Tori Amos: Strange Little Girls
Tori Amos intrigues me. She's so absolutely out there. I'd seen her live a few years back, as part of Mix98.5's "MixFest." If you want to see a woman damn-near have sex with a piano, this woman is the woman to see.
What turned me on to this album, Strange Little Girls was that it was a cover album. Knowing a thing or two about Tori, I had a feeling this wouldn't be a normal cover album, and I was right.
Among the covered artists are Boomtown Rats, Eminem, Neil Young, and even the Velvet Underground.
But this isn't just a "oh, yeah, lets do it the way they did it and be done with it" kind of covering. Its clear Tori spent a long time on these, re-imagining them her way. Some sound closer to the originals than others, true, but it doesn't make it any less good.
The Eminem cover, 97 Bonnie and Clyde is the weirdest of them all, I feel. Not bad, just weird. I've heard the Eminem tune, and then listening to this version, all I can say is that you need to hear it for yourself.
The Beatles cover, Happiness is a warm gun feels as though its become a very anti-gun message, with various sound bites edited in regarding individual's rights and even clips from moments after John Lennon was shot.
In the end: Tori Amos isn't for everyone, but this album does a good job of re-imagining some classic and slightly obscure tunes. Definitely worth a listen.
What turned me on to this album, Strange Little Girls was that it was a cover album. Knowing a thing or two about Tori, I had a feeling this wouldn't be a normal cover album, and I was right.
Among the covered artists are Boomtown Rats, Eminem, Neil Young, and even the Velvet Underground.
But this isn't just a "oh, yeah, lets do it the way they did it and be done with it" kind of covering. Its clear Tori spent a long time on these, re-imagining them her way. Some sound closer to the originals than others, true, but it doesn't make it any less good.
The Eminem cover, 97 Bonnie and Clyde is the weirdest of them all, I feel. Not bad, just weird. I've heard the Eminem tune, and then listening to this version, all I can say is that you need to hear it for yourself.
The Beatles cover, Happiness is a warm gun feels as though its become a very anti-gun message, with various sound bites edited in regarding individual's rights and even clips from moments after John Lennon was shot.
In the end: Tori Amos isn't for everyone, but this album does a good job of re-imagining some classic and slightly obscure tunes. Definitely worth a listen.
posted by askani97 at 10:01 AM
2 Comments:
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When Strange Little Girls came out, I remember interviews were Tori emphatically stated that this was not a tribute album. The best way I've been able to view it is that is a protest against the rampant misogyny in popular music. Not only the overt examples like 97 Bonnie and Clyde but also the onesided view of relations in Heart of Gold or tunnel vision of Real Men.
Andrew
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