fan base Tori Amos

[John Slayne]

ok i only just discovered this now

 

 

what are your thoughts on Take Me With You (16-minute version) (Tori's Version) (From The Vault) (Viktor&Rolf 2005)?

 

it's really slaying me, she was instructed by god to do this

[HonourableVomit]

I'm annoyed that popjustice membership has been closed for like 5 years cause their Tori thread gets regular activity and thoughtful posts and I'm stuck in brain rot atrl.

 

Anyway I can't believe it's been almost 7 years since Native Invader but I've been listening to it a bit recently and it + Ocean to Ocean are really neck and neck quality for me. They both feel connected to the other and focused in a way that she hadn't been since Scarlet's Walk, although NI has a bit more bloat and OTO a much softer soundscape they share the same DNA and through-line story of aging, grief and the weight of responsibilities.  I read Resistance last year and some of it was such an eye roll (song lyrics can fix Washington!) but I have to admire how consistent and intelligent her political takes have always been. Anyway, the albums are super effective at getting her cultural points across (Benjamin, Ocean To Ocean) in a non-cringe way and mama tends to make her best music when she's mad about something. I love how they balance her frustration with the culture against her frustration in her relationships and the protective instincts she has for her family, and how challenged she was by her mother's declining health and death shattering that safety bubble. I feel like that kind of woke her up after a solid decade of feeling like she could just **** around and do whatever.

 

They just feel super warm, confident and human songs that are totally different to what other older alt ladies have been doing lately (ok maybe Beth Gibbons) when they decide to experiment more or get more abrasive (yes, you Bjork) as their fucks run out. I love Polly Jean but since Let England Shake you have to WORK to get the full story behind any given piece of music she's put out, whether it be journalism or poetry. Tori instead has reeled herself back in and found a comforting way to use her eccentricities to service the emotions of the music instead of unleashing them conceptually or obscuring herself like Doll Posse or Night of Hunters.  Flashing back to pre-Geraldines, there was every chance that we could've been down in the deep end with gibberish metaphors and more super indulgent vanity projects, but that album seemed to remind her that she doesn't need to try filter her thought so much. I don't love UG but absolutely the two that came after it are proof of it unlocking whatever she had going on internally in the decade before it.

 

It's already been 3 years since OTO, here's hoping she keeps the winning streak going and comes back next year with another banger.   I'm not really expecting it though (not to speculate) since she exhumed so much on Native Invader and Ocean To Ocean that I have to wonder what's left for her to cover.   

[John Slayne]

On 7/19/2024 at 3:41 AM, HonourableVomit said:

I'm annoyed that popjustice membership has been closed for like 5 years cause their Tori thread gets regular activity and thoughtful posts and I'm stuck in brain rot atrl.

 

Anyway I can't believe it's been almost 7 years since Native Invader but I've been listening to it a bit recently and it + Ocean to Ocean are really neck and neck quality for me. They both feel connected to the other and focused in a way that she hadn't been since Scarlet's Walk, although NI has a bit more bloat and OTO a much softer soundscape they share the same DNA and through-line story of aging, grief and the weight of responsibilities.  I read Resistance last year and some of it was such an eye roll (song lyrics can fix Washington!) but I have to admire how consistent and intelligent her political takes have always been. Anyway, the albums are super effective at getting her cultural points across (Benjamin, Ocean To Ocean) in a non-cringe way and mama tends to make her best music when she's mad about something. I love how they balance her frustration with the culture against her frustration in her relationships and the protective instincts she has for her family, and how challenged she was by her mother's declining health and death shattering that safety bubble. I feel like that kind of woke her up after a solid decade of feeling like she could just **** around and do whatever.

 

They just feel super warm, confident and human songs that are totally different to what other older alt ladies have been doing lately (ok maybe Beth Gibbons) when they decide to experiment more or get more abrasive (yes, you Bjork) as their fucks run out. I love Polly Jean but since Let England Shake you have to WORK to get the full story behind any given piece of music she's put out, whether it be journalism or poetry. Tori instead has reeled herself back in and found a comforting way to use her eccentricities to service the emotions of the music instead of unleashing them conceptually or obscuring herself like Doll Posse or Night of Hunters.  Flashing back to pre-Geraldines, there was every chance that we could've been down in the deep end with gibberish metaphors and more super indulgent vanity projects, but that album seemed to remind her that she doesn't need to try filter her thought so much. I don't love UG but absolutely the two that came after it are proof of it unlocking whatever she had going on internally in the decade before it.

 

It's already been 3 years since OTO, here's hoping she keeps the winning streak going and comes back next year with another banger.   I'm not really expecting it though (not to speculate) since she exhumed so much on Native Invader and Ocean To Ocean that I have to wonder what's left for her to cover.   

I agree with the general thesis that Grammy Invader and Acclaim To Acclaim are her return to form, but tbh I've always been an AATS apologist and recently I really got into ADP. Most songs on those two albums are actually excellent, it's more the album concepts that are lacking, but I suppose her last two album don't have this issue as they are more direct and coherent thematically.

 

As much as I would like a new album I wouldn't mind if she just decided to tour again without any new material. I would love to see her again. I don't really get why she bothers with the UG anniversary edition, I'd rather have the Choi Girl remaster we have been asking for for years  

[STMG23]

I used to be such a fan in the 00s but the last few albums I did not care about. But I guess I will revisit them soon when the mood is right.

[Technicolor]

Legend 

[John Slayne]

Starling is the best and most beautiful song of all time

[HonourableVomit]

somebody talk to me about the new Diving Deep Live pls cause the people on her reddit are so pretentious and annoying 

[Wyvern]

I'm not surprised the Code Red from Diving Deep Live got its own thread on the reddit. It's... something.

I know what she's trying to do but it's serving potential meme for me

[John Slayne]

On 12/7/2024 at 3:36 AM, HonourableVomit said:

somebody talk to me about the new Diving Deep Live pls cause the people on her reddit are so pretentious and annoying 

 

On 12/7/2024 at 9:04 AM, Wyvern said:

I'm not surprised the Code Red from Diving Deep Live got its own thread on the reddit. It's... something.

I know what she's trying to do but it's serving potential meme for me

I absolutely love the new Code Red version  

 

Spoiler

i played it to my bf and he was like what is dis hunny and then called it 'jarring and discordant' 

 

[HonourableVomit]

On 12/7/2024 at 8:04 PM, Wyvern said:

I'm not surprised the Code Red from Diving Deep Live got its own thread on the reddit. It's... something.

I know what she's trying to do but it's serving potential meme for me

 

5 hours ago, John Slayne said:

 

I absolutely love the new Code Red version  

 

  Reveal hidden contents

i played it to my bf and he was like what is dis hunny and then called it 'jarring and discordant' 

 

 

She's never topping the iconic Code Red meltdown.

 

 

 

[John Slayne]

5 hours ago, HonourableVomit said:

 

 

She's never topping the iconic Code Red meltdown.

 

 

 

wait I've not seen this before, she made some points with her vocals though despite the disruption lol 

[HonourableVomit]

the album sent me down a rabbit hole watching tori lives and this horny queen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HonourableVomit]

 

oh she fully goes for it vocally here 

[HonourableVomit]

A month into my annual summer Tori binge, this year I'm ranking the gospels with colour coded movements: 

 

From The Choirgirl Hotel

Boys for Pele

To Venus And Back 

Scarlet's Walk

Ocean to Ocean

Under The Pink 

Native Invader 

Little Earthquakes

Abnormally Attracted To Sin
Unrepentant Geraldines

The Beekeeper

American Doll Posse 

Midwinter Gaping 

Strange Little Girls

Night of Hunters

 

[John Slayne]

On 1/1/2025 at 4:09 AM, HonourableVomit said:

A month into my annual summer Tori binge, this year I'm ranking the gospels with colour coded movements: 

 

From The Choirgirl Hotel

Boys for Pele

To Venus And Back 

Scarlet's Walk

Ocean to Ocean

Under The Pink 

Native Invader 

Little Earthquakes

Abnormally Attracted To Sin
Unrepentant Geraldines

The Beekeeper

American Doll Posse 

Midwinter Gaping 

Strange Little Girls

Night of Hunters

 

glad UTP moved down because it's overrated but you need to give ADP another chance girl. 

 

as much as i love and obsess over tori, i've still not heard MIDwinter Graces and Night of Hunters in full  so they'd be at the bottom for me too alongside Strange Little Girls (Rattlesnakes is a highlight though)

[John Slayne]

honestly i keep saying BFP and Choirgirl are her top 2 but in reality Scarlet's Walk is the one I go back to the most and it's my most streamed album ever

[HonourableVomit]

5 hours ago, John Slayne said:

honestly i keep saying BFP and Choirgirl are her top 2 but in reality Scarlet's Walk is the one I go back to the most and it's my most streamed album ever

Scarlet is legendaric  She was my #2 for the longest time but BFP is just so expansive and full of ideas and emotion. It's so intense in a way that I don't think any other album ever made is. She was truly on a creative high there. And Choirgirl just has THE songs. Not a single miss on it and every single track is utterly essential, plus on the Tori scale it's remarkably restrained, probably her tightest listen and least over-indulgent, although Venus disc 1 is all of that too. One of the things that wears me out in Scarlet is a few songs sound really similar like Strange & Mrs Jesus. But it's a masterpiece for sure. 

 

5 hours ago, John Slayne said:

glad UTP moved down because it's overrated but you need to give ADP another chance girl. 

 

as much as i love and obsess over tori, i've still not heard MIDwinter Graces and Night of Hunters in full  so they'd be at the bottom for me too alongside Strange Little Girls (Rattlesnakes is a highlight though)

ADP is so over-long and hard to listen to.  That and Beekeeper are mixed so poorly that even if there are good songs in there, they are frequently obscured by baffling overproduced arrangements or terrible vocal balance. I always love when she pulls one of them out solo on the piano/keyboard for a concert because you can actually hear the words and melodies clearly and see that she has always HAD great ideas, just made the strangest choices with them. Beautiful chord progressions that you can't even register because of the amount going on. Like take Roosterspur Bridge which is lovely and soft for the first half and then gets so fuzzy and has that obnoxious electric guitar part. I get that it's her 'rock' album but jeez it's so ugly to me at times. I LOVE the highs like Bouncing Off Clouds, Beauty of Speed, Body & Soul and Code Red tho. Even Big Wheel is loads of fun. 

 

 

 

 

I've heard MG and NOH maybe a couple of times in full over the years. I'd recommend Pink & Glitter just for how different it is to her other songs but yeah, nothing much essential from that one. NOH is just... not in my wheelhouse. Maybe the instrumental version would be nice background music but if I want to listen to Tori Amos, I want to listen to Tori Amos. 

[skizzo]

She looks so pretty here

 

 

[HonourableVomit]

btw Scarlet's Hidden Treasures has to be the best B-side collection of all time. I mean how did Apollo's Frock, Indian Summer, Seaside or Ruby not make the main tracklist.

[Penumbra]

Hello girlies... I can't believe I am just now really getting into Tori. I've worked through Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink (and their B sides) which both have to be some of the best albums ever created. I've been a fan of the alt girlies for ages (Kate, Björk, Fiona, etc.) but never gone through Tori's discography. Her vocals, piano, and lyrics are really unparalleled. And watching her performances from these two first eras... she is electric.

 

Silent All These Years, Precious Things Winter, and Mother are my favorites right now from LE. And Pretty Good Year, Icicle, Cloud On My Tongue are my favorites from UTP. Excited to work through her other albums but I want to take my time and really enjoy each.

 

[John Slayne]

4 hours ago, HonourableVomit said:

btw Scarlet's Hidden Treasures has to be the best B-side collection of all time. I mean how did Apollo's Frock, Indian Summer, Seaside or Ruby not make the main tracklist.

Seaside is the best and most beautiful song of all time

 

On 1/6/2025 at 4:40 AM, HonourableVomit said:

Scarlet is legendaric  She was my #2 for the longest time but BFP is just so expansive and full of ideas and emotion. It's so intense in a way that I don't think any other album ever made is. She was truly on a creative high there. And Choirgirl just has THE songs. Not a single miss on it and every single track is utterly essential, plus on the Tori scale it's remarkably restrained, probably her tightest listen and least over-indulgent, although Venus disc 1 is all of that too. One of the things that wears me out in Scarlet is a few songs sound really similar like Strange & Mrs Jesus. But it's a masterpiece for sure. 

 

ADP is so over-long and hard to listen to.  That and Beekeeper are mixed so poorly that even if there are good songs in there, they are frequently obscured by baffling overproduced arrangements or terrible vocal balance. I always love when she pulls one of them out solo on the piano/keyboard for a concert because you can actually hear the words and melodies clearly and see that she has always HAD great ideas, just made the strangest choices with them. Beautiful chord progressions that you can't even register because of the amount going on. Like take Roosterspur Bridge which is lovely and soft for the first half and then gets so fuzzy and has that obnoxious electric guitar part. I get that it's her 'rock' album but jeez it's so ugly to me at times. I LOVE the highs like Bouncing Off Clouds, Beauty of Speed, Body & Soul and Code Red tho. Even Big Wheel is loads of fun. 

 

 

 

 

I've heard MG and NOH maybe a couple of times in full over the years. I'd recommend Pink & Glitter just for how different it is to her other songs but yeah, nothing much essential from that one. NOH is just... not in my wheelhouse. Maybe the instrumental version would be nice background music but if I want to listen to Tori Amos, I want to listen to Tori Amos. 

I defintiely agree that ADP suffers from filler, but the highs are very high. the first two singles are cute little fun bops but Girl Disappearing, Father's Son, Code Red, Roosterspur Bridge, Dark Side of the Sun, and Smokey Joe are some of her best post-Scarlet songs in my opinion. That said, I just realised that I only love 9 songs out of like 25 so maybe it's not that good of an album if you listen to the whole thing from start to finish  I just wanna give it props because it was my most streamed Tori album of 2024 and 5th overall. that live version of Beauty of Speed is amazing, I see what you mean. I really live for the new live version of Code Red as well, it really gives the song a unique spirit

 

 

I need to listen to The Beekeeper again, I heard it once, forgot about it completely and now I only use the title track, which I love

 

 

[John Slayne]

 

 

I will never not love this song and this live version specifically. A career highlight whew  the TALENTRY 

[HonourableVomit]

16 hours ago, Penumbra said:

Hello girlies... I can't believe I am just now really getting into Tori. I've worked through Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink (and their B sides) which both have to be some of the best albums ever created. I've been a fan of the alt girlies for ages (Kate, Björk, Fiona, etc.) but never gone through Tori's discography. Her vocals, piano, and lyrics are really unparalleled. And watching her performances from these two first eras... she is electric.

 

Silent All These Years, Precious Things Winter, and Mother are my favorites right now from LE. And Pretty Good Year, Icicle, Cloud On My Tongue are my favorites from UTP. Excited to work through her other albums but I want to take my time and really enjoy each.

 

You're so lucky ugh  There's nothing quite like getting to blind experience her first 6 albums of original material (SLG is inessential but cute, even tho it's very important in her career narrative and label struggles... plus it has an amazing tour) 

 

And then later discovering that all the songs you passed over on your first few listens are actually major highlights too, and the ones that fell through the cracks getting second and third winds when you see live versions. 

 

A true artist and performer. 

[John Slayne]

On 1/6/2025 at 4:40 AM, HonourableVomit said:

And Choirgirl just has THE songs. Not a single miss on it and every single track is utterly essential, plus on the Tori scale it's remarkably restrained, probably her tightest listen and least over-indulgent, although Venus disc 1 is all of that too.

speaking of, when is she gonna remaster both of these masterpieces? 

[ontherocks]

Wonder how Tori feels about this whole Neil & Amanda rape scandal. Idk how close she is with Neil these days, but it's truly messed up. The fact that Amanda covered Me And a Gun almost feels as a mockery in the light of these accusations.

 

Still remember the messy Caton situation when he groomed young Tori fans into having sex with him and claiming that his input made her music what it is. They never spoke again. 

 

Nevermind. Just read her last Guardian interview. 

Edited January 14 by ontherocks