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Printabledreamfactory313 said: Cloudbuster said: It took a while with me, too. Now I consider it her last good album. I think she's been quite bland ever since.
 What?! You mean you thought Scarlet's Walk was bland? With gems like "a sorta fairytale", "your cloud", "sangria", and "crazy", this was a great album. My only complaint would be "i cant see new york". It seemed to last forever for no good reason. I found myself saying, "Enough Already!" lol I like some of it very much. I just happen to think it's a drag by being at least six songs and 20 minutes too long. Also, it's just simply not as compelling as her other stuff. Yeah, kinda bland. Sorry.  | |
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sextonseven said: Cloudbuster said: I've tried hard to like that album but it just kinda passes me by. Glory Of The 80s and Bliss are fine tracks, tho'.
I like the fact that the melodies on many of the songs are very prominent. Concertina, Josephine and 1000 Oceans, in addition to the tracks you mentioned, are extremely catchy. In contrast, I find the songs on Scarlet's Walk a bit too complex musically and I still can't remember what some of them sound like even after listening to the album several times. Maybe one day I'll experience a breakthrough listening to it, but right now I find it very demanding. I think those two are okay. The rest don't really move me at all. | |
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Cloudbuster said: I like some of it very much. I just happen to think it's a drag by being at least six songs and 20 minutes too long. Also, it's just simply not as compelling as her other stuff. Yeah, kinda bland. Sorry. I agree that Scarlet's Walk length was too long. I really like the concept and the packaging with the map and the little token for the map was very cool, but I just couldn't connect with the most of the songs. I don't think the music was bland however, just over my head. Tori needs to dumb it down a little for me. [Edited 12/27/04 12:40pm] | |
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sextonseven said: Cloudbuster said: I like some of it very much. I just happen to think it's a drag by being at least six songs and 20 minutes too long. Also, it's just simply not as compelling as her other stuff. Yeah, kinda bland. Sorry. I agree that Scarlet's Walk length was too long. I really like the concept and the packaging with the map and the little token for the map was very cool, but I just couldn't connect with the most of the songs. I don't think the music was bland however, just over my head. Tori needs to dumb it down a little for me. I dunno about dumbing it down as such. It just appeared to be a little too sophisticated for its own good. There seemed to be nothing spontaneous about it and it was the adventure in her work that first pulled me in. Sadly, that playful spark was lacking last time around. I think she needs to start taking drugs again.  | |
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Cloudbuster said: sextonseven said: I agree that Scarlet's Walk length was too long. I really like the concept and the packaging with the map and the little token for the map was very cool, but I just couldn't connect with the most of the songs. I don't think the music was bland however, just over my head. Tori needs to dumb it down a little for me. I dunno about dumbing it down as such. It just appeared to be a little too sophisticated for its own good. There seemed to be nothing spontaneous about it and it was the adventure in her work that first pulled me in. Sadly, that playful spark was lacking last time around. I think she needs to start taking drugs again. Sophisticated/smart--either way, I didn't get it. With the exception of a few songs like "A Sorta Fairytale" and "Taxi Ride", it needed to be more groove-y (not 1960s groovy). spelling edit [Edited 12/27/04 13:02pm] | |
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Cloudbuster said: Drunk, stoned, pilled up to fuck. Any which way.
Ah! The good old days.
Still, it fails to move me like her earlier stuff. It's not really poor as none of her albums are. It's just missing the usual magic. As was Scarlet's Walk too, imo.  I think you need to start taking drugs again.  | |
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GangstaFam said: I think you need to start taking drugs again.
 | |
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Cloudbuster said: There ya go! | |
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sextonseven said: subhuman09 said: I keep wishing there was a way for her to just put out a giant B-Side collection boxset from Baltimore forward just if nothing else to see the evolution. ...and even though it'd never happen include Y Kant Tori Read as well. Do you really want "Baltimore" included in any Tori collection? She still performs "Cool On Your Island" live so I can understand having at least some tracks from 'Y Kant Tori Read', but "Baltimore"? 
Just for completist sake. ...and her Kellogg's commercial. | |
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Cloudbuster said: dreamfactory313 said: What?! You mean you thought Scarlet's Walk was bland? With gems like "a sorta fairytale", "your cloud", "sangria", and "crazy", this was a great album. My only complaint would be "i cant see new york". It seemed to last forever for no good reason. I found myself saying, "Enough Already!" lol I like some of it very much. I just happen to think it's a drag by being at least six songs and 20 minutes too long. Also, it's just simply not as compelling as her other stuff. Yeah, kinda bland. Sorry. The piano seems less prominent on that album...so maybe her distinctive sound is missing a bit? | |
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heartbeatocean said: The piano seems less prominent on that album...so maybe her distinctive sound is missing a bit?
Could be that.  But also the songwriting is a little too ordinary for Tori. Not lyrically, but the melodies and performances are fairly pedestrian to my ears. Your Cloud is a beautiful track, tho'. | |
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Cloudbuster said: heartbeatocean said: The piano seems less prominent on that album...so maybe her distinctive sound is missing a bit?
Could be that. But also the songwriting is a little too ordinary for Tori. Not lyrically, but the melodies and performances are fairly pedestrian to my ears. Your Cloud is a beautiful track, tho'.I tend to agree...I was completely underwhelmed by "Scarlet's Walk" and rarely listen to it. Just kinda blah though I do love "Strange" Lately, I've been relistening to Venus quite a bit and am surprised at how much I've come to love those songs. Particularly "Lust" which is absolutely gorgeous. Matt "Because when you say annihilation my friends, you've said all there is to say" - Henry Rollins | |
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Personally, I find Scarlet's Walk to be an incredible album. Lotsa layers on that one. It is a bit more direct in its lyrics than some of her more recent albums, but I felt that it needed to be. Its her post-911 examination of America, and I think it required a more "in your face" approach. No, it isn't another BFP, but that's fine with me. One of the things I love about Tori is that all of her albums sound quite distinctive.
By the way, I highly recommend reading Neil Gaiman's American God's, then listening to SW again. It was one of her inspirations (and a bloody brilliant book at that). It definitely lends some insight into the angle that album is coming from. 
Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones. (Ecclesiastes 7:9) | |
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chaos96 said: Cloudbuster said: Could be that. But also the songwriting is a little too ordinary for Tori. Not lyrically, but the melodies and performances are fairly pedestrian to my ears. Your Cloud is a beautiful track, tho'.I tend to agree...I was completely underwhelmed by "Scarlet's Walk" and rarely listen to it. Just kinda blah though I do love "Strange" Lately, I've been relistening to Venus quite a bit and am surprised at how much I've come to love those songs. Particularly "Lust" which is absolutely gorgeous. Matt 
Same here. I think "Scarlet's Walk" is too deeply rooted in the sounds of the Strange Little Girls album yet. Although there are some amazing songs on it, like "Strange". I've got a live version of "Strange" from a radio broadcast that sounds absolutely amazing. Perhaps because it's only her and her piano doing the song there. IMO that is what's "wrong" with Scarlet's Walk. Too much Hammond and bass etc and far too little real piano. That's why a song like "Lust" is so hauntingly beautiful, because it finds a much better balance between the piano and technology than what she has done after that. Same goes for "Choirgirl", the balance between the piano and the other sounds is perfect on that one imo. The piano is the constant whilst the instruments going on around it create an other worldly atmosphere. On StrangeLittleGirls and Scarlet'sWalk the other instruments and the lack of piano bring the album down to a much more mundane level. A level I might add that not even Tori's vocal and songwriting can lift to a higher ground. Where the electronics on Choirgirl and Venus contrasted so beautifully with the piano, on Scarlet's Walk, they all blend into a rather bland soup. Give me a 9 song album with songs like "Alamo" every day over a 20 songs album like Scarlet's Walk. and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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IstenSzek said: chaos96 said: I tend to agree...I was completely underwhelmed by "Scarlet's Walk" and rarely listen to it. Just kinda blah though I do love "Strange" Lately, I've been relistening to Venus quite a bit and am surprised at how much I've come to love those songs. Particularly "Lust" which is absolutely gorgeous. Matt
Same here. I think "Scarlet's Walk" is too deeply rooted in the sounds of the Strange Little Girls album yet. Although there are some amazing songs on it, like "Strange". I've got a live version of "Strange" from a radio broadcast that sounds absolutely amazing. Perhaps because it's only her and her piano doing the song there. IMO that is what's "wrong" with Scarlet's Walk. Too much Hammond and bass etc and far too little real piano. That's why a song like "Lust" is so hauntingly beautiful, because it finds a much better balance between the piano and technology than what she has done after that. Same goes for "Choirgirl", the balance between the piano and the other sounds is perfect on that one imo. The piano is the constant whilst the instruments going on around it create an other worldly atmosphere. On StrangeLittleGirls and Scarlet'sWalk the other instruments and the lack of piano bring the album down to a much more mundane level. A level I might add that not even Tori's vocal and songwriting can lift to a higher ground. Where the electronics on Choirgirl and Venus contrasted so beautifully with the piano, on Scarlet's Walk, they all blend into a rather bland soup. Give me a 9 song album with songs like "Alamo" every day over a 20 songs album like Scarlet's Walk. Yes! While I love Scarlet's Walk and the beautiful songs there, I miss the piano which brings her music to a higher level. I find myself hunting for the sound of the hammers hitting the strings and the unique chord modulations and feeling her touch. | |
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