Tori Amos produces master work
Ryan Johns
Issue date: 11/8/02 Section: Entertainment
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Scarlet's Walk is Tori Amos's eighth studio release and her first release of new material since 1999's To Venus and Back. In 2001 she released a collection of cover songs, written by men about women that Amos sang from the perspective of the women, entitled Strange Little Girls.
It was on the tour to support Strange Little Girls that Scarlet's Walk was born. Amos says that these songs were written on her travels across America. This album is a journey in every sense of the word. It is a physical journey across America, it is a journey to find out what America really is.
So many artists have avoided the events of September 11, although some have chosen to tackle them head on, and Amos definitely fits into the latter category, although she does it in her own imitable way. The track "I can't see New York" is a response of sorts to the attacks. Amos was in New York City on September 11.
Her first Y Kant Tori Read, released by a band of the same name, was an ode to all that was wrong with '80's music, big hair and bad artistry. Billboard referred to her as a "bimbo." Her next three albums were mostly Amos and a piano (or other keyboard instrument, as the case may be) singing her guts out, with occasional accompaniment.
The piano is present in a much larger way than it was on her previous few works, but it is not all-encompassing like it was on Little Earthquakes (her first album after Y Kant Tori Read.) Amos has perhaps finally learned how to be a part of a "band" without feeling the need to be the entire band herself (which she can do, rather well).
That being said, the most impressive instrument on Tori's new work is perhaps her voice. Amos has always had a beautiful voice, but it has always been overshadowed by her abilities at the keyboard (she was a child prodigy who began taking lessons at the Peabody Conservatory at the age of 6).
With this new release, Amos's voice is showcased in its full beauty, capable of a seductive whisper, a tormented cry, or a raging scream. It is her ability to write incredibly complicated music with deeply embedded emotions that is still listen-able that makes Amos such a strong musician.
It was on the tour to support Strange Little Girls that Scarlet's Walk was born. Amos says that these songs were written on her travels across America. This album is a journey in every sense of the word. It is a physical journey across America, it is a journey to find out what America really is.
So many artists have avoided the events of September 11, although some have chosen to tackle them head on, and Amos definitely fits into the latter category, although she does it in her own imitable way. The track "I can't see New York" is a response of sorts to the attacks. Amos was in New York City on September 11.
Her first Y Kant Tori Read, released by a band of the same name, was an ode to all that was wrong with '80's music, big hair and bad artistry. Billboard referred to her as a "bimbo." Her next three albums were mostly Amos and a piano (or other keyboard instrument, as the case may be) singing her guts out, with occasional accompaniment.
The piano is present in a much larger way than it was on her previous few works, but it is not all-encompassing like it was on Little Earthquakes (her first album after Y Kant Tori Read.) Amos has perhaps finally learned how to be a part of a "band" without feeling the need to be the entire band herself (which she can do, rather well).
That being said, the most impressive instrument on Tori's new work is perhaps her voice. Amos has always had a beautiful voice, but it has always been overshadowed by her abilities at the keyboard (she was a child prodigy who began taking lessons at the Peabody Conservatory at the age of 6).
With this new release, Amos's voice is showcased in its full beauty, capable of a seductive whisper, a tormented cry, or a raging scream. It is her ability to write incredibly complicated music with deeply embedded emotions that is still listen-able that makes Amos such a strong musician.
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