals. Most importantly, this electronic incorporation accomplishes what only Madonna had done before on Ray Of Light -- making dance music emotionally gutwrenching.
Like much of Live: Still Orbiting, her overdue concert album, "Concertina," "1,000 Oceans," "Spring Haze" and the brief but utterly beautiful "Josephine" focus on Amos' heart -- her voice and piano -- and the ability to be poppy, melancholic, breathtaking and consoling, with just two codependent instruments.
Lyrically, Amos has become much less jaded and angry, a stark departure from Little Earthquakes, when she rocked every boy's world with, "You best pray that I bleed real soon -- how's that thought for you," from "Silent All These Years." Now they shift from sweet ("Concertina") to heartbreaking: "I've cried 1,000 oceans, and I would cry 1,000 more if that's what it takes to sail you home." The album's co-first single, "1,000 Oceans" is the weepy antithesis of the vapid teen pop, wack white MCs and metal rock monopolizing "Total Request Live," and such a refreshing change for the talk-show circuit (Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien). Sure, Sarah McLachlan's "Angel," is still in rotation, but that's like comparing Al Pacino's acting skills with Andrew Shue's.
After her tour and incomprehensible commercials with alterna-girl Morrissette, critics and fans worried Live would be a hits package going for mass appeal, but thankfully (if only for integrity's sake), of her bigger songs, only "Cornflake Girl" appears. While most live records are done to capitalize on sudden fame (Mighty Mighty Bosstones) or to satisfy record deals (Sunny Day Real Estate), this is a rare one that loses no intimacy from the actual show. Amos also beats the other live album pitfall -- similarity to already-known studio versions -- by making "Cruel" and "Precious Things" more animalistic and fierce vocally and using drummer Matt Chamberlain as an essential factor to their transformation. With hits "God," "Crucify" and "Caught a Lite Sneeze" absent, Live refocuses on Amos' backbone and heart, making "Cloud on My Tongue" and "Bells for Her" especially moving.
The most genuine part of Live is the beginning of "Cooling" - her best song that never appeared on an album (it wasn't fitting for Boys For Pele or Choirgirl) -- when she says so sweetly, "So this little song, she's one of my best friends of all the songs, and this is sort of my goodbye to you." Though only hardcore fans have heard "Cooling" until now -- whether in concert or on the absurdly-priced but essential $10.99 import "Spark" single -- it may be her defining song, with her warmest and sexiest vocals and most affecting stanza: "So then love walked up to like, and said, 'I know that you don't like me much, let's go for a ride / And is your place in heaven worth giving up these kisses?'" When that last line hits, Amos is instantly transported from whatever faraway town the song was recorded in to a place only the greatest artists get to go.
ROB BERNSTEN |