Published on May 19, 1998
Tori Amos once said that pain was something that our generation
cherished so much that we would hunt down and kill anyone who tried
to take that pain away from us. After all, pain is Tori Amos’s
muse.
The horror and the suffering she suffered after being raped came
out on
Little Earthquakes. That groundbreaking album and
Under The Pink rang with Amos’s virtuosic piano skills as
well as her stark lyrics. Then…something happened – she broke up
with her longtime boyfriend. The result was
Boys For Pele, an ambitious album as well as a huge
departure from those two albums. As she added more musical
ornamentation (harpsichord) her lyrics became more abstract.
Bad news for those who bitched about the results of Amos’s last
venture. The accomplishments she made on
Boys For Pele are taken to a new level for her new album,
from the choirgirl hotel. It’s more dance-oriented, it’s
more accessible than either
Boys For Pele or
Under The Pink and it’s her most rockin’ album to date.
This time, the pain that Amos is reeling from stems from her
miscarriage that she suffered after the tour for
Boys For Pele was completed. She addresses this directly in
the powerful opener, “Spark”. “She’s convinced she could hold back
a glacier/but she couldn’t keep baby alive,” Amos sings in a voice
that can still feel like someone has injected ice water in your
spine.
The rest of the album is far more difficult in terms of figuring
out the meanings of the lyrics. Metaphorically, Amos is one of the
most interesting artists out there today. And
choirgirl hotel is packed with metaphors. “Ice cream
assassains”, “lover brother bogenvilla” and Amos comparing herself
to “an underwater thing” are some of the noggin’ scratchers on this
release.
Luckily,
from the choirgirl hotel is musically intriguing enough to
keep you hooked. Mellotone flutes, electric and acoustic guitar and
lavish string production are all over the album. Aside from the
Robert Plant-worshipping yells that Amos is so great at, she also
takes some lessons from PJ Harvey (“Cruel”) and dances with
electronica (“hotel” and the throbbing “She’s Your Cocaine”). All
of this may seem like blasphemy to old school Amos fans. And they
have a right to be somewhat worried; her piano playing comes
dangerously close to being drowned out by the other musical forces
on
choirgirl hotel.
But her voice is still the reason to buy her albums. And she’s
exquisite, especially on the lovely “Liquid Diamonds”. In
from the choirgirl hotel, Amos speeds into new territory. If
a glimpse of
Little Earthquakes could be seen in
Boys For Pele, it’s all but gone in this latest effort. Not
to dispute the greatness of that album. But
from the choirgirl hotel is a listen unlike anything else
you’re likely to hear this year. And that’s saying a lot given the
new releases this year by Garbage, Tricky, Hole, Liz Phair and PJ
Harvey.
Is
from the choirgirl hotel bloated? Sometimes yes. Is it
self-indulgent? Oh, hell yeah. But unlike other bloated epics,
there’s plenty of rewards awating you with each listen to
choirgirl hotel. It all depends on whether or not the
listener is willing to stay a few nights in Tori’s
hotel.