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Silent All These Years (1992, 15.04) ***/TSilent All These YearsUpside Down Me and a Gun Thoughts |
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Under the Pink (1994, 56.52) ***/½ |
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| Pretty Good Year God Bells for Her Past the Mission Baker Baker The Wrong Band The Waitress Cornflake Girl |
Icicle Cloud on My Tongue Space Dog Yes, Anastasia |
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Scarlet's Walk (2002, 73.39) ***/T |
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| Amber Waves A Sorta Fairytale Wednesday Strange Carbon Crazy Wampum Prayer Don't Make Me Come to Vegas Sweet Sangria |
Your Cloud Pancake I Can't See New York Mrs. Jesus Taxi Ride Another Girl's Paradise Scarlet's Walk Virginia Gold Dust |
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American Doll Posse (2007, 78.42) ***½/T |
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| Yo George Big Wheel Bouncing Off Clouds Teenage Hustling Digital Ghost You Can Bring Your Dog Mr. Bad Man Fat Slut |
Girl Disappearing Secret Spell Devils and Gods Body and Soul Father's Son Programmable Soda Code Red Roosterspur Bridge |
Beauty of Speed Almost Rosey Velvet Revolution Dark Side of the Sun Posse Bonus Smokey Joe Dragon |
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Unrepentant Geraldines (2014, 58.30) ***/T |
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| America Trouble's Lament Wild Way Wedding Day Weatherman 16 Shades of Blue Maids of Elfen-Mere Promise |
Giant's Rolling Pin Selkie Unrepentant Geraldines Oysters Rose Dover Invisible Boy |
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Ocean to Ocean (2021, 47.35) ***½/T½ |
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| Addition of Light Divided Speaking With Trees Devil's Bane Swim to New York State Spies Ocean to Ocean Flowers Burn to Gold Metal Water Wood |
29 Years How Glass is Made Birthday Baby |
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The Music of Tori & the Muses (2025, 37.06) ***/½KnockingDay and Night (From the Faerie Workshop) Building a Mountain Insect Ballet Anna's Bakery Mermaid Muse Speaks Spike's Lament Rain Brings Change S'Magic Day |
Current availability:
Mellotrons/Chamberlins used:
The trouble with Tori Amos is that her voice sounds so much like Kate Bush's that it's difficult to take her own material seriously; however, she seems to have a sizeable, mainly female following who couldn't give a toss that she sounds like someone else more talented. Sorry, but there really isn't much comparison on the songwriting front, although I'm sure there are many who would disagree. Anyway, the first Mellotron use on any of her recordings is an interesting flute part on Upside Down, found on the European Silent All These Years EP, played by John Philip Shenale, also available on her Winter EP.
Under the Pink was her second 'proper' album, excluding the '80s nightmare of Y Kant Tori Read, which is apparently best forgotten. It's typical of her piano-driven singer-songwriter style, as far as I can make out, which means you're either going to love it or be really quite disinterested, I suspect. Most of it's pretty laid-back, with the occasional more energetic track to wake you up, but it's more for bedsits than cramped, sweaty gigs. John Philip Shenale 'arranges' both 'strings' and Chamberlin on Cloud On My Tongue, so it's only my assumption that he actually plays the thing, too. There are definitely real strings on the track, but I'll be damned if I can tell where the Chamby comes in. Some of the strings may emanate from it, though I'm not entirely sure why they bothered. Incidentally, top marks for inventing the concept of 'rock'n'roll harpsichord'...
2002's Scarlet's Walk is a fairly typical Tori album, her songwriting much improved from her early work, highlights including Wednesday, brief, lovely solo vocal Wampum Prayer and I Can't See New York, complete with some great slide guitar work. Shenale plays Chamberlin again, although all I can hear are the flutes (alongside real strings) on Mrs. Jesus. Tori's ninth album, 2007's American Doll Posse, sees her 'playing' five different characters (including herself), who take vocal leads on different songs. The album has more of a rock bent than most of her previous work, which isn't to say there isn't plenty of 'typical' Amos material to be heard. Just the one Mellotron track (played by Tori), with quite real-sounding flutes on closer Dragon, key-click an' all, also the only track here where her historical Kate Bushisms appear. Apparently, the album was only meant to be twenty tracks long, but another three were added as so-called 'bonus' tracks before release, which means they aren't really a 'bonus' at all, are they?
It would be easy to dismiss 2014's wonderfully-titled Unrepentant Geraldines as 'just another Tori album' and, in many ways, it is, but, after a twenty-year-plus career, she knows how to play to her strengths, while all traces of unfortunate '90s production have long been excised. It's probably at its best on it slower material, notably Wild Way, Weatherman, the beautiful Selkie and the title track, but nothing here will disappoint her fanbase. Tori plays Mellotron, with an orchestrated flute part opening Wedding Day, repeating later, plus a brief, jaunty flute part on the quirky Giant's Rolling Pin. Once again, 2021's Ocean to Ocean does what Tori does, possibly at its best on opener Addition Of Light Divided, Speaking With Trees, the haunting Flowers Burn To Gold and How Glass Is Made. It's nearly twenty years since John Philip Shenale played Chamberlin on a Tori album, but here he is, adding flutes to three tracks, Devil's Bane, Spies and more obviously on How Glass Is Made.
You know when an artist makes a 'children's album' (Tom Paxton, Jewel, even Johnny Cash)? They write simple, upbeat, uplifting little songs, don't they? Not Tori. 2025's The Music of Tori & the Muses soundtracks her children's book of the same title, although its contents wouldn't sound out of place on any of her regular releases. If anything, some of the songs here are darker than her usual fare... It's at its best on the wonderfully eccentric Insect Ballet and the punchy Spike's Lament, but her fans needn't worry they'll be subjected to the (admittedly very sweet) likes of Going To The Zoo. Shenale is credited with 'Chamberlin strings', but it's hard to tell what's going along alongside the actual orchestral instruments. However, it sounds like both strings and flutes on Day And Night (From The Faerie Workshop) and strings at the end of Spike's Lament, but it's hardly a reason to listen to this album.
From the Choirgirl Hotel is typical Tori, the vocals right up in the mix and quite dry, to give that 'intimate' feel. The musicianship's excellent all round and the songs are well-constructed; I get the feeling that if I gave them the chance, many of them would worm their way into my subconscious for ever more. She's credited with 'Mellotron' on two tracks, i i e e e (strings) and She's Your Cocaine (flutes), but has admitted in an interview that they're samples. Naughty. Actually, the strings sound pretty awful, but the flutes are good enough to fool moi, for what it's worth.
