floatingcity's Full Review: To Venus and Back by Tori Amos
Originally conceived of as a B-sides/live songs double disc, Tori Amos ultimately ended up jettisoning the B-sides plan when her muse came calling, resulting in a new set of studio songs coupled with a number of live tracks culled from her Plugged '98 tour. The new material disc is subtitled “Venus: Orbiting”, and its concert counterpart “Venus Live: Still Orbiting”. Now, most artists would have trouble maintaining quality over a two-disc set, and unfortunately Tori is no exception. Between the two CDs, there is enough material for one really great album, but obtaining those gems means you have to wade through both bland filler and a few old horrors back to harass your eardrums.
Positive things first: I do quite like the bulk of the new material. Musically, it continues along the same electronic direction “From The Choirgirl Hotel” started, but less club-oriented and with much more focus on atmosphere. There are numerous tricky time delays, cool sound effects and computer-modified instrumentation, which in some cases combine to create a rich sonic palette. Opener “Bliss” is a nice compromise between her old ‘organic’ and new electronic styles, silly lyrics (“Father, I killed my monkey/ I let it out to taste the sweet of spring”) and diction (“We’ve a bleeece of another kind”) aside. There’s a good driving drumbeat, cool bit of piano, the odd whooshing effect and a conventional, hook-filled and memorable structure. “Concertina” is another solid pop moment; more relaxed, it has Tori giving a laidback vocal performance with a wash of gliding electronica that has a vaguely eighties synthpop feel. The chorus is surprisingly catchy without being in-your-face, and there are some decent lines, my favourite being “I know the truth lies in-between/The first and the fortieth drink”. “Glory of the 80s” has a similar textured and layered sound as Tori reminisces about that decadent decade; it’s very pleasant and catchy, and there’s fun to be had playing ‘spot-the reference’.
Tori’s penchant for exploring mythological and historical figures is evident on “Josephine”, a song sung to the partner of Napoleon Bonaparte before a battle, complete with military beats, a nicely brief running time, and an engaging, less-spaced out atmosphere. Current events get a look-in on the densely packed, bass throbbing “Juarez” which discusses the spate of female homicides in the Mexican city, complete with a keening cry of “no angel came”. It’s dark and incredibly textured, and while the song is a tad difficult to get into at first, it grows on you.
On the softer side, "1000 Oceans” is a very typical 70s style singer-songwriter ballad that hints to the direction of later album “Scarlet’s Walk”, with a slightly pretty tune and lyrics that are half sweet and half cliched Hallmark sentiment: “And I would cry a thousand oceans, if that’s what it takes to sail you home”. It’s nice enough if approaching the bland, generic status of a few songs on “Under The Pink”. I prefer “Lust”, which has slow computerised drums with a sad, steady piano rhythm. It’s sensual and hypnotic, and the chorus of “Rolling and unrolling/Uncoiling and emerging, running free” is sung in such a way that makes it quite memorable.
As for the other songs, “Riot Poof” is a fun little bass-heavy groove where Tori applauds a co-worker who came out of the closet during her tour, but “Datura” is an eight-minute drag. It has a fun but gimmicky opening section involving the recitation of a number of hallucinogenic plant names, but then crashes into an unending three-minutes of the same spacey groove echoed again and again as Tori endlessly repeats the lyric “Dividing Canaan, piece by piece.” It’s ugly and pretentious; elsewhere, “Spring Haze” is another slow forgettable ballad and “Suede” stands as one of Amos’ dullest songs ever. The production is flat and lifeless, and Tori’s tedious, inert singing makes it sound like she’s on every sedative going. Even worse, are only the barest attempts at melody and chording, making the whole song a complete waste of space.
In all, I wouldn’t say that any of the songs on “Venus: Orbiting” stand up among Tori’s best work, but it’s very consistent and quite a bit more accessible than a lot of her previous stuff. On its own, I would probably give this disc 4 stars.
The live disc makes thing much trickier. Tori is an excellent performer, and both she and her band are top notch during the recordings presented on “Venus Live: Still Orbiting”. The sound quality is very clear and well defined, and the mixing gives all of the instruments adequate exposure without sounding foggy. However, where things fall down is in the track selection. Happily, the songs that were great on their parent albums are performed equally strongly in concert (“Precious Things”; “Cornflake Girl”; “Girl”; “Mr Zebra”), and the addition of a full band backing to the previously flimsy “Bells For Her” transforms the track into a quiet yet powerful thunderstorm. In contrast, previously weak songs like “Cloud On My Tongue” and “Space Dog” are equally overlong and grating done live, while “Cruel” and “Little Earthquakes” are less interesting and complex than the studio versions and “The Waitress”, which used to exist as a three-minute bit of over the top fun, is dragged out over an excruciating ten minutes. Three non-album tracks also make an appearance; “Sugar” and “Cooling” are pleasant piano-ballads that pass by in a bit of a daze, and the steel pedal guitar on “Purple People” makes it sound like “Playboy Mommy” Mark II, but with none of the resonance. It also really doesn’t help that the weaker performances are all grouped together towards the end of the disc, making it a real chore to sit through in its entirety. These issues combine to trip the live CD up, as Tori’s usual intensity and passion is just not reflected in most of these songs. Then again, your mileage may vary – if you loved the original versions of all of the tracks, chances are you’ll love this. However, as it stands, I would give it 2 stars.
Overall, I would recommend “To Venus and Back” to fans of Tori Amos, as well as newcomers with an interest in mildly electronic or singer-songwriter music. If you think you would enjoy the studio recordings, then by all means get this set, but I wouldn’t let the live tracks be your primary guide.
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