How do any of us fans still left (on this board or in life) feel about UG now that we've had a solid month to sit with it (or so). I love the title track, the single (Trouble), I actually think her voice on America and the composition of America are absolutely warm and lovely and some of her strongest vocals ever. My fave songs are tracks 4 and 5 - Wedding Day & Weatherman (the latter being my favorite so far on the album). I like the duet with her daughter and i also really dig ... uhh... yeah that's it so far. i need to start paying attention to those dregs like Forest of Glass and Oysters and Selkie bc those are the songs from the album she's doing most consistently, it seems.

I think Rose Dover is a masterpiece, as is the title track.

And you should be slapped for calling Selkie and Oysters "dregs"!! Both beautiful songs.

In anticipation of seeing Tori tonight and tomorrow, I've listened to the new album often the last few days. The standouts for me are "Trouble's Lament", "Maids of Elefen-Mere" and the title song. Overall it's just another okay album from her.

I liked it at first but I think it was just the excitement about getting a new album from her. She is my favorite artist after Madonna. But it's not something I want to listen to repeatedly. Her voice is lovely and some of the songs are quite pretty but it's a little dull to me. A lot of the arrangements are too sparse and stripped down for me. She made a big deal about the fact she turned 50 and now she's grown up and mature. I guess I'm not a fan of "mature" music, it's dull to me. (Whatever you say about Madonna, you don't have to worry about her boring you with a "mature" album.) I guess I don't like it when artists feel they have to make an age appropriate album. I liked some of her earlier music that had more interesting instrumentation with some electronics or a band sound. My favorite song from the album is 16 Shades of Blue.

I'm seeing her on Saturday. Don't worry if you don't like the album because she only does one or two songs from it in her shows. I guess Tori doesn't like the new album either!

[Edited 8/12/14 17:19pm]

Glindathegood said:

I'm seeing her on Saturday. Don't worry if you don't like the album because she only does one or two songs from it in her shows. I guess Tori doesn't like the new album either!

Yeah, only two songs from the new album in each of the NY shows this week. Loved the Lizard's Lounge parts of the nights. George Michael's "Faith" and Y Kant Tori Read's "Fayth" medley the first night and Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy" the second night.

sexton said:

Yeah, only two songs from the new album in each of the NY shows this week. Loved the Lizard's Lounge parts of the nights. George Michael's "Faith" and Y Kant Tori Read's "Fayth" medley the first night and Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy" the second night.

Yes, Tori always tends to perform a lot of older material and usually not that much from her current album. She's not one of those artists who has a big chip on her shoulder about having to perform her older music and feels like she has to perform the whole of her current album. So if you don't like her current album, you can still enjoy her shows. I guess it helps that among her older songs there's not really songs she has to perform because she doesn't have hits in the conventional sense, so she can choose from her back catalogue even obscure album tracks and b sides, so that way she doesn't get bored the way some artists do with just performing the older "hits".

Her 2009 - 2012 material has grown on me immesurably over the last year. Especially AATS which I thought would never click with me.
Her latest work is good too. The Beekeeper remains the only album that leaves me unmoved.

Actually this is the first tour that is noticeably so few album cuts from the current record. If you look back to even Night of Hunters or Abnormally Attracted To Sin setlists (especially the latter), she was still doing at least 4-5 album cuts in each show...not sure why this one is so few. My theory is that much of UG was rejected/left over material from the London musicial (Light Princess) she's been composing.

MattyJam said:

I think Rose Dover is a masterpiece, as is the title track.

And you should be slapped for calling Selkie and Oysters "dregs"!! Both beautiful songs.

I've totally seen the light on Oysters. It's beautiful!

badujunkie said:

Actually this is the first tour that is noticeably so few album cuts from the current record. If you look back to even Night of Hunters or Abnormally Attracted To Sin setlists (especially the latter), she was still doing at least 4-5 album cuts in each show...not sure why this one is so few. My theory is that much of UG was rejected/left over material from the London musicial (Light Princess) she's been composing.

She said in an interview that this tour is about the fans and their requests. She says a lot of the setlists are determined by what fans request at the meet and greets she does.So I guess the fans are requesting older stuff. If you want to here more from the new album, I guess you have to go and request it. I don't think UG is leftover from the Light Princess because that was a totally different type of music, musical theatre, whereas UG is the kind of piano based pop she is known for.