Published on Feb 18, 2005
Tori Amos’s fanbase made
Little Earthquakes and
Under The Pink breakout hits. After
Under The Pink, it seemed that Tori Amos fans would buy
anything. Most all of the Tori fans I knew had at least one bootleg
of her music; be it a concert or b-sides. However, that fanbase
actually showed some cracks and fissures after the release of
Boys For Pele.
To hardcore Tori Amos fans,
Boys For Pele was Tori Amos’s
The Wall; a gargantuan album, filled with big music and big
themes. It was a long-ass album as well. Eighteen songs and
clocking in at around 70 minutes,
Boys For Pele was Tori Amos taking the ranks among the big
boys of rock as she released her own “epic” double-album.
To other fans,
Boys For Pele was as close to a betrayal as an artist could
release to his or her fans. Gone were the stark, personable lyrics
of
Earthquakes and
Pink, replaced with hugely abstract lyrics and “what the
fuck was that?” arrangements, such as “In The Springtime Of His
Voodoo” and “Blood Roses.”
While some of the songs were “out there,” many still had vivid
images to linger in your head from the first listen. You may not
get what “Blood Roses” is about on the first or seventh listen, but
when Amos sings in a trembling voice “chickens get a taste of your
meat,” you’re stuck with that image for the rest of the night. “In
the Springtime Of His Voodoo” is a much-needed pick me up during
the last quarter of the album; after a few slow-paced songs, the
listener gets to hear one of Amos’s most erotic songs: “Got an
angry snatch / girls you know what I mean / when swivelin that hip
doesn’t do the trick / me pureed sanitarily Mr. Sulu / warp
speed.”
“Professional Widow,” “Caught A Lite Sneeze” and “Little
Amsterdam” are the most straightforward songs on the album. But if
you give
Boys For Pele a few listens, you can appreciate the
devastating effects of “Putting The Damage On” and “Muhammad My
Friend.” The only problem is that the album doesn’t sink in until
about the seventh or eighth listen; something most listeners, even
hardcore fans, may not be willing to undertake.
I will side with the hardcore Tori Amos fans who like
Boys For Pele. It’s definitely an album that’s far easier to
admire than love. Still, it was great seeing an artist like Tori
step up to the plate and try to record her big, epic, bloated album
like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd have done before her (it’s no
surprise that Led Zeppelin remains a major influence for Amos).
Still, she paid a price for
Boys For Pele: she never reachieved the sales or the
momentum of her first two albums. If
Little Earthquakes was Tori Amos’s breakthrough album and
Under The Pink represented her abilities as a musician,
Boys For Pele was the line in the sand that divided her
dedicated rank of fans.