Pros: Amazing remix of a beautiful song, as well as more exposure for some classic Tori
Cons: This version of Professional Widow might hurt your ears!
The Bottom Line: Contains wonderful Tori material that wasn't released on her full length albums, as well as an amazing remix of Hey Jupiter, and a classic cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
klzabawa's Full Review: Hey Jupiter EP [EP] by Tori Amos
This epinion has been moved. I originally posted on 12/8/00 under "Tori Amos" because this EP wasn't listed. It is now, so I'm putting it in its proper place and revising it. (Which has also coincided nicely with the series I'm doing on Tori singles!) Thanks for reading!
Tori Amos is my girl. We met when I was in high school and she became my mentor. A friend told me about Little Earthquakes and as the first note sang out, my jaw dropped and my heart flew out of it's cage, as they say. "Where have you been?" I asked her. "Silent All These Years" she answered. I understood.
From that point on Tori and I went everywhere together. I could barely be torn from her, even to come to dinner sometimes--my mom would be pounding on the door, but I couldn't hear her over my belting out of "...I wanna smash the faces of those beautiful boys, those Christian boys..." Tori and I were at the same place at the same time. We've both gone through a lot of changes, but I'm confident that like all good friends, we'll remain close in the end.
I have an extensive Tori collection. I have approximately 30 CDs, including singles and imports. I know this review is providing more information about me and Tori than this CD thus far, but I ask permission to express myself. See, I consider myself an authority on this subject. I've had the opportunity to see her in concert three times, and own more CDs and paraphernalia than anyone else I've ever met in real life. I'm bragging. I'm proud of my Tori and I want everyone to know. I even got to shake her hand once after a concert and embarrassed myself on the radio to win front row tickets to one of her concerts. I'm a geek, but I don't care.
One of my absolute favorite maxi-singles is Hey Jupiter. The remix of the title song is incredible, and it includes four live tracks that are Tori at her absolute best. She's my girl. She moves me. This CD is a perfect example of how she moves me.
The songs are:
1) hey Jupiter (The Dakota Version) (6:03)
2) Sugar--live (5:33)
3) Honey--live (4:19)
4) Professional Widow (Merry Widow Version)--live (4:38)
5) Somewhere Over the Rainbow--live (4:31)
Hey Jupiter, (The Dakota Version), the opening and title track sounds a little like Nine Inch Nails somehow got lost and ended up in Tori's studio while she was recording this song. You hear the classic T. Reznor electronic-bellows sounding beat and Tori's ethereal voice, drifting lazily into your head, filtering into your subconscious. And suddenly you realize this is the soundtrack to your life..."my heart's soaking wet, Boy your boots can leave a mess, Hey Jupiter, Nothing's been the same..."
The next two tracks are two of my all-time favorite Tori songs. And they are fabulous live versions, complete with a little conversation with the crowd that always provides such a personal insight to the artist. The songs are Sugar and Honey. They are both stock Tori material that somehow never made it onto one of her LPs. Sugar being a b-side for Little Earthquakes, and Honey which was supposed to have been on Under the Pink. Sugar is a great song, but I'm going to focus on what I consider to be the highlights of this cd.
One of Tori's most amazing songs in Honey. The piano immediately gives you the feeling that you're in a suspense movie. This song is what I think of when I think of Tori. A little angry, a lot intense, and amazingly abstract and beautiful words and voice knockin' your socks off. I believe it is one of the best songs she has ever written, and can't believe that it didn't make it onto an LP. Here are some of the outstanding lyrics:
and I think I could leave your world
if she was the better girl
So when we died I tried to bribe the undertaker
cause I'm not sure what you're doing
or the reasons
You're just too used to my honey
now
Honey is reason enough to buy this cd. I don't know too many females who can't relate to this song on a personal level one way or another.
There's also a rare version of the controversial song Professional Widow on the CD. I find this to be one of the harder songs to listen to, but it is definitely full of emotion and intensity. The original version just pounds--it gets your blood boiling. In this version she just sounds like a wild-woman on the loose. That's probably exactly what she is.
This cd has the perfect finale. The cheesy, but so-beautiful-it-breaks-your-heart song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Tori's voice was made to sing this song. I'm pretty sure that was her purpose on this Earth. It's truly soul-stirring. There's something about this song that says what all Tori's songs kind of leave you with. Melancholy and hope. In her young life, Tori has seen things in this world that we all hope our children won't ever have to see. And yet, she fills the world with beauty, goodness, and hope. She's an inspiration.
I don't think there's too much else you can say about Tori, so I'll leave it at that.
This CD can be found really cheap, but is rich with talent. If the only Tori you've heard is the "Silent All These Years" variety, definitely check this one out.
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