Cartman_2k's Full Review: Scarlet's Walk by Tori Amos
Whoa. Finally. Three years after she released her previous album (not counting Strange Little Girls, which was filled with so many strange covers that I don’t consider it to be a real album), Tori is back. It hasn’t really been that long for me, since I’ve only been a toriphile (Toriphile = huge fan of Tori) for a year, so I’ve gotten them all within the past year. Anyway, I need to stop rambling.
Huh? What’s A Tori Amos? Myra Ellen Amos was born in 1963 in North Carolina. She was a child prodigy, and only five years old she enrolled at the Baltimore Peabody Institute. She didn’t last long here, as she refused to play the classical songs they wanted her to play there. Instead, Myra Ellen wanted to experiment and play songs she liked. This wasn’t something the Institute liked, so they kicked her out. When she was 17 she was signed to MEA, and released her first single Baltimore/Walking with you. It wasn’t a huge success, nor was her first album, Y Kant Tori Read. (Between those two, she changed her name because her boyfriend thought she looked more like a Tori than a Myra Ellen) Her big breakthrough came in 1991, when she released the EP Me And A Gun, followed by the smash album Little Earthquakes. With highly personal lyrics, doing an amazing job playing piano and a decent voice, her first single from the album Silent All These Years was a success in the US and UK.
Her next album also sold a whole lot, still not as many as LE. Up through the years she has experimented with her music, on Boys For Pele she discovered the harpsichord, on From The Choirgirl Hotel electronic music, something she continued pursuing on To Venus and Back. Last year she made an album consisting of various covers of male artists from a female perspective. This year she is back with Scarlet’s Walk, an album where the concept is to discover her roots and to search America to find out what America really is.
Okay. Shall we walk on Scarlet’s Walk then?
A Sorta Fairytale is the first single off of the album. In my opinion, it is probably the best pop song she has ever made. Most of my favorite songs by Tori are just Tori and her piano, while this song has drums and guitars in addition. With more outgoing and comprehensible lyrics, and an intelligent music arrangement, it is almost Tori at her best. It’s too bad that the single version doesn’t include the songs bridge, which is probably the best part about the whole song.
Wednesday is the nicest, most light-hearted song on the album. I haven’t heard anything like it from Tori before, but it can somewhat resemble some of Tori’s old work mixed with Pele’s Mr. Zebra. With music that can remind you of taking a drive in a rural landscape in the stanzas, the song slows down and we get to hear Tori and her piano more prominently.
Sweet Sangria is one of the songs I like best one the album, with its gloomy mysterious music and nice lyrics. Tori manages to get a darker sound than she usually does, with an absolutely magnificent undertone. The chorus is really good, although the best part of the song is what’s subsequent to it. Tori juggles her voice to make it seem so lively and wonderful.
Pancake is probably the angriest song on the album. While first listening to it, it just sounds like Tori is making a shadowy, puzzling song, but if you listen to it a couple of more times it will suck you in. Every time I listen to it I get different feelings and I can’t exactly figure out what Tori means with this song. One thing I have found out though is that this is an attack on Christian leaders, and she is one angry woman.
You could have spared
her -- oh but no
Messiahs need
people dying in their name
You could have spared her
oh but no
Messiahs need
people dying in their
Name
Strange, Crazy and Gold Dust are the three ballads on the album. I do like Strange a whole lot, even though I don’t particularly like the tones at the end of the chorus. Other than that it truly is a great song. Crazy is probably the song I can relate the least to on the entire album. It doesn’t have any climaxes to capture my attention, the lyrics aren’t too special and I think she sounds like a broody hen. It’s an okay song, but the weakest link on this album. Gold Dust is the most beautiful ballad she has made since Northern Lad. So much is going on in the song, and Tori sings it with such a fragile voice and she animates the lyrics in an amazing way. The instrumental arrangement is also perfect. And it’s truly a great way to end the album.
I Can’t See New York is a song about 9/11. As opposed to other songs made to capture the horrible events of this day, Tori manages to do it without making it sound soppy and sentimental. The lyrics may very well be the best work I have seen in quite a few years from her, and the entire arrangement is done is a wonderful way.
I can't see New York
as I'm circling down
through white clouds
falling out
and
I know his lips
are warm
but I can't seem
To find my way out
my way out
My two favorite songs on the album are Carbon and Your Cloud. The first mentioned is perfect in every single way. Its percussion is wonderful, Tori and her piano are prominent, but you can still hear the other instruments in the background. Tori’s voice is amazing, and especially when she sings Carbon made only wants to be unmade, I’ve never heard Tori sound better than she does right there. The lyrics are an unfathomable mystery, which will have you pondering an awful lot. The song is very appealing to the imagination, and you will listen to it again and again, not only for the masterpiece it is, but also to try to figure out what the song is about. Your Cloud is a really slow song, but it’s just so beautiful. It has a hypnotic effect when you listen to it, and I sat dazed for hours just listening to it again and again. Everything about it is perfect! And the title is good too, because it really feels like you are floating on a cloud.
Track Listing
01. Amber Waves (****)
02. A Sorta Fairytale (*****)
03. Wednesday (*****)
04. Strange (****)
05. Carbon (*****)
06. Crazy (***½ )
07. Wampum Prayer (****)
08. Don’t Make Me Come To Vegas (****)
09. Sweet Sangria (****½ )
10. Your Cloud (*****)
11. Pancake (****½)
12. I Can’t See New York (*****)
13. Mrs. Jesus (****)
14. Taxi Ride (****)
15. Another Girl’s Paradise (****)
16. Scarlet’s Walk (*****)
17. Virginia (*****)
18. Gold Dust (*****)
What Did You Think Of The Album, Kent?
This is probably the best album that has been released so far this year, (and since it’s not really long until 2003, I guess that this is the album of the year) with everything an album could possibly need. The artist has a wonderful dazzling voice, meaningful, deep and thorough lyrics and a sparkling music arrangement. All of the songs are powerful, each of them in a unique way, and there are some variation in the songs as well. The album never sounds monotonous, because of Tori’s admirable creativity and the versatile music arrangement. This is in my opinion, Tori’s most accomplished album so far.
Should I Buy This Album?
If you haven’t heard Tori Amos and her girls (what Tori calls her songs), I think that this is a fine introduction to her. This album is so multidimensional, and it’s something everyone that appreciates good music will like. If you have heard Tori before, I think that you will be positively surprised by this album, as it is more accomplished, mature and more extroverted than the other albums.
Way to go Tori. I hope I don’t have to wait another three years for your next album.
You can listen to sound clips from the album by going to various Tori websites, such as http://www.hereinmyhead.com or listen to a few of them on http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/ B00006I4YD/qid=1039110981/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-1822945-5805426?v=glance&s=music&n=507846 .
You can buy this album for only $8.99 on half.com
On Scarlet s Walk, her seventh album, Tori Amos does a great description of something beautiful. It s the latest transmission from Tori, full of wordp...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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