Following on from her debut Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos moved further into the realms of a piano-based rock sound on Under The Pink. The piano was much more prominent than on Little Earthquakes, being accompanied on most tracks only by lavish but carefully used string orchestras.
Even on the few tracks where a full band is present, Tori's piano is the dominant feature and its dramatic rises and falls - similar to but more melodic than Laura Nyro's classic "Map To The Treasure". This is seen best on the beautiful "Cloud On My Tongue", where the amazing melody overwhelms a listener as Tori described a remote, dark world of her own isolation. "Icicle", a tale of her real-life rape, was similar but without the strings, and featured some of the most brilliant and shocking lyrics ever written, whilst "The Wrong Band" showed a brilliant organ complementing Amos' piano for another superbly dramatic piece. "Yes Anastasia" (a reference to the Tsar's daughter, apparently) was a superbly effective nine-minute epic that improved greatly upon "Mother" due to Amos' much-enhanced ability to communicate with a listener.
Of the "rockers", the brilliantly poetic "God" ("You've got a 9 iron in the back seat/Heard you've gone south/Well babe you love your new 4 wheel") was brilliant owing to the amazing literacy of Tori's lyrics. It is this literacy that allows her to tackle seriously her strict religious upbringing without succumbing to the usual clichés involved, and "Past The Mission" and "Cornflake Girl", though lighter than "God" shwed Tori tackling the difficult subject of relationships between women with equal effect.
"Space Dog", with its almost danceable rhythm, was another direction, but the excellent orchestrations (sadly absent from the follow-up Boys For Pele) made it effective, whilst "Bells For Her" was the saddest and simplest piece on Under The Pink and took many listens to gain my appreciation. Nonetheless, "Bells For Her" was a fine, well-written tale of a doomed romance between women.
Tori's whisperish voice, though anything but technically brilliant, was able to convey the drama in her tales to excellent effect. On "Icicle" and "Yes, Anastasia", the movement from whisper to shout can make a listener feel the pain and trouble involved in the lives of Tori's characters, yet she does not succumb to melodrama.
With is hyper-intelligent lyrics and brilliant piano playing, Under The Pink was and remains the pinnacle of Tori Amos' career. The place to start for newcomers, but a worthy addition to any music collection.
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