Scarlet's Walk is a nice album, but overlong and somewhat bland in comparison to what came before it.

The beginning of the end, really, as every album since has been similar.

Ok, Boys For Pele was a long album, too, but it had enough diversity to keep me interested.

I rarely play anything of hers beyond To Venus And Back.

Cloudbuster said:

IstenSzek said:

Same here. Nice to see you again by the way

Thank you, hope you're well fella.

I think she found a style and groove she's settled into and stayed there, cut back on writing from personal experiences.

If anything, she used to be way more bonkers and loopy.

The phrasing's nothing new.... seen her live plenty of times to hear her drag one word out or overemote from time to time. And I also got to see her kick 2 people out of the front row. Never hear her lose it that often, unless her voice wasn't up to par or something was up with the piano & keyboards, but usually she'd laugh it off and do one of the obscure favorites to make up for it.

I don't think it's an instant classic but it's something you can put on and fall asleep to.

She's in a comfortable place in life... she has a devoted fanbase that will buy her music and not download it for free, she pretty much knows how well her music sells, and consistently hits the road for each new CD that comes out.

Recent interview.

After only one listen, i'm undecided on the new album, although I find it intriguing.

But I'm a huge fan of her recent stuff. I think "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" is one of the strongest albums of her career, and is sorely and painfully underrated.

when 'little earthquakes' came out...i thought tori was the best female talent since kate bush burst onto the scene in the late 70s....a brilliant debut solo album and 'under the pink' was also a great album imo...she was always a bit 'weird' but i like my music a bit like that ...but on 'boys for pele'....i thought she was showing signs of self indulgence on a number of the tracks..despite some fine moments...and i lost interest in her...i loved the odd track like '1000 oceans' but..in general...i still thought her work was too 'way out' for me...

.

i havent heard the new album but i will give it a spin but i am not holding my breath that my view on tori will change...i hope i am wrong as i still think she is an amazing talent...but ..like prince...could do with someone working with her and saying 'no' when needed...

OMG! I'd forgotten she was going to release a new cd!

First song Shattering Sea...

I thought I was listening to King of Pain by Sting...

I haven't listened to the other songs yet...

blackbob said:

when 'little earthquakes' came out...i thought tori was the best female talent since kate bush burst onto the scene in the late 70s....a brilliant debut solo album and 'under the pink' was also a great album imo...she was always a bit 'weird' but i like my music a bit like that ...but on 'boys for pele'....i thought she was showing signs of self indulgence on a number of the tracks..despite some fine moments...and i lost interest in her...i loved the odd track like '1000 oceans' but..in general...i still thought her work was too 'way out' for me...

.

i havent heard the new album but i will give it a spin but i am not holding my breath that my view on tori will change...i hope i am wrong as i still think she is an amazing talent...but ..like prince...could do with someone working with her and saying 'no' when needed...

for me personally, i feel that her best albums are "boys for pele" and "from the choirgirl hotel".

Pele is indeed a bit self indulgent, but it's also quite brilliant. it took me a while to stomach all of

it, but when I did, I fell in love with it and love it as much to this very day. Even the bsides and

remixes of this era are superb (the notable exception being professional widow remix, which is

horrible imo, yet it was her big breakthrough in europe).

and then there's "from the choirgirl hotel". a lot of her fans seem to think it's only so-so but for

me, it's perfect, every single note. it's in my top 10 favorit albums of all time, on most days it

even ranks in the top 3. the combination of piano and the full band, coupled with hints of some

really low key, warm electronics makes for the perfect listening experience. I know it came out

of a lot of hurt and pain, and I can understand why she wouldn't want to dive deep into anything

that dark again, but I do wish she would, because it knocks me off my feet even now.

and once again, the bsides to this album. fcking amazing. "cooling" and "purple people" alone,

are songs that never tire, not even after 1000 spins.

"to venus and back" was a little bit so-so, and it certainly didn't come close to "boys for pele"

or "from the choirgirl hotel", but it was still interesting. taking the band and the electronics yet

further. and the lyrics. they were still quite personal and a bit abstract, making them universal

in a very personal and surprising way.

everything that came after that, I have difficulty connecting to. which I find sad. I know it's my

own problem and Tori couldn't give a fuck. she's probably a lot more happy now in her life and

wants her music to reflect that. plus she probably got sick and tired of the whole girl and her

piano routine and didn't want to be pegged down as such anymore.

all very well. but the change was too big for me. and I've tried. despite absolutely hating discs

as "the beekeeper" (except for 2 songs) and "american girl posse" (1 song) and then AATS of

which I liked also only 1 song, I tried listening to them again and again, sure that i must have

missed something, or just wasn't in the right mood. but no.

NoVideo said:

After only one listen, i'm undecided on the new album, although I find it intriguing.

But I'm a huge fan of her recent stuff. I think "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" is one of the strongest albums of her career, and is sorely and painfully underrated.

I love Ophelia on that album. Mary Jane, Give and the title track get a fair bit of spin from me as well.

Cloudbuster said:

IstenSzek said:

Same here. Nice to see you again by the way

Thank you, hope you're well fella.

all is well, sir. all is well.

IstenSzek said:

Cloudbuster said:

Thank you, hope you're well fella.

all is well, sir. all is well.

Cloudbuster said:

IstenSzek said:

all is well, sir. all is well.

IstenSzek said:

Cloudbuster said:

Yeah, I haven't changed much. Sorry.

Cloudbuster said:

IstenSzek said:

Yeah, I haven't changed much. Sorry.

not all change is good anyway.

NoVideo said:

After only one listen, i'm undecided on the new album, although I find it intriguing.

But I'm a huge fan of her recent stuff. I think "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" is one of the strongest albums of her career, and is sorely and painfully underrated.

SO AGREED!!!!!

*applause**applause*

AATS is the shit.com. So CRIMINALLY slept on. Yes, overlong but EVERY SONG WAS SOLID...not unlike her 90s work...

IstenSzek said:

Cloudbuster said:

Yeah, I haven't changed much. Sorry.

not all change is good anyway.

Cloudbuster said:

IstenSzek said:

not all change is good anyway.

ok, i'll take your and i'll raise you a

IstenSzek said:

ok, i'll take your and i'll raise you a

Ok, I need a wank.

Cloudbuster said:

IstenSzek said:

ok, i'll take your and i'll raise you a

Ok, I need a wank.

I just had one.

IstenSzek said:

Cloudbuster said:

Ok, I need a wank.

I just had one.

LMAO!

Cloudbuster said:

IstenSzek said:

I just had one.

LMAO!

I just had another one.

and now I'm off to bed.

g'night sir.

Well, I like it. And I actually like it lots.

Sooooo. You had it for DAYS?

Bitch.

I agree on Natashya's bits; first I thought; "Oh another famous mom pushing her kid, but Job's Coffin is just fucking loverly.

My heart actually skipped a beat when "Battle Of Trees" turned out to be themed on a Satie melody. I looooove Satie. And this reworking is totally Tori.

Where her earlier 'theme'-albums went from 'interesting' (Strange Little Girls) to 'omg' (sorry, Beekeeper), she now seems to have found a form/theme that totally fits her musical voice (ermmm, piano) and does wonders for her actual voice; the lyrics work again for me.

To me, I hear no real big differences on her 'earlier' voice. I have been slowly returning to her albums, as the last few started to have interesting parts on them, up to the point where I actually liked most of her Xmas album. And I am a Xmas album nazi; but the old fashioned feel to it made me like it lots.

This album is, at first listen, a great new album, if you like piano and voice. And I do.

And I fucking adore the two before mentioned songs and the rest of the album (except, after one listen, Cactus Practise) felt like a warm bath. I am sure I will warm up to the entire album real quickly; fi. the piano and strings on Star Whisperer are a dream.

IstenSzek said:

Cloudbuster said:

Ok, I need a wank.

I just had one.

Some things will never change.

I lost Tori when Strange Little Girls came out. Somewhere around 1999–2001 she just hit the brakes on crazy walking surrealist experiment Tori and became a much less interesting mommy. She just worked better when she was bonkers.

But I'll give the new album a few spins if it turns up on Spotify.

Eek! I just watched that interview and her botox is freaky. Her forehead is just…dead. Tori needs to get back to the gritty goddess chic instead of doing this plastic face and straight hair stuff.

jpnyc said:

Eek! I just watched that interview and her botox is freaky. Her forehead is just…dead. Tori needs to get back to the gritty goddess chic instead of doing this plastic face and straight hair stuff.

I am with you on that. So not cool.

By the artist;

Night of Hunters is a song cycle that begins with a shattering of a relationship as the sun begins
to slowly disappear and dusk moves in. Alone in an old Georgian House on the river Bandon on the
outskirts of Kinsale Co Cork Ireland, tori begins to piece together what has just happened in
Shattering Sea. The "him" in tori's life we learn carries the force of tide and wave as she
carries the force of fire.

She soon meets a shapeshifting creature named Anabelle who appears firstly to tori as a fox and
explains to her that only with the night and darkness can we truly begin to see with our inner
eyes. Anabelle suggests that a missing fragment in the couple's story lies back in ancient
Ireland. She encourages tori to allow herself to cross time and space and go back in time
mentally to where this couple walked these same hills but in Ireland's mythic past.

With Anabelle's ability to see the past tori reclaims a key fragment of her past with "him"
in Battle of Trees. This epic battle took place possibly around 3,000 years ago. The battle
was not only for those with physical weapons but always included poets on both sides who
used the ancient tree alphabet The Beth-Luis-Nion (Birch-Rowan-Ash) to fight each other.
The power of the poet in ancient Ireland was unlike anything in our modern world. But a
poet's wrath, if skillfully turned on a ruler of an opposing army, could shame them to
such an extent that a psychological advantage could be achieved for the poet's army.

Eventually in ancient Ireland, as invasions grew steadily on the island, the respect for
the White Goddess was supplanted by those who worshipped the Thunder God in all his many
forms. Our couple fought on the same side as poets against these invaders. We all know that
the goddess worshipping culture was subjecated by the Thunder God and then Christianity
suppressed any inkling of the goddess culture even further.

In Fearlessness, tori collects another memory of her recent past with "him". Doubt and Blame
seem to have come between the couple. Here their life on the sea comes to life. On their
recent Atlantic Crossing on his sailboat from the new world to the old world Outside Forces
begin to pull them apart so that by the end of the song we hear: "Then that was when the
Blame began, what were once two forces joined in Fearlessness."

Anabelle then shares her view of the couple and makes tori aware that "Every couple has a
version of what they call the truth." Anabelle tells tori to call all that lies beneath
both stories back to her own fire and to embrace the truth of what she finds. Anabelle
has turned into her goose shape. Anabelle offers tori an elixir of cactus to open up
tori's vision and her heart so that she can actually claim her part in this shattering
separation from "Him". As with any elixir, it's job is to take the participant to a depth
of feeling and understanding that they have not been able to achieve in the cold light of day.

Star Whisperer is where tori begins to sing directly to his soul. She refers to "him"
as you for the first time in our song cycle. "He" begins to have a voice and perspective
as he speaks to her through different instruments. The elixir Anabelle has given tori
has taken her into the dimension of Star Whisperer which is over 9 minutes in length
and becomes an emotional discovery whereby tori realizes that, "you saw a me I didn't
want to see" as well as, " I saw a you I didn't want to see".

Next, Anabelle, as fox, asks tori about the day she abandoned her force of fire. She
also warns us that "There is a grid of disempowerment" and that, " All forces are being
called to dismantle this". As the constellation Job's Coffin looks down on Earth, we
learn that Anabelle is here to call all forces, "back on line". She explains that looming
in our present reality, "There exists a power of old who wanted Earth to be controlled".

In Nautical Twilight, tori reveals when she turned her back on her own force of fire - "I
abandoned it rupturing a delicate balance when I left my world for his". She now sees
what this has done to imbalance their relationship. She expands on the idea Anabelle
lanted in Job's Coffin about " a power of old who wanted earth to be controlled". The
consequence of any force turning their back on their own power is no different than
using it for destructive purposes. tori realizes she must make the choice to reactivate
her inner life force.

Your Ghost is tori singing to "him" after having met his ghost. "Your Ghost has shown
me our primroses could survive the frost if a gentle rivulet of flame is sustained tenderly."
She acknowledges she created a forest of glass and that she understands now that he was also
wounded in the shattering of their relationship. She also tells him that both of their forces
have the power to "heal what was cut and bruised".

Edge of the Moon reveals a vow that "he" made to tori. She begins to remember what their
relationship was like before the two of them allowed outside forces to pull them apart.
In both Your Ghost and Edge of the Moon, we hear that there is a depth of feeling that
still exists between the couple. The blame and the anger each had towards the other is
transmuting itself into a place where the depth of their love for each other is stronger
than the damage that was done to their relationship.

With that understanding of how she really feels, during The Chase, Anabelle announces she
must go and leaves tori with the Fire Muse. The Fire Muse reveals herself through an actual
flaming life-size fire that Anabelle dances around getting tori to show the Fire Muse the
riddle she has been taught. Anabelle explains that she, in her fox/goose form, is the hunter
and the hunted which carries the force of duality and neutrality. Although a different kind
of hunter/predator force seems to be closing in around them, Anabelle must continue on her
mission of calling all forces to wake and to use their powers to out-create the forces who
have chosen to use their power for destructive purposes. The riddle Anabelle has taught
tori is old magic and is teaching her the skill of shapeshifting from the hunted to the
hunter, Anabelle's power. She warns tori that "out there", in order to survive the predators,
she must out think them, out create them, and apply everything Anabelle has taught her, or
she could literally lose her head.

The Fire Muse begins her message to tori with,"rose so red this night of hunters, find
love instead of their blood by your thorn." The Fire Muse acknowledges that some of the
dark forces gathering hunt for power, others, to invade children's dream. tori's first
instinct is to for revenge against these dark forces. The Fire Muse explains that the
children's dreams must be reclaimed. With the assistance of the Seven Sisters, a frequency
is put in place to watch over the children's dreams and guard them against the dark
forces that would invade these children.

The Seven Sisters bring tori to the force Love and for the first time she has gratitude
for the people that have come into her life and even though they may leave, for whatever
reason, they are not truly gone.

With the dawn comes Carry, and the sentiment, "you will not ever be forgotten by me in
the precession of the might stars your name is sung and tattooed now on my heart here I will
carry carry carry you forever."

Tori Amos July 2011

In short, she's still wacky. And I love her.

I'm enjoying the new record. Many of the songs are very close to the original interpretations and I was kind of hoping she would just use the basic framework and create her own melodies around that, but oh well...

I agree about AATS being underrated. Strong Black Vine, Lady In Blue, Starling, Maybe California - all A grade material.