Search - Tori Amos :: From the Choirgirl Hotel

David N. (ilikeallmusic) from GADSDEN, AL
Reviewed on 1/17/2007...

Comes with all artwork and nice booklet!

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

The best evidence for the argument of Tori Amos as Genius

Michael B. Collins | Placentia, NL Canada | 06/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Have you ever wondered what the "fuss" about Tori Amos was? Have you perhaps heard one of her more successful singles in recent years (say, A Sorta Fairytale or Sleeps With Butterflies) and perhaps, blasphemy of blasphemies, thought she was a bit lightweight, a bit trite, a bit, dare we say it, uninteresting?



Well, if you did think those things, you would be wrong, and From the Choirgirl Hotel is the album to prove that to you. Choirgirl is a lot of things, but lightweight is not one of those. It is a dark, dense, intense, harrowing, experimental and adventerous trip, where your guide is 1/2 Sylvia Plath and 1/2 Chopin, with dashes of Massive Attack and Jimmi-Hendrix-if-he-had-taken-up-piano (for flavour).



I am an unabashed Tori Amos fan. I will admit that I'm biased in her favour. I would rate all of her 8 major studio albums from "good" to "amazing," having come to her music as a hard-core piano student during the mid-90's, when songs like "Blood Roses" and "Father Lucifer" seemed more like Bach and Debussy than like anything else on the airwaves at the time.



But why chose this album, then, as it marks the now 8-year trend of Tori moving away from the baroque, challenging, symphonic compositions that characterized her first three albums? Choirgirl was the start of her break for the mainstream, a move that culminated in 2005's disappointing MOR-mush of "The Beekeeper." It seems rather odd that I would venerate it above all others.



I do so because, while 'Choirgirl' is one of Tori's most accessible albums (especially for fans of dark alternative rock), it also shows her at the top of her game as a songwriter and instrumentalist.



Even though, for the first time, the piano took a backseat in some songs and was entirely absent from one (the slinky, sexy "cruel"), this album also contains some of her most breath-taking passages at the keyboard. Listen to the bridges of "Spark" and "Black Dove," the improvisational sections of "Liquid Diamonds," the piano breakdown in the 4th section of the multi-movemental "Hotel," the lithe, graceful playing of "Jackie's Strength," and the accomplished jazz stylings of "Pandora's Aquarium." All of these moments stand as testament to the fact that Tori started her life in the world of music at age 3, as a child prodigy, and that, if she had applied herself in a different direction, she could legitimately make it as a concert pianist with a classical repetoire.



This album is hard-hitting. Each track is a gem; the weakest of the set would be a standout on any album by a lesser talent. What's more, she doesn't bog the album down with filler (as in "The Beekeeper") or sometimes lose herself in self-indulgent ramblings (as can be argued for "Boys for Pele"). Sure, the lyrical ambiguity is here as per usual, but the ratio of comprehensible metaphors to head-scratchers is balanced in the former's favour.



"From the Choirgirl Hotel" is tight. Over the 50-odd minutes it takes to play the album from start to finish, its 12 tracks are 12 musical punches to the gut, and if you give it your time and your attention, I'm sure you will finally understand what the fuss about Tori Amos is."

One of tori's best

Irene F. | floating somewhere in the ether... | 12/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Simply stated, this album is sublime. Perhaps I am biased. This album served as my introduction to Tori, and I had no expectations when I listened. But as a newcomer, 'Choirgirl' simply blew me away, and now -- almost two years and several Tori CDs later -- it doesn't wear old. Only 'Little Earthquakes' has lived up to it in terms of favorites.Placed in context of Tori's career, this album focuses on the piano with a band as an accompaniment, along with some electronic flourishes (though as a reviewer stated before, it's certainly not techno). This approach is used on most of the songs. However, traces of old school Tori still remain on songs like 'Jackie's Strength' (a ballad right along the lines of 'Winter' or 'Pretty Good Year') and 'Northern Lad.' This mixing of the old with the new is quite successful: it keeps the successful formulas of the past with enough innovation to make things interesting.Oh, don't get me wrong, the flaws are there. The sounds at the beginning of the otherwise beautiful 'Playboy Mommy' make me wince, as do a few of the flourishes on 'Hotel.' And Tori's certainly an acquired taste. Even though her lyrics are far more accessible than those on 'Boys for Pele', bizzare metaphors prevail as always. However, for those who are willing to dig a little deeper will find she has great insights to share, and that her music overall is beautifully crafted.A lot of people tend to group this album with 'Strange Little Girls' and 'To Venus and Back' as Tori's triumvirate of badness, and to be honest, I can't fathom why. The main accusation is that Tori did not seem as dedicated to this album, but I find that the intensity and audacity she displayed in her earlier work is here in spades -- such as in the desperate 'Spark' and the wild 'Raspberry Swirl.' This is, in my opinion, Tori at her most crazed and glorious, and I'm sure this will remain one of my favorite albums in years to come."