One of us has a confession: I only discovered Tori Amos through 100% Hits Volume 11. Thankfully, this led me to seek out more than her smash hit Cornflake Girl, and find her brilliant debut album from 1992, Little Earthquakes.
Many people feel they owe Tori Amos a lot. The internet is full of 'Tori saved my life blogs'. Everyone thinks Tori is speaking to them which is demonstrative of the power of music - to heal; to comfort; to reassure yourself you are not alone.
It is easy to over analyse the seriousness of the lyrics, which cover religion, love, rape, sex. But Tori goes from morbid to biting wit - from the opening track Crucify, "got enough guilt to start my own religion" to Silent All These Years (which has some of the best lines) "so you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts. What's so amazing about really deep thoughts? Boy you best pray that I bleed real soon. How's that thought for you?"
The production on Little Earthquakes is moody and dense. Not dissimilar to other rock albums of the time. It's not chick pop, it's not sweet. Listening to it after some years, and remembering it as an album whose principal audience was emotive girls, it's surprisingly aggressive. Tori Amos might be a chick with a great voice and a piano, but you wouldn't want to mess with her. Crucify and Precious Things are all thumping percussion, with the chorus of the latter closing with a savage, animal scream. Of course, there are the achingly beautiful piano ballads like Winter but, returning to this album, it's the force of the songs that strikes you.
Being at parties with adolescent girls who loved Tori Amos, this was their music. It was very clear that they felt boys weren't able to understand or be a part of it. Which is ok. Being a teenage girl is tough. But it was also a pity because these are really good songs and we could all find something in them. It's easy to hear why this album meant so much to so many girls. There are few coming of age albums which speak to girls with such brutal and confronting honesty. From Precious Things - "those Christian boys, so you can make me cum that doesn't make you Jesus."And from Girl - "she's been everyone else's girl maybe one day she'll be her own".
And then comes China. Which is a terrible song. Seriously it sounds like Celine Dion. But not as good.
Me and A Gun is still very uncomfortable to listen to. Nothing but her voice and her story which is heartbreaking. But it is also full of hope and resilience. "Me and a gun and a man on my back but I haven't seen Barbados so I must get our of this".
The uncomfortable silence then builds into the power of the final and title track Little Earthquakes. The drums and full reverb choir evoke images of Polynesian warriors preparing for a battle to defend their island (well, it does for us...). Tori was probably going more for a personal empowerment sort of vibe, but hey, it works.
This album is dark and evocative, but it's also light and fun. Amos has a broad imagination. Her lyrics are clever, witty, astonishing, shocking. This album more than stacks up twenty years down the track. All teenage girls and boys should still be listening to Tori Amos.
No comments:
Post a Comment