To Venus and Back by Tori Amos

Pros: A lot of music, good voice, Some excellent lyrics
Cons: Overbearing sound, Indecipherable vocals on many tracks, Musically unimpressive

After being suitably impressed by Tori Amos's album "From The Choirgirl Hotel" (reviewed at: h ttp://www.epinions.com/content _337558539908 ), I found myself implicitly recommending her double album "To Venus And Back" ...

Pros: Very melodic songs, nice lyrics, great instrumentation
Cons: Not quite as emotionally involving

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...

Pros: read the review
Cons: ...

It's no secret that I'm a Toriphile and I pretty much worship or like all the albums I have of her, but because I started getting into another artist (Bjork), I had to put my Tori collection on hold. Around Christmas, I realized that I haven't bought a ...

Pros: A number of great studio tracks coupled with live performances of some classics.
Cons: The live disc is weak overall; some of the new studio songs are poor too.

Originally conceived of as a B-sides/live songs double disc, Tori Amos ultimately ended up jettisoning the B-sides plan when her muse came calling, resulting in a new set of studio songs coupled with a number of live tracks culled from her Plugged '98 ...

Pros: electronic wonderfulness. overall, very pleasing to the ear.
Cons: Some songs are so-so.

The first part of a three part series entitled, "The Perfect Tori Record" What the hell are you doing? I'm playing God. Because let's face it. Tori has some problems with song vomit. (She releases just about every song she writes.) ...

Pros: Great piano work, great phrasing, unique Tori Amos voice, interesting music
Cons: Can be a little long, too much angst

Former child prodigy Tori Amos has put together quite a collection of some of her more well known tracks, such as Cornflake Girl, Little Earthquakes, Datura, and 1000 Oceans. Frankly she sounds best when it's just her voice and the piano. Having ...

Pros: "A Thousand Oceans," "Concertina, and "Datura"; most of the live disc.
Cons: some obnoxious lyrics; gimmicky production masks Tori's formidable talent.

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...

Pros: It's Tori, what can I say?
Cons: none

I “shivered with antici………..PATION” for this Tori CD and I did with all the ones before it. It was what I was expecting, but at the same time, NOT what I expected. With her previous release, from the choirgirl hotel, Tori got into electronica and a...

Pros: Long overdue live album accompanies a disc containing some sparkling new tracks
Cons: Too much, too soon after a career defining album. Destined to be the album *after* choirgirl

Tori Amos is an acquired taste.

It is only fair to state this before reviewing any of her work. You can easily be mystified for years as your friends spend time and money on their Tori Amos collection without understanding the allure of the...

Pros: beautiful songs, amazing variety, powerful, strong
Cons: artwork seems to be quickly done, packaging is a little frustrating,

If you're a fan of new, electric sounding music, you want this album. If you're still holding onto the 'girl with a piano' thing, and you think Tori should have resigned her fate to album after album of excellent piano work, you might not like this...

Pros: The live CD is excellent and there are a few tracks on the new material worth listening to
Cons: too much technical/electric sounds and not enough Tori

Since I truly do not know how to start this, I will answer the question, Why did you buy this album? Simple. It was Tori Amos and I am a definite tori-phile, so why wouldn't I? Let me tell you... (and it truly breaks my heart to say this,...

Pros: The Astonishing Live CD
Cons: The Innocuous, Ridiculous, Studio One

You cannot convince me that Tori Amos is not a genius (in her own Kooky Way.) I was a fan long before all the brouhaha started, and remain one. However, Tori like most geniuses can make the mistake of getting lost inside the labyrinth in her head.
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Pros: still amos. pixie smirks. mystery
Cons: formulaic. stuck in one mode.

I cursed the minutes for being so excruciatingly long as I waited for Tori Amos's 1998 release "From the Choirgirl Hotel". After all, one does not just own a Tori Amos CD. One puts it out on her coffeetable like a family Bible. One flips...

Pros: food-for-thought lyrics, different arrangments, two albums in one
Cons: no "girl and a piano" stuff, if you're a stickler

Tori Amos has been a thriving element in my life for 3 years. In comparison to many fans, my “adoration” has been short-lived. Maybe that’s why I don’t judge her so harshly over her newer albums. In some of her past albums she’s experimented with...

Pros: lots of stylistic ground covered
Cons: live second disc a bit hit-and-miss

To Venus And Back is Tori Amos’ fifth and final disc of the millennium (or, more accurately, her fifth and sixth discs, as Venus comes packed to the rafters with 11 new studio tracks and 13 live tunes from Amos’ ’98 Plugged Tour). Kicking things off...