Strange Little Girls
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CD Details
Brand: AMOS,TORIPerformer: Tori Amos
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2001-09-18
Music Label: Atlantic
Soundtracks:
- New Age
- 97' Bonnie & Clyde
- Strange Little Girl
- Enjoy The Silence
- I'm Not In Love
- Rattlesnakes
- Time
- Heart Of Gold
- I Don't Like Mondays
- Happiness Is A Warm Gun
- Happiness Is A Warm Gun
- Real Men
Music reviews of Strange Little Girls
Music Review: A Complex Hit-And-Miss Concept Album
Rating: 4 Stars
In 2001 Tori Amos released "Strange Little Girls," her first release of the new millennium. Usually news of new Tori releases whip up such excitement amongst Toriphiles. However, this album consisted of 12 songs. 12 covers. Tori decided to release an album with no original songs on them, but whilst the concept sounds a bit rubbish on the surface, it's only once you realise what her intentions were that things start to take shape. First of all, the 12 songs on this album were all originally written by men, about women. Furthermore, when sung from Tori's point of view - and she is very much all female - then the song's take on a different role. The gender roles are reversed to offer an alternative perspective on the way these men wrote the song's originally. This, in my opinion, almost appears as if Tori is subtly mocking the original songs, even though she thinks they're great songs.
Once you get past the concept and prepare yourself for what you're about to hear, I think you can listen to this album without being biased and judge it solely on how much you are drawn in by it. I know comparisons to Tori's previous albums are the reason this album failed to generate much excitement from fans, and because of that it was unfairly judged. I think as a stand alone album it's rather good, but in comparisons to her previous releases it's not nearly as good. When you compare this to "Little Earthquakes," "Under The Pink," "Boys For Pele" and "From The Choirgirl Hotel," it's not really impressive at all. I suppose every amazing artist has to have that one album which the general consensus doesn't take to, and this is it.
The album opens with "New Age," which I find to be one of the best songs on the album. Originally written by Lou Reed, this song gradually builds up to a sort of ugly crescendo, with some beautiful, ambient sounds in the background. "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" is definitely one of my favourites on the album, and it's probably the most famous song on the whole album. This cover of the Eminem track is rather different from the original in that the almost comedic-like theme of the original is turned on its head to create a much more sinister, violent version. Some Eminem fans will have been outraged by this, but let me tell you that Tori Amos is ten times the so-called genius that Eminem is! I've never liked him and I never will. Anyway, apart from that, this is a very good song and I love the way Tori builds up the dramatic tension by use of the sharp violins and whispered vocals. Eminem may get the royalties, but he no longer owns the song. This is Tori's baby now! "Strange Little Girl" is a great song with a swaying chorus. I love how this song just rocks in the choruses and has a cool build-up to it. "Enjoy The Silence" is a mellow number which actually takes quite a while to grow on you. It's rather melodic once you get used to it.
"I'm Not In Love" is another great song because Tori takes this classic and turns it on its head, and it's all because of the music in the background. The original was harsh enough as it was with the lead of 10cc telling his 'lover' that he wasn't in love, and that it was infact just a silly phase he's going through! The music used in the background in this song is incredibly spooky and seems to creep up behind you from no where. However, I think this song is a bit too long and a minute could have been trimmed off the end of it. "Rattlesnakes" is a beautiful, melodic song which many regard as the best on the album. I disagree, but I like this song because the original is very introspective. Tori has said herself that she was very impressed when she first heard this song when she was young, because from a male perspective, it delved into the mysteries of the woman in a way that not even Tori herself (as a woman) could express. "Time" is a slow, moving song which is good when you listen to it, but it doesn't really leave much of an impression on me. Also, could Tori sing the word "Time" any more?!
"Heart Of Gold" is another song which I feel is a bit of a disappointment. Tori adopts all sorts of techno-wizardry on this cover of the Neil Young original, but the vocals seem to get a bit lost in the mix. "I Don't Like Mondays" is a soft, understated song about a school shooting. I don't particularly like the arrangement of the song but Tori's voice does shine here in my opinion. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" links in very well with the previous song. This cover of the John Lennon-written song is perhaps the most fortuitous song in history! Tori said herself, "I mean "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" is very much this Frank Zappa-inspired, nine-minute sort of a back-drop for the Second Amendment argument, a song written by a man who was later killed by a gun." Tori's interpretation of "Raining Blood" is interesting because she sees it in an entirely different way than just a relation to Satan. She heard of what went on to some of the women in Afghanistan in 2001 and, well, you can make your own mind up on this one. The album closes with "Real Men," originally written by Joe Jackson. I actually really like this song because the piano makes a much-welcomed return and basically sums up Tori's perspective of men and women in society. She's not against women wearing skimpy clothing, because indeed, it is a liberation of sorts compared to times in the past, but she has a problem with the way men get intimidated by female power. Because of this, they return to a dominant role and try to assert their power over women. Consequently, though, they reduce themselves dramatically.
OVERALL GRADE: 7/10
I think this album is definitely one of the most complex concept albums of recent times, but it is also rather self-indulgent. Tori didn't really think what her fans wanted to hear on this album, and only went with what she was 100% interested in trying to say. In this album Tori creates female personalities entirely of their own. She creates them because she feels what she's trying to say is important. While that is debatable in the case of this album, one cannot say that the way she constructs her argument is unimpressive. The inlay sleeve of the album features Tori in 13 different guises for the women on each of the 12 songs (two for "Heart Of Gold"). It's hard to imagine that Tori didn't have fun dressing up for these roles, but just remember that the sentences underneath were written by a man. Otherwise, what would be the point in the entire album? The woman is smart...
Description of Strange Little Girls
12 track covers album.Tori Amos's idea for Strange Little Girls was to present covers of men's songs from a female perspective. The concept is fairly unique--although Liz Phair had a similar idea with 1993's Exile in Guyville. But while Phair fashioned original lyrics in response to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, Amos sticks with the script when reciting lyrics from acts as diverse as the Velvet Underground, Depeche Mode, Neil Young, Tom Waits, and Slayer. She transforms the material, though, by singing in a pained tone, weighing the lyrics with heavy emotion and stripping most of the songs down to their simplest elements--often just a string section, a drum machine or a piano, leaving the original music almost unrecognizable. The most poignant of these tracks is definitely her cover of Eminem's "97' Bonnie and Clyde." The first-person story of a man dumping his lover's dead body takes on an ugly sickness and brutality with Amos's almost-whispered narration. As with most of these songs, Amos removes the pop façade and leaves the listener with a stark picture of the message behind the lyrics--whether that message concerns violence or male identity--in a statement both subtly political and stunningly beautiful. --Jennifer Maerz
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