Tori Amos

[i aint play this]

Well, as a huge Apple fan i'd say that her husky, strong voice and focused, if repetitive style appeals to me much more than Tori's not so pleasant girly croon and overall saccharine that borders on ‘’omg let’s save the snow white!!11’’ cheese (me and a gun makes me want to stab my own nutsack fyi). There are some little details and twists that make Apple’s music really great… and besides having an unique hard-hitting playing style when most of the times less = more, she works with great producers. goddamit, those orchestral parts on her songs are epic.

I cant' deny that Tori wrote some decent stuff though, and i enjoy some of her songs in moderate doses these days, unlike in the past, when i couldn’t tolerate a single song by her. Boys for pele still blows tho imo.

 

[i aint play this]

but most are, arent they? :Smug:

yeah k i'm a d-bag lolz

 

[wankerness]

Well, as a huge Apple fan i'd say that her husky, strong voice and focused, if repetitive style appeals to me much more than Tori's not so pleasant girly croon and overall saccharine that borders on ‘’omg let’s save the snow white!!11’’ cheese (me and a gun makes me want to stab my own nutsack fyi). There are some little details and twists that make Apple’s music really great… and besides having an unique hard-hitting playing style when most of the times less = more, she works with great producers. goddamit, those orchestral parts on her songs are epic.

I cant' deny that Tori wrote some decent stuff though, and i enjoy some of her songs in moderate doses these days, unlike in the past, when i couldn’t tolerate a single song by her. Boys for pele still blows tho imo.

Haha, alright, this is all valid. I like Tori Amos's voice considerably more, Fiona Apple's is like a drugged out aging lounge singer or something but yeah it's distinctive and it's not like she SUCKS it's just a matter of taste. I should probably listen to her more or something. I really can't remember any orchestrated parts at all, in fact I can't really remember ANYTHING off When the Pawn... I think Sullen Girl and The First Taste were the two I liked off of Tidal.

As for the "overly saccharine" or w/e I can see how that would apply in some cases but she does have a lot of pretty out there stuff with radically different vocal styles. Sounds like you've mainly heard the early stuff, which is much more just "girl singing dramatically with piano" than the full band and/or electric sound of her mid period stuff. The fact her songs sometimes have a fuckload going on in them and the fact she's just about the only artist of any sex in any genre that's ever had crazy shifting time sigs throughout songs without it sounding in the least bit contrived are a big part of why I think she's so worthy of respect, it satisfies the old prog nerd in me even though now I pretty much hate 99.9% of prog rock/metal >< She's really the most musically advanced artist I've ever heard that gets shoehorned into the ol "singer/songwriter" genre.

Boys for Pele is pretty shit alright, I've never made it through that entire album, it's like 5 hours long and has like 2 good songs. From the Choirgirl Hotel and To Venus and Back are the best two albums imo - there's a ton of really incredibly layered stuff on there and they're the most musically adventurous. Scarlet's Walk and Little Earthquakes are slightly more straightforward and are a very close second, but all of her LPs are pretty good besides Pele/Strange Little Girls. Oh well. I can accept your opinion, much better than utter dismissal ><

 

[i aint play this]

Haha, alright, this is all valid. I like Tori Amos's voice considerably more, Fiona Apple's is like a drugged out aging lounge singer or something but yeah it's distinctive and it's not like she SUCKS it's just a matter of taste. I should probably listen to her more or something. I really can't remember any orchestrated parts at all, in fact I can't really remember ANYTHING off When the Pawn... I think Sullen Girl and The First Taste were the two I liked off of Tidal.

As for the "overly saccharine" or w/e I can see how that would apply in some cases but she does have a lot of pretty out there stuff with radically different vocal styles. Sounds like you've mainly heard the early stuff, which is much more just "girl singing dramatically with piano" than the full band and/or electric sound of her mid period stuff. The fact her songs sometimes have a fuckload going on in them and the fact she's just about the only artist of any sex in any genre that's ever had crazy shifting time sigs throughout songs without it sounding in the least bit contrived are a big part of why I think she's so worthy of respect, it satisfies the old prog nerd in me even though now I pretty much hate 99.9% of prog rock/metal >< She's really the most musically advanced artist I've ever heard that gets shoehorned into the ol "singer/songwriter" genre.

Boys for Pele is pretty shit alright, I've never made it through that entire album, it's like 5 hours long and has like 2 good songs. From the Choirgirl Hotel and To Venus and Back are the best two albums imo - there's a ton of really incredibly layered stuff on there and they're the most musically adventurous. Scarlet's Walk and Little Earthquakes are slightly more straightforward and are a very close second, but all of her LPs are pretty good besides Pele/Strange Little Girls. Oh well. I can accept your opinion, much better than utter dismissal ><

Tori is pretty good when she writes songs in the vein of ''god'' and ''cornflake girl'', but her ballads are not my cup of tea really, and she has a such tendency to perform embarassing covers, i think i actually mentioned this earlier in this thread.
As for Fiona, the orchestral parts i was referring to is about some classically influenced arrangements here and there, more evident on stuff like ''on the bound'' i think...

btw, sleep to dream, sullen girl, never is a promise, on the bound, love ridden, the way things are, a mistake, to your love, red red red, and oh sailor are some of Fiona's standout tracks...but i love 'em all tbh

 

[worldwide_suicide]

iapt: I'm also a big fan of Fiona and I can totally agree in all your points regarding her musical strength. She is truly amazing and although I do find her voice a bit on the *quotes wankerness* drugged out aging lounge singer side, that is her specialty and I can appreciate that. As I've said before I would like to see what she's got for the future because I'm pretty sure it'll be amazing. Again, I'd like to see her experiment more with her style, that's all she needs! (and maybe some faith would do her good, ha!)

As for Tori, I have to say your fault could be ignorance (in the right and respectful meaning of the word). First time I heard her it was Crucify or Silent all these Years off Little Earthquakes and thought "meh,.. nothing too special"... Fast forward 6 years and I get to hear "Spark" and it just fucking blew me away,.. got From the Choirgirl Hotel and her back catalogue as fast as I could. I'm sure you guys can appreciate and cherish songwriters and bands that know how to evolve with time, and this is one of those who do it perfectly. None of her records sounds ANYTHING like the previous one. Let's see:

Little Earthquakes: Tori and Piano, relatively simple tunes with nice melodies, but perfeclty done. This is the style "everyone" knows.

Under the Pink: Again, Tori and Piano, but this time she goes for much much better songs and focuses on her piano and classical style from her days as the youngest person ever admitted to the Peabody conservatory -yes,she's good-. In the surface this could be called "Little EArthquakes part II", but once you go deeper into this one you'll see how different they are from each other.

Boys for Pele: A loooong album, but I find it easy to listen to. Some can't go through all of it in one listening and I can understand that. This time she's playing as much harpsichord as she's playing piano. This was a HUGE step for her evolution. I could say she got "crazier" with this one. Sometimes more than I would her to, but that's up to personal tastes.

From the Choirgirl Hotel: Now this is her first masterpiece. Fuck, this record is just ace from the first to the last note. Full of paino-electronica combo which is unbelievable good. If your definition of Tori's voice is "saccharine", give this one a spin and witness her wailing like a mad woman. Not to forget the full band kicking ass. a-we-so-me.

To Venus and Back: If FtCH was crazy and out there, this one will blow your mind. The piano is almost gone and there's layers and layers and layers of electronic sounds, synthetizers and distorted vocals. No wonder there's a song called Datura on there!

Strange Little Girls: Kind of a let down after 2 amazing albums. I've grown to appreciate her versions of these great songs (most of them). This time electronica is gone for good and instead we get a record with a very sparse production, which is the best on any Tori album I've heard. I would call this a haunting record, something about it makes me feel uncomfortable after listening to it. Although hated many, I really enjoy her cover of "raining blood", you can't blame the woman for not knowing how to turn someone else's song into her own.

Scarlet's Walk: This is her second masterpiece in my opinion. This is a concept album in the way concept albums must be done. Telling the story of how America (refered to as a whore by Tori in one interview during this time) is falling apart by using the metaphore of a romantic breakup is just mindblowing. Specially when analizing the lyrics, which are the best in tori's career by the way. No sparse production anymore and no electronica and no girl and piano. This album marked another huge step for her going for a more "adult" sound you could say. The vocal melodies on this one are honestly, the most beautiful I've heard in my entire life and the band does amazing, yet subtle things. The songs are so well-crafted you wouldn't even notice how intricate the time signatures are and how well the flow from one to the next one.

The Beekeeper: Production-wise this one is quite similar to Scarlet's Walk. Probably one of her weakest albums, there are some great songs, but there's filler that just should not be there. A very girly album that can get boring sometimes, but still there are many gems hidden here and I'v grown to really like this record when I'm in the right mood.

American Doll Posse: Another huuuge step for Tori. After a very mellow and "cute" album, tori releases this, which could be her heaviest album yet. Many, many distorted guitars, heavy drumming and pounding bass. Again, this album has some filler (that's what happens when such a prolific artist is no longer given the chance to release b-sides). Despite the filler, this album has some of Tori's best songs. This album doesn't sound anything like the previous 8 albums and it after 8 albums you can release an album that sounds nothing like the previous ones then you definitely know how to make your music evolve.

Songs you must listen to: Carbon, Code Red, Cloud on My Tongue, The Beekeeper, Winter, Lust, Hey Jupiter, Pandora's Aquarium, Spark, A Sorta Fairytale, Gold Dust, Pretty Good Year, New Age, Yes Anastasia, Little Earthquakes, Cooling, Juárez, Caught a Lite Sneeze, Parasol, Dragon, Hotel, Cornflake Girl, Father Lucifer, Jackie's Strength, Raining Blood, Mother, I Can't See New York, Virginia, and probably about 20 more!

Sorry, that was excessive haha. Tori I want royalties!!!

 

[worldwide_suicide]

btw, sleep to dream, sullen girl, never is a promise, on the bound, love ridden, the way things are, a mistake, to your love, red red red, and oh sailor are some of Fiona's standout tracks...but i love 'em all tbh

*cums* all those songs give me eargasms. seriously, fiona is a great songwriter and definitely up there with the best of the last 20 years and i still can't get past the fact that she's a very young lady.

she needs to get her shit together and come up with new songs more often (now that i care too much, but these days it's pretty easy to be forgotten if you don't release something for 3 years or more).

and i'd like to add one more thing: kill the fuckers who raped these 2 women. fucking assholes!

 

[wankerness]

Tori is pretty good when she writes songs in the vein of ''god'' and ''cornflake girl'', but her ballads are not my cup of tea really, and she has a such tendency to perform embarassing covers, i think i actually mentioned this earlier in this thread.
As for Fiona, the orchestral parts i was referring to is about some classically influenced arrangements here and there, more evident on stuff like ''on the bound'' i think...

btw, sleep to dream, sullen girl, never is a promise, on the bound, love ridden, the way things are, a mistake, to your love, red red red, and oh sailor are some of Fiona's standout tracks...but i love 'em all tbh

Alright, that kind of surprises me, those two songs were incredibly annoying to me the first bunch of times I heard them and figured they'd top your hatelist. I think you should try FtCGH and/or To Venus and Back (Studio) if you haven't heard them, if you have then I HAVE NO SUGGESTIONS. The first five or so tracks on each are all incredibly solid.

As for embarrassing covers, yes, she's done a few, but her cover of that Leonard Cohen song from the tribute album I consider on the same level as Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" one and I don't think ANY of her covers have ever appeared on an actual LP besides the aforementioned Strange Little Girls (which mostly sucks), they're just B-sides here and there and easily avoidable. I assume you're referring to like...Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Smells Like Teen Spirit, etc? There are some even more embarrassing ones out there like Living on a Prayer and whatever that TURNAROUND BRIGHT EYES super emo 80s chick ballad song is that fortunately only exist in bootleg form, too XD

Hmm, I'll get the Fiona Apple songs I don't already have and give them a listen. I WANT to like her I just don't really atm.

 

[soundave]

(me and a gun makes me want to stab my own nutsack fyi).

Same here...dear god, that has become a skip track for me....

 

[wankerness]

Same here...dear god, that has become a skip track for me....

I think it achieves its goals nicely, none of which were to be pleasant to listen to nor be a stellar bit of songwriting, it's just meant to be a graphic in your face portrayal of rape. I always skip it too, but that's partly because it actually slightly disturbs me. When you look at other females' attempts at this subject matter, like say that fucking song by OTEP or whoever that basically is a ripoff of Korn's "Daddy," it is much more effective. I think its presence also gives the "give me myself again" breakdown in the following song, the otherwise unspectacular "Little Earthquakes," a lot more gravity than it would have had otherwise.

But yeah I don't like how it sounds and it's somewhat upsetting so I skip it every time I can get to the skip track button loolz

 

[soundave]

I think it achieves its goals nicely, none of which were to be pleasant to listen to nor be a stellar bit of songwriting, it's just meant to be a graphic in your face portrayal of rape. I always skip it too, but that's partly because it actually slightly disturbs me. When you look at other females' attempts at this subject matter, like say that fucking song by OTEP or whoever that basically is a ripoff of Korn's "Daddy," it is much more effective. I think its presence also gives the "give me myself again" breakdown in the following song, the otherwise unspectacular "Little Earthquakes," a lot more gravity than it would have had otherwise.

But yeah I don't like how it sounds and it's somewhat upsetting so I skip it every time I can get to the skip track button loolz

Exactly. I don't skip it because it's bad... I skip it because it's good.

 

[worldwide_suicide]

Up to this day when I hear "me and a gun" i feel a bit of hate for humankind. So that's why I tend to skip it as well,... it just disturbs me thinking about what happened that night.

The vocal melody is gorgeous, tho.

 

[wankerness]

Bump to discuss fiona apple, I finally bought her second album cause I saw it in a used bin, and fuck if it isn't one of the best albums I've heard in ages. There's the one song that has the backing of a japanese rap song that is kind of annoying, but the rest of it is totally mind-blowingly awesome. The first song and the breakup song especially strike me as amazing, but that cover of "Around the Universe" completely destroys the original and is one of the best things I've ever heard. Goddam she is great. I'll have to give "Extraordinary Machine" a listen sometime soon, but I can't imagine it tops this. Truly great music.

I still like Tori Amos more tho

 

[i aint play this]

Bump to discuss fiona apple, I finally bought her second album cause I saw it in a used bin, and fuck if it isn't one of the best albums I've heard in ages. There's the one song that has the backing of a japanese rap song that is kind of annoying, but the rest of it is totally mind-blowingly awesome. The first song and the breakup song especially strike me as amazing, but that cover of "Around the Universe" completely destroys the original and is one of the best things I've ever heard. Goddam she is great. I'll have to give "Extraordinary Machine" a listen sometime soon, but I can't imagine it tops this. Truly great music.

I still like Tori Amos more tho

Glad you have FINALLY seen the light ffs. When the Pawn is one of my favourite albums ever by anyone, hands down.

Pay close attention to the music and you will hear many magical keyboard pieces, viola/violin arrangements, crazy ''special effects'' and everything. It's not only one of the most emotionally powerful albums ever, it's also a musically rich, layered album.

Extraordinay Machine is fantastic too, but just not as good as When the Pawn.

 

[worldwide_suicide]

^+1

when the pawn is fiona's best album, followed by extraordinary machine (oooo the title song is just brilliant!) and tidal comes last. is she releasing anything new soon? she's gotta move that lazy ass of hers... it takes too long to get a new album from her and it sucks.



tori is still the goddess. just fyi.