With 2002’s Scarlet’s Walk, Tori Amos calms down. She’s still plenty freaky, reveling in character and indulging her wordplay and imagery with a preciousness that’s pure Tori, but she’s also streamlining her music. The avant-garde twists of Boys For Pele, the rock-aggression of From the Choirgirl Hotel, the eclectic and varied approach of the cover tune collection Strange Little Girls, and her always present piano ballads are thrown together to meld as one. From the gorgeous, ultimately catchy, opener “Amber Waves,” Amos is on a journey through America to find herself. However, while her music has a clear determination here to resolve itself on addictive melodies, Amos is content to observe and detail the journey with her various voices exploring the edges. She can purr (“Crazy”), she can rage (“Taxi Ride”), and she can write a pop song (“A Sorta Fairytale”) all without losing herself. She can be elliptical on her piano (“Wednesday”), dark and funky with her rhythm section (“Don’t Make Me Come to Vegas”), or ethereal (“Pancake”), reflecting on everything from Led Zeppelin to Joni Mitchell while remaining clearly Tori.Tracklist:
01 Amber Waves
02 A Sorta Fairytale
03 Wednesday
04 Strange
05 Carbon
06 Crazy
07 Wampum Prayer
08 Don't Make Me Come to Vegas
09 Sweet Sangria
10 Your Cloud
11 Pancake
12 I Can’t See New York
13 Mrs. Jesus
14 Taxi Ride
15 Another Girl's Paradise
16 Scarlet’s Walk
17 Virginia
18 Gold Dust
