Pros: "A Thousand Oceans," "Concertina, and "Datura"; most of the live disc.
Cons: some obnoxious lyrics; gimmicky production masks Tori's formidable talent.
The Bottom Line: Tori's devoted already own this disc; new converts will do much better to pick up any of her four previous releases, all of which are of more consistent quality.
omophagia's Full Review: To Venus and Back by Tori Amos
Moreso than any other artist of whom I'm aware, Tori Amos is guilty of playing absolutely vicious mind-games with her core audience:
She somehow manages to convince the vast majority of her fans-- and I certainly count myself among them-- that everything she does is brilliant. And, as much of To Venus and Back, her 1999 double-album, proves, that simply is not the case.
Even on her most consistent albums, Tori tosses around all sorts of cloying wordplays to which most of her listeners feel compelled to attach the deepest possible meaning, when Tori's really doing nothing more than yanking them around. "Caught a Lite Sneeze" from Boys for Pele is an excellent example of this:
"Caught a lite sneeze/
Caught a lite breeze/
Caught a lightweight lightningseed."
Tori, I love you, but no.
That "the faeries" are mentioned in either the songs or the Thank-Yous on all of her albums should provide sufficient evidence of her clever manipulation of her target demographic.
If nothing else, this just validates how obtusely brilliant she is-- it's just that she's not necessarily brilliant in the way that she's most often credited.
While her lyrics are often suspect, her immense musical gifts never are. Tori Amos is blessed with an almost inhumanly sublime voice, and only the most specially trained virtuosos could hope to match her abilities on the piano.
What makes To Venus and Back a bit underwhelming is that these strengths of her music are not the album's focus, as they have been on her first four releases. Ultimately, it's that the album is a bit overproduced, with distracting, albeit frequently interesting, elements of electronica distorting some intricate vocals and melodies. On "Riot Proof," for instance, Tori's vocals are almost inaudible beneath the guitars. And that's really a shame, because there's really some excellent material buried under all of the fluff, though this album lacks the consistency of Little Earthquakes or From the Choirgirl Hotel.
Lyrically, the Venus: Orbiting disc is wildly uneven. The first line of the album, "Father, I've killed my monkey" from the song "Bliss," is possibly Tori's most overt dare to her listeners to search for symbolism since Under the Pink's notorious "Cornflake Girl." Add to this Tori's inexplicable vocal phrasing on this opener-- she stretches the "i" in the word "bliss" into some bizarre combination of a long "e" and a short "a" until the chorus is all but inintelligible-- and you have perhaps the worst single of Tori's career. It's no wonder that "Bliss" failed to catch fire at radio the way that "Crucify," "God," or "Spark" did. I can't even imagine what was going through Tori's mind (or her bloodstream) when she recorded this particular song, but it brings her credibility as a songwriter and a performer into question.
On the other hand, the album closes with "A Thousand Oceans," which can only be described as Tori's most gorgeous, haunting ballad since "Silent All These Years." Though it lacks the lyrical complexity of "Silent..," this song showcases Tori's gifts for composing intricate melodies and for delivering ballads with an efficacy that should drive the VH-1 divas into retirement.
In between these two tracks, the songs are, at best, listenable and engaging, or, at worst, obnoxious. While "Glory of the 80's" has enough of a pulse to pique the listener's interest, Tori's failed attempt at stream-of-consciousness lyrics will have most people reaching for the "skip" button on their CD player. I cringe every time Tori alludes to "that chick who sang Bette Davis Eyes," if for no other reason that I know that Tori knows that chick's name is Kim Carnes. Only "Datura" and "Concertina" really demand attention and meet the expectations that Tori's first four albums have built up for her music.
Ultimately, the problem with Venus: Orbiting is that it shifts the focus away from Tori's strengths as an artist. Only "Datura," "Concertina," and "A Thousand Oceans" really emerge as essential additions to Tori's library of outstanding, masterfully crafted songs.
Though far from perfect, the live disc, Live: Still Orbiting is a bit less troublesome, since the concert recordings place the emphasis on Tori's performances, not overdone production values.
What works best about ...Still Orbiting is that it's not a "Greatest Hits" album, along the lines of Sarah McLachlan's completely unnecessary Mirrorball. ...Still Orbiting showcases some of Tori's most intriguing B-sides and rarities.
The inclusion of the song "Cooling," a powerful song that has long been a staple of Tori's concerts-- though the song has never been featured on one of her studio albums-- is almost worth the price of the this set. The live versions of "Mr. Zebra" and "Girl" are also particularly great, capturing on disc what a compelling live performer Tori Amos is.
But there are some problems on the live set, as well. On a few of the tracks, Tori's vocals really get away from her. While her enormous soprano is typically one of her greatest assets, on "Precious Things" and "Waitress" (perhaps my two favorite songs of hers) she really goes overboard with the bombast. Especially on "Precious Things," Tori lands firmly in Christina Aguilera territory in terms of completely oversinging. The album versions are much, much better.
So. People unfamiliar with Tori Amos' work probably won't be doing themselves any favors by picking up this album, since it's still possible to find "A Thousand Oceans" on CD single at most well-stocked music stores. Those who are already dedicated to Tori's frequently amazing body of work will, as I did last year, purchase To Venus and Back simply because of the beguiling artist behind it.
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.