floatingcity's Full Review: Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos
After the deserved flop of her pop album Y Kant Tori Read, Tori Amos retreated into her shell and reacquainted herself with her piano, resulting in Little Earthquakes and a massive shift in style and content. Gone is the hairspray teased, bustier-wearing rock chick, and in her place a far more organic and earthy singer-songwriter. Captivating and uncompromising, Tori unflinchingly explores her psyche, past, religion and sexuality in a stunning series of songs that pack a massive emotional punch. Aside from being a rebirth for Tori herself, this album also represents a second-coming of sorts for the piano. Tori is a truly, truly gifted pianist, and extracts every kind of style possible from the instrument, from jaunty music hall and free-floating jazz prog-rock to normal pop/rock, driving clipped hooks, terrifying staccatos, and achingly luscious romantic soundscapes.
As you can imagine, the majority of the album is based upon vocals and piano; these components are usually accompanied by a solid drumbeat, varying amounts of orchestration to add melody or atmosphere, and on occasion a bit of punchy electric guitar. However, the arrangements and styles are diverse enough to prevent things from getting monotonous, instead allowing the album to play as a strongly cohesive work. Most of your attention should go to the singing and lyrics; Tori is in possession of a fine, near-soprano voice, and uses it to great effect. Shes never histrionic or overdone though, and instead uses her expressive range to expertly relay her emotions to the audience. And really, thats what this album is all about. The best songs here are so incredibly potent and powerful, they turn the listener into the characters in her songs, so you actively experience her narratives first-hand. Its incredibly impressive and works very well, although in some cases its almost too painful. Likewise, I could write a thesis on these lyrics; theres plenty of complexity, imagery and metaphor, yet unlike some of her later work, the meanings are nearly always clear.
Another huge plus is that most of these songs are in possession of strong vocal melodies and hooks, and while theyre obviously not bubblegum-pop styled, there are plenty of memorable lines that will stick in your head long after the record is over. Nothing instantaneous, but this CD is made for intense personal listening, and thats how it works.
Crucify and Girl get things off to a stupendous start, mixing thoughtful lyrics about daily tribulations and the battles facing women, whether it be carrying enough guilt to start my own religion or falling into the deadly trap of mindless conformity boy-toy-ism (Shes been everybody elses girl, maybe one day shell be her own) with great piano playing and memorable, emotional hooks (My heart is sick of being in, chai-yay-yay-yains! ). Both suffer a little from a bit of heavy drum reverb, but its a negligible issue once those lyrics and piano lines bury themselves inside your head. Third track Silent All These Years is viewed by many as Toris signature song, as she displays her piano skills on tale of finding herself. Its pretty, immaculately played and sung, the aural equivalent of thoughtfully watching a sunset with a glass of white wine in hand. Another ballad highlight is Winter, an emotional workout with plenty of luscious orchestration that transports you back to childhood with its verse imagery and beautiful chorus lyrics: When you gonna make up your mind? When you gonna love you as much as I do? Elsewhere, the sweeping, romantic China is my personal favourite, combining a close, tender atmosphere with heartbreaking and elegant lyrics about alienation in a relationship.
Nicely, Tori doesnt rest on any ballad laurels, and ups the tempo on bouncy, lighter numbers such as the music-hall, jaunty Happy Phantom and jazzy Leather, which sound a little more uplifting despite their somewhat morose lyrical content (its quite telling that the happiest song involves Tori imagining shes dead!) Precious Things is another stunning highlight, an intriguing breathy effect giving way to a frightened, high-pitched piano line that rains down supported by a rich full band background. Toris lyrics are at her most ascorbic on lines like So you can make me c*m, it doesnt make you Jesus as she fantasises about smash[ing] the faces of those beautiful boys, those Christian boys. Its amazing stuff emotionally cathartic and personal, yet framed within a memorable and accessible song structure. Tear In Your Hand is another enjoyable full-group recording, while the title track closes things out as a seven-minute epic filled with strange pounding percussion and an almost mantra-like chant of Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again.
The only songs that misfire on this album for me are Mother and Me and a Gun. The former is a seven-minute piano and vocal piece, which begins strongly but ultimately suffers from a lack of structure, dragging on and on with no development; while the latter is almost too much to bear. Its a chilling a-cappella rape soliloquy that is unflinching in its relentlessness, and with no music to hide behind, the brutal message is forced unbearably into your face. Its a truly bold move and one I do respect, although I will probably never listen to it again I like my emotional torture with a little bit of musical Prozac to ease it down, thank you muchly.
However, overall we have twelve tracks, all respectable, ten good and worth many, many repeat plays. That makes for a stunning arrival if youre going to buy any female singer-songwriter album, make it this one.
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