Later-era Tori Amos has divided her feverishly-devoted fan base.
\nAfter
\nStrange Little Girls<\/i>,
\nScarlet’s Walk<\/i> was greeted by some as a glorious return to
\nthe songwriting craft of earlier (read – ‘best’) albums. Others
\nmissed the freaky elements of
\nBoys For Pele<\/i> or the studio records of
\nTo Venus And Back<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Amos’s latest album,
\nThe Beekeeper<\/i>, marks her second concept album in a row she
\nhas recorded. While
\nScarlet’s Walk<\/i> was about a journey across America,
\nThe Beekeeper<\/i> is far more abstract; dealing with hives,
\nhexagons and 19 songs, tucked into six different gardens. Take
\nthat, Yes.<\/p>\n
\nScarlet’s Walk<\/i> was a stellar album, meant to be listened to
\nas a whole. No doubt she intends you to listen to
\nThe Beekeeper<\/i> in the same fashion. However, unlike
\nWalk<\/i>, there are some tracks that are instantly
\nmemorable.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest joys of
\nThe Beekeeper<\/i> is hearing Amos loosen up. “Sweet The Sting”
\nstrays dangerous close to adult contemporary, but her quirky
\ndelivery gives it a funky edge. And while “Hoochie Woman” may scare
\nsome listeners away, it’s one of the more listenable tracks on the
\nalbum.<\/p>\n
With
\nStrange Little Girls<\/i> and
\n…from the choirgirl hotel<\/i>, the piano took a backseat to
\nother instrumentations. With
\nThe Beekeeper<\/i>, the piano returns to the forefront. If
\nthere’s an unsung hero for Amos’s albums, it’s drummer Matt
\nChamberlain. Her unmistakable voice and her virtuosic piano make it
\nnearly impossible to mistake a Tori song from another artist.
\nHowever, Chamberlain’s clean, jazzy percussion has always propelled
\nher songs and gave them a much-needed gravity. His percussion work
\nnearly steals the show in “Barons Of Suburbia.”<\/p>\n
Amos stretches your CD to its capacity with
\nThe Beekeeper<\/i>, clocking in at close to 80 minutes.
\nUnfortunately,
\nThe Beekeeper<\/i> suffers a hellishly drab middle section. Some
\nfans have endlessly pined for Amos to record another
\nLittle Earthquakes<\/i>. Ain’t gonna happen. It’s as likely as
\nLiz Phair recording another
\nExile In Guyville<\/i>. Hopefully, with time and patient ears,
\nfans will be able to weigh
\nThe Beekeeper<\/i> on its own merits and not lump it in to the
\ncategory of “Tori’s latest stuff.” Even after the third listen, the
\nsting’s getting more infectious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5650],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-38270","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-tori-amos","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38270"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}