Monnie1976's Full Review: Abnormally Attracted to Sin by Tori Amos
Why are Tori Amos albums so damn difficult to review?
This was the question I pondered this morning as I sat down and attempted to begin organizing my thoughts about this prolific, stunning and wildly inconsistent artist. There is something daunting about trying to describe this artist’s body of work as it often ranges from hauntingly beautiful to bizarrely eccentric. Other times it could be described as painstakingly boring only to be ethereal and universal the next. Let’s just face it. There is no artist in my mind that is more of an enigma than Tori Amos. Well…except Bjork. Anyone who can make a songs consisting of breathing and hissing gets high marks on the oddity factor.
Abnormally Attracted To Sin is without a doubt an admirable album even though the mood and ambiance isn’t something I can listen to all the time. There’s a moody darkness hanging over a good portion of the album which makes it a heavy listen. Then again I don’t know too many people who listen to a Tori Amos album to have a good time. She’s more of an artist you reach a catharsis with. She’s like aural therapy. This album is no exception. She works through different themes in a variety of musical settings.
The album begins with the brooding, almost ghostly beauty of “Give”. The music is evocative with its sinister synthesizers and Amos’s exceptional vocal. She really communicates and tells the story of the song. This song is a gorgeous way to open the album. For some reason this piece makes me think of vampires as Amos croons mysteriously “Soon before the sun, before the sun begins to rise…I know that I, I must give so that I can live…” This is truly a brilliant, atmospheric song. Then we have the first single “Welcome To England” also eludes to a life without sun and battling some type of darkness. This song is also an interesting one. On the service it seems a bit mainstream but then there is these elements swirling underneath and little flourishes that give it a darker undertone. “ You better bring your own sun, sweet girl” the song repeats. Is it possible Tori is a Twilight fan? “Strong Black Vine” has more elusions of taking a man who is just a little evil and explores her desire to “save him from your evil faith”. The song is one that definitely needs a few listens but I really enjoy the bombastic strings and the creeping chord structure lurking underneath. This song has some fantastic lyrics that actually follow some kind of flow of comprehension. This is something Tori has neglected in the past at times. The music is emphatic and powerful against her commanding, compelling delivery. “Flavor” pensively explores her thoughts on religion against a mellow, melancholy instrumentation. Subdued piano and electronic flourishes lap gently against a more edgy guitar riffing faintly in the background. It’s a beautiful song that will more than likely put you in a reflective mood. She continues contemplating her existence with the dramatically different “Not Dying Today”. With rhythmic percussion, sunny organ and a mean bass line that percolates and bubbles defiantly underlining the title. The lyrics to this one are pretty fascinating.
“Maybe California” is a beautiful song as one mother talks to another about divorce. Tori Amos gives voice to a woman who regrets how it will hurt and damage her children. The song is another interesting one with a lot of emotional depth. This song evokes sadness but is an amazing composition just the same. “Curtain Call” explores the concepts of aging, regret and eludes to drug use as a way to cope with feelings of disappointment and unfulfilled dreams. It’s an interesting song with moody piano rolling underneath. Last night I was pondering the lack of depth in Whitney Houston’s new album despite all she’s been through. What if she would sing lyrics like this: “then you ram your hand in your bag for a little friendly substance By the time your 25 they will you say you’ve gone and blown it By the time your 35 I must confide you will have blown them up. Right on queue, just act surprised, when they invite you to take your curtain call. Now that would have been powerful.
“Fire To Your Plain” is a cool song with a nice little groove running underneath. I’m still working on my interpretation of the lyrics but I love listening to the song. “Police Yourself” is the same for me. I love the song and think it sounds full of whimsy and urgency but I have no idea what she’s trying to say yet. “Loaded full of winter, you are storming blackberry girl”. Let me know what you think that means. Anyway, part of being a Tori Amos fan is excepting you may NEVER know what she’s trying to say or even be able to piece together meaning for yourself. Whether this is due to her rumored hallucinogen use, the fact she’s a genius or just wants to be weird for weird’s sake nobody knows.
“That Guy” is a stunning song with gorgeous French horns, brilliant lyrics and burgeons into this dramatic opus to a relationship that is fraught with both love and eluded to violence. This song seems to be coming from the mind of a woman who is in an abusive relationship. A portrait of a woman who is abused by his anger but seemingly trapped by his love. It’s a powerful piece of writing. The cool thing about Amos is she makes no assumptions or judgments. She doesn’t try to deliver a message or become society’s conscious. She just takes a portrait of something and gets into the feelings of the moment. She’s like a sonic photographer showing us as it is instead of how it should be. Don’t get me wrong. She gets preachy at times as well but when she is at her best this is what she’s capable of. Another interesting portrait on the album is “500 Miles”. Probably one of the happiest songs as she depicts a character who has had various love affairs and how she was touched by them even though there were no expectations. If you’ve ever seen the movie Before Sunrise where a couple meets and has a passionate but meaningful one night affair, this song seems to draw from experiences like that. “Abnormally Attracted To Sin” revisits many of the themes explored in the album and has that same brooding, mysterious vibe established by “Give” earlier in the album” The texture is more luxurious and more resigned than seductive but still gorgeous. There is a great bridge that really gives the song interesting form and shape.
Remember when I was talking about how Amos can sometimes be painstakingly boring. Well, I was thinking about the abominable “Mary Jane” This song must be the most boring, sleep inducing ditty about pot I have ever heard. There is a sense of humor in the lyrics but it is delivered in the most drab, monotonous way. One of the side effects of Mary Jane is amotivational syndrome which Amos clearly had when she was coming up with this dreck. “Starling” is beautiful but I can’t really connect to the story she’s telling in this song. The music is gorgeous and it sounds fantastic but lyrically I’m not really getting the whole bird metaphor she’s got going on. “Fast Horse” sounds just too derivative of everything else. It doesn’t help that by the time this song comes on we are at track number fifteen.
This is one the place where Tori Amos albums ALWAYS suffer. Length. I think if she could just edit her self better she would have a five star album every time out of the gate. Well maybe not The Beekeeper. American Doll Posse had some fantastic moments but there was also a lot of tracks that could have been cut. That album would have been exceptional from start to finish with some objective editing. The same goes for this one although I have to say this one is actually more consistent.
Overall though I would say this is an outstanding entry into her massive catalog of music. The fact that she can be this far into her career and this prolific and still have something profound to say speaks to just how talented she really is. Sometimes I wonder if you sat down with her if she would be crazy or if it would be the best conversation you ever had in your life. Maybe both. Either way I can always count on a Tori Amos album to be thought provoking. I can also count on seeing some true musical beauty. The only question is how many “Mary Jane” type songs you have to sit through. This album overall is more than worth the money you are going to spend.
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