Monnie1976's Full Review: To Venus and Back by Tori Amos
To Venus and Back, the most recent release from the underground diva Tori Amos, is a beautiful blend of her early days and the more techno sound of her previous album From The Choirgirl Hotel. Combining her admirable ability to redefine the sound of the piano and the special effects available in the studio, Amos releases an interesting array of new material. Not quite as emotionally involving as her earlier work, this new sound still reigns supreme over many other artists currently releasing material.
The album opens with a sweeping and involving piano intro with wind swirling in the background. Amos lets her unique voice escape her lips as she reveals "Father, I killed my monkey.." The sound is a more mainstream Amos and I really enjoy this song. I love the flow of the lyrics and the way she draw out certain syllables and plays with sound. Very creative is the only way to describe this opening song.
Synthesized and funky, Amos surprises listener with a very technical sounding "Juarez". You can barely hear her voice but it seems to all fit together. I have heard this song has to do with the rape of young girls in Juarez city and taking this in perspective, the song takes on a whole new light. Amos constantly sings "no angel came" and the picture that comes to mind is haunting and filled with despair.
"Concertina" is one of my favorites on the album because is so light and easy to relate to. The music is smooth and flowing and the lyrics are very accessible. The melody isn't outlandish and just rolls along gently like a river. Definitely a beautiful song and a highlight of the album.
"Clouds descending
I'm not policing what you think and dream
I run into your thought from across the room"
The next song is called "Glory of the 80's" and I really enjoy the sentiment of the song. A very interesting description of the decade I love a lot of the visuals and carefree style of the lyrics. "Silicone barbies to the left and Joan of Arcs to the right, no one feeling insecure we were gorge and famous in our last lives" This seems such a vivid and visual description of the excess that happened frequently 80's in the days of cocaine abuse and wild clothes.
"Lust" is a beautiful blend of piano and percussion effects. The lyrics are beautiful and symbolic, and you can almost feel them flowing from her pen. They have a gorgeous ambiance to them. "Josephine" is another song that blends percussion and piano into a lovely sound.
"Riot Poof" is a urban, funky groove that sounds much different than traditional Tori. Deftly switching between a low, vibrating growl to a high, penetrating wail Amos shows she can do any kind of sound any time she chooses. The words are clever and involving, though at times cryptic and strange. "You know what you know so you go chain her to your flow" Amos reveals at the beginning of the verse but the chorus is simply "blossom, riot poof."
"Datura" is my least favorite and sounds like Amos is just talking about her garden. Maybe it has a deeper meaning but since I don't see it, I can't really get into it. The music isn't as interesting as previous songs on this album either.
Amos moves into the magnificent ballad "Spring Haze". The melody line is filled with rhythm variety and melodic brilliance and the lyrics captivate.
The album ends with one of the most fantastic Amos songs since her first album and is titled "1000 oceans". Moving and elegant, the lyrics are as straight forward as Amos could possibly get and if any song off this album should have gone mainstream this is the one. Just as vulnerable as Mclachlan's "Angel" this song definitely should have been a huge hit.
Overall, this album is Amos doing a little of what Amos does best. Then it goes beyond this to show us we have only seen one of the many oceans Amos is able to sail across. Depth, music perplexity and a wealth of talent run so deep with in her I imagine she will still be doing new and different things many years from now. She is a true prodigy.
The album also features a live CD that has some of Amos's best creations, plus a couple of new songs for the die hard fan to get excited about. Don't miss the stunning "Cooling."
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