Pros: Great lyrics, great music, good variety of sound.
Cons: None that I can think of.
The Bottom Line: Choirgirl is a nice glimpse of Tori Amos's abilities and every sound on the album seems deliberate. I recommend this to anyone wanting to check out her music.
HalfEmpty's Full Review: From the Choirgirl Hotel by Tori Amos
From The Choirgirl Hotel was Tori Amos's first album done with a full backing band, and, like almost everything she does, she managed to get a familiar sound out of a new style. This was the last Tori album I bought (after Venus, Earthquakes, Pink, and Pele) and, even though I don't like to pick favorites, this one has slipped in and out of that position since I first heard it.
First things first: the liner notes for the album are very interesting and include several pictures of Tori lying in various positions on a copy machine (the machine was used to get the effect of being pressed up to glass) and a cute, hand-drawn map which includes such venues as the "Cocaine Lip Gloss Sale Stand," the "‘Oh Jeez' Tower," the "Wannabe Rockies," and "Blackberry picking possible sometimes Yum." You gotta love it.
Music-wise, Choirgirl is unlike all of Tori's other albums in that almost all of the songs have a much darker sound than what she normally writes. Written after her miscarriage in 1996, a very traumatic event for her, many of the songs center around, if not the direct concept of the death of her child, the more general theme of loss. I will attempt to review each song individually.
SPARK, the album's opener, sets the mood for the album perfectly with its murky guitar and keyboard and depressed lyrics: "She's convinced she could hold back a glacier/ But she couldn't keep baby alive" is a mocking insult toward herself regarding the miscarriage.
CRUEL is a more upbeat, but still melancholy soundscape that makes good use of the band. The marimba offers a new sound and the screeching guitars and layered vocals build up to the last repeat of the chorus which is both majestic and grief-stricken and exercises a broad range of sound effects while the lyrics remain mournful.
BLACK-DOVE (JANUARY) is reminiscent of 1994's "Bells For Her" from the start, with its muffled piano, although it grows to a loud climax. Once again, this song seems to be written about the miscarried child, although it is more questionable here. "Black dove, black dove/ You're not a helicopter, you're not a cop-out either, honey/ Black dove, black dove/ You don't need a spaceship, they don't know you've already lived/ On the other side of the galaxy" is the chorus, while overall the song sounds hopeful for whoever it is directed toward.
RASPBERRY SWIRL is a very upbeat, sensual song in stark contrast to the track before it. It sounds like a dance and is definitely the most accessible and radio-friendly song on the album.
JACKIE'S STRENGTH, a lighter song, is a piano/strings based tale of a girl whose life seems to be going down the tubes. Despite the subject matter, the music is happy and, overall, sounds like a simple ballad.
I I E E E brings back the dark feel we had on "Spark" and "Cruel" with its distressed cries providing the backdrop against which the sad song is placed. There is an angry, growling interlude that raises the hairs on the back of your neck.
LIQUID DIAMONDS seems to pick up where "i i e e e" left off, in the same key and a similar rhythm, although it is more subdued and not so hopeless sounding.
SHE'S YOUR COCAINE is a distorted mesh of guitar and keyboard noise, with very little audible piano. It's one of my less than favorite songs on the album, but it's still a fun listen and the kooky lyrics are actually really good.
NORTHERN LAD is about letting go after a relationship falls apart and (as much as I hate admitting it) made me cry the first time I heard it. Although the lyrics are nice, the real power and emotion of the song lies in its heavily piano-based arrangement and Tori's beautiful voice, which shows off a good part of its range. It's reminiscent of Hey Jupiter, from the 1996 album Boys For Pele, although Northern Lad is somewhat catchier and more mainstream.
HOTEL shows off just what is possible to accomplish with sound effects. The song uses very little piano but the amalgam of different styles all crammed into five minutes is quite impressive and the lyrics are as cryptic as any of Tori's other songs.
PLAYBOY MOMMY is another tear-jerker. This is, in my opinion, the best song from the album and a true masterpiece. Another song possibly about the miscarriage, the lyrics are heartbreaking as sung from the point of view of a woman who didn't really know how to raise her child and wants another chance. The band works together to create one sound and is just as emotional as anything Tori could accomplish alone at her piano. The song actually has a slight blues/country feel to it which complements the lyrics perfectly.
And finally, PANDORA'S AQUARIUM provides the perfect album closer. A song about empowerment in a relationship, the music sounds jazz-influenced and flows naturally and easily. It's a great song to drift off to sleep to.
From The Choirgirl Hotel may disappoint Tori-purists who consider anything with more than a piano, acoustic guitar and strings to be an abomination, but it shows off her power to expand her style as a performer as well as her versatility. It's a must-have for fans.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.