Search - Tori Amos :: Midwinter Graces [CD/DVD Combo]

Best Holiday Album Ever

W. M. Bell | Little Rock, AR | 11/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was pretty skeptical at first. I don't usually even listen to seasonal music, its just not to my taste usually. Tori making a seasonal album? Really? Could easily have been a disaster. However, this album is quite the opposite. It is easily her best since Scarlet's Walk. All of the songs are gorgeous and most have these incredible layers that just wrap you in a wintery kind of audio sauna.

The reworked old carols really shine under Tori's care. She found a great balance between respecting the original while giving them a totally different feel, changing lyrics here and there making it very inclusive of people of all faiths and not rehashing Christian ideaologies over and over. She's celebrating something older than Christmas here guys...this is a real Midwinter Festival kind of record. No santa claus hats and puppy dogs. In the reworded hymns there is the Tori element but you can still imagine the ancestors from centuries past filling the streets to this stuff. (this is excluding Harps of Gold, which is the most modern of the reworkings...and probably as upbeat as it gets, you can barely recognize the "Gloria" elements to it, not that its a bad thing!)Her originals are even better. Pink and Glitter has an old hollywood vibe, amazing. Snow Angel is so haunting, and the strings on this one are just impeccable.Winter's Carol, the star of this production, takes my breath away. There is not a dull moment in that song. It is so very well put together and a rather dark and beautiful kind of way.

I could go on forever about this piece of holiday magic, seriously. Hear for yourself! You won't be sorry!



Buy this for yourself, your friends, and anyone who loves holiday or simply amazing music.

This one's got something for everyone."

Best Tori Amos album in years

Eclectic Music Fan | 11/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those old Tori Amos fans who became disenchanted with her later work, this album is a return to form. It is tight and beautiful while still full of surprises to keep your interest. Similarly, for those who have become disenchanted with the celebrity artist holiday fare, this album blows away nearly everything else on the market. Tori Amos manages to create an album for the holidays that can also stand on its own at any other time of the year.



Highly recommended.

"

A twist to the genre

Daniel Ting | Austin, TX USA | 11/19/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Like Tori mentioned before the album was released, the real shocker in this album is that there is no real shocker. Overall it is a very pleasant listen with Tori doing songs across a wide range of sounds. There is big band (Pink and Glitter), medieval (Candle: Coventry Carol), Persian-tinged folk-rock (Star of Wonder) and music from the Dark Ages (Emmanuel). There is also a song, Winter's Carol, that is from the musical Tori is working on (The Light Princess). Tori also wrote a song in memory of her brother Michael, Our New Year, which is a very beautiful, true-to-Tori-form song with some nice strings.



One highlight of the album is that the piano is now back to the center, an element that has been missing in the last few Tori albums. I must say I enjoyed watching the interview, it shows a side of Tori that is not usually brought out in past interviews - and you see that she really does know quite a fair bit about church history. Even though this album is very much your unconventional Tori, I really think Tori could have done a little better with this album. For one, songs like Harps of Gold and Candle: Coventry Carol were not very suited to Tori's voice. And the album cover (I know this should not be a point of contention, but it is not something easily ignored) looks very obviously photoshopped - as a Tori fan put it: "she looks more and more like an android with each album cover." I don't mean to speak this way about Tori but there is something to the raw Tori we all find magical.



My favorites on this album are:

Star of Wonder - reminds me of Strong Black Vine.

Pink and Glitter - a wonderful nod to the big band era, reminiscent of the songs Tori sang on Mona Lisa Smile.

Jeanette, Isabella

Comfort and Joy (Bonus Track on Deluxe Edition)"