From: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org (precious-things-digest) To: precious-things-digest@smoe.org Subject: precious-things-digest V3 #162 Reply-To: precious-things@smoe.org Sender: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "precious-things-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. precious-things-digest Saturday, May 2 1998 Volume 03 : Number 162 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Chicago, IL 4/30/98 at the Park West Review and Story [A Faerie ] Stickered Hotel... [Quinn024 ] Tori and all this Grand Stuff... [Quinn024 ] Boston Show and Lilith Fair ["Tuan N. Pham" ] ONE more thing [jls7@monadnock.keene.edu (Jenn)] Re: tori to play for free in cali - some US tour dates announced - mtv feature [Nadyne Mielke ] regarding the bad review reactions.... [Toiletbag ] Chicago Show Stuff Up! [AKlink8489 ] 'Amos Is Dandy' [Butterfly Angel ] NME Review - Choirgirl ["The Kickass Angel" ] Crossroads & Belgian mag [Marcel Rijs ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 00:16:41 -0500 From: A Faerie Subject: Chicago, IL 4/30/98 at the Park West Review and Story Hey Everyone! I hope this comes out looking alright, as I pasted it from Word so i could cut down on *some* of the typos I've made. Chicago, IL 4/30/98 at the Park West Alright, for those of you that don^Òt want to hear long stories/reviews of the club tour experiences, go ahead and delete this post now! :P I had a very wonderful/stressful at times experience and even though Mikewhy was there with me, I told him that I^Òd transcribe the comments during this show for the review, so here I am. I^Òm also including a story that prolly isn^Òt very relevant except to demonstrate how incredibly wonderful the Toriphiles at the Park West were^Å.read on to find out. I have just a few things to say before I get into the actual club stuff. I was basically hanging out with Mikewhy for the last 3 days..he is a great guy and SO dedicated to the Dent, he was up all night with only 30 minutes sleep before we headed out to Chicago at 4:30am updating his site! How^Òs that for dedication? Ok, I shan^Òt make Mike blush anymore (grin). Oh yeah, and please forgive any typos, because im extremely tired, I^Òve been in cars on the road for a total of 10 hours today. Mike, Stacey and I got to West Park in Chicago about 11:30 am and there was already a line there, but not too bad. Meeting everyone that I^Òd been emailing and people that visit my site was just incredible. Everyone was so completely great and nice! During the duration of waiting in the rain and bloody cold Chicago weather (brrrrrr!!) I started to get anxious when the girl and guy that had mine and Clarissa^Òs (another toriphile there that had followed us up to Chicago from middle Indiana) ^Ñtickets^Ò hadn^Òt show up. We were getting worried, and hoped that nothing bad had happened. In the mean time, the meet and greet happened, and I didn^Òt get to meet or take pics of Tori, but I saw her from across the street, which suited me fine. The amount of fans at the Park West was huge! She looked lovely as ever. One Toriphile, Amber gave Tori a card that the internet Tori fans had signed and contributed money to RAINN on, and she said that Tori had tears in her eyes when it was given to her. Along with that Amber graciously gave Tori something for me. After that Clarissa^Òs fiance started to walk the enormous line up and down the Park West looking for out voucher holders (whom will remain nameless for now), holding up a sign, and talking to people and telling them how far we had traveled and the situation. Around 4:30 Mikewhy had talked to someone else about this situation also, and they found 1 ticket. Problem was there were 2 of us. So since Clarissa hadn^Òt ever seen Tori live, I told her to take the ticket, cause I wanted her to see Tori. She popped in line with that voucher holder and the search continued. All this was done just in case my voucher holder didn^Òt show up for one reason or another. About 45 minutes before we got to go into the venue, Ami and Lance showed up (my voucher holders!!)!! They had terrible traffic problems and that was why they were so late. I was so so happy to see them, and glad to know that they weren^Òt in any bad situations, like accidents and so forth. Clarissa^Òs fiancée and I walked down the line to tell Clarissa that they had shown up, when a huge amount of the people in line started to ask if the voucher holders had shown up. Brian told them yes and they cheered! Then they said, ^ÓDoes the Nashville girl get to go to the show?^Ô And since I was standing right there, I told them yes, and that it was me they were asking about, and they all cheered in this HUGE uproar. Something so simple as cheering touched me so much. These strangers were applauding for someone they didn^Òt know, and it was so sweet, I had tears in my eyes. The Toriphile at the park West were absolutely wonderful! So we all got in and went straight to the balcony. The Park West (this was my first to trip there, and to Chicago period) was really nice inside. Kinda like a bit bigger lounge area. I seriously doubt that anyone had a bad experience there, cause everything was laid back to me. No pushing and shoving inside or anything. Anyhow, so we all sat up on the balcony and had a PERFECT unobstructed view of the stage. We were just diagonal from the soundboard where Mark was. Caton was up on the balcony before the show, talking to some people and such, just walking casually around. Poe came on stage (I wont discuss this because shamefully, I fell asleep because I was exhausted) and left after his set. What I did see of it, I thought that the people were nicer to him than I had previously heard from in other posts of the other club shows. We waited very anxiously and then the lights went out. The band took the stage and began to play. Tori them came out and looked radiant! She started dancing a bit right off, then leaned down and touched hands with some of the crowd. The lights shinned on her and she started to play, opening with^Å(of course) Black Dove (January). Followed by that was iieee, which was brilliant! Precious Things was next, and after hearing it from the previous concerts, seeing it live was just indescribable, really. Tori and the band were so into the whole show, and having such a great time jamming and playing, you could really tell by the smiles Tori was flashing and her dancing in a lot of the songs. After Precious Things, she said hi to the crowd (forgive me for this part of the transcription, the crowd was a bit loud at this point and I can^Òt pick some of her words out) and said, ^ÓOh my, we love being here. I played here a few years ago^Åit^Òs one of my favourite places. And Uh, I knew it was going out on the radio tonite, and I was going to be really nervous^Å.my shoes are purple but they turned yellow!^Ô. She then introduced the band ending it with ^ÓI think you^Òll recognize this one^Ô then went into playing Spark which had a nice longer intro to it. Cruel was played next. I think that this is my favourite song on the new album so far and live it was just beautiful. Liquid Diamonds followed. The lights came back up and Tori said, ^ÓOk, so you all have been really really wonderful, and um^ÅI^Òm changing the set now. I don^Òt always do this but, I^Òm changing everything now! So^ÅI^Òm just in the mood to do this now. Caton, you^Òll catch up, Matt, let^Òs just go^Ô. And they play Tear in Your Hand beautifully! Before the next song, Tori breathes heavily in response to the crowds cheers and something about lip gloss (sorry! I missed that part a bit) then goes to say (about the lip gloss) ^Óyou know that^Òs my addiction, don^Òt you?^Ô Then one thing of lipstick flies through the air and hits the stage. Tori says ^Óohhhh whoa wait wait wait^Ô and gets up to look for it. She comes back a few seconds later, ^ÓI can^Òt find it! Wait, I^Òll get some^Ô then people throw about 8 tubes of lip gloss at Tori, and I think that one of them hit her! (rude if you ask me, but I won^Òt get into that even though flying lip gloss could be dangerous :P) She caught one and says thank you, then puts some on, breathes heavily in the mic then says, ^ÓI feel so much better now, you know^Å.someone mentioned this to me the other day^Å(about her heavy breathing)^Åthey said ^Ñyou have a real problem with that ya know^Ò I said ^Ñ a problem with what?^Ò ^Ñyou do that every ten seconds!^Ò..I said ^Ó Moist, is the key sweetie. I will negotiate a deal with any of you in the world^ÅI LOVE negotiating deals^Å.but I^Òve GOT to have my lip gloss. Ok, this is secret time as some of you know, and um^Å.well, I know that^Å Mmmwahh back^Ô, then plays Silent All These Years. Icicle follows, and in the middle she stops singing and says, ^ÓSo I know, that you know this bit^Å..but I have a friend here, that^Òs never ever been to a concert before. No, she was a bridesmaid at my wedding. So, she doesn^Òt know these words, so help her ok? She needs to hear you alright?^Ô, then the crowd helps her sing part of Icicle, it was really great and Tori seemed to love it. Tori jams a bit on the piano while the rest of the band comes back out on stage to do the Twilight Mix (the version on the RAINN promo CD) of Putting the Damage On. They immediately go into a new version of Horses, which blew me away. I hardly knew what it was till Tori started to sing the words. A very dark version of it, which gave me the goose bumps! After that they played Northern Lad (beautiful!!). Following that Tori says, ^Ó you guys have been so great listening to all this new material, we^Òll be back in the summer. Hey, alright, we^Òll see you then^Ô, and goes into the awesome version of The Waitress. I really think that I like this version better. Its sooooo groovy and it just pulls you in with all the instruments. Tori takes a bow and they all leave the stage. The first encore song was She^Òs Your Cocaine, followed by a kickass, much better live than the prerecorded tracks on the 94 tour, of God. At the end Tori sings ^ÓYou dropped the bomb on me, Jesus^Ô over and over again! They left the stage again, coming out for the final song Tori says, ^Óok, so we^Òve never done this before, this is out first one together. We^Òve done this before , but we^Òve never done this before ^Ô, then goes into Cornflake Girl. They end the show with a group bow in front of the stage, and that^Òs the show! Tori was in superb spirits last night, and then guys in the band were really groovin and getting into it all. There was a lot of smiling from the whole band and Tori, and the energy level was impeccable. Some points during the show I looked over and Mark was doing a bit of dancing on his own, which was incredibly cute! Not even 5 minutes after the show had ended Caton was back up on our side of the balcony, and all of us internet chicago go^Òers congratulated him and shook his hand, telling him what we liked in the show. Caton was very very nice, and looked great. He was very pleased with the show and was more than willing to talk to us after a great performance. I just can^Òt say enough nice things about the new material live and the older material that has been formatted differently. I don^Òt have one bad word to say about it, it^Òs the best Tori show that I^Òve ever seen. Take care, Danica - -- http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/5612/torimp3.html - - Tori Amos: A Realm of Mp3's Website ....Make me laugh, say you know...what you want http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/5612/glittermain.html All That Glitters....Is Sour (my homepage) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 01:19:39 -0400 From: jls7@monadnock.keene.edu (Jenn) Subject: OK tons of info etc Just bare with me please :) * I'm still looking for any copies of any of the club shows preferably the Boston one since that the one I attended and it was the very first time I ever saw tori in real life, I have pics from meets and greets to trade.... ;) * I need the info of how to unsubscirbe to RDT, Precious thoughts, and Quote of the day... this saddens me very much because I will be missing out on sooo many goodies, but I must go home, where I won't be hooked up to the net :(**I'm looking for someone who is willing to somehow possibly keep me updated of the MAJOR late breaking new tidbits... if your interested please e-mail me :) * Are tickets for tori's full throttled US tour definately going on sale through ticketmaster??? * some sad news.. I am part of the radio station WKNH here at college, and we just got the tori CD in.. I can't borrow it till sunday but believe me you'll hear about it then.. also some guy at Atlantic keeps calling our music director saying not to play it till the 11th because they might push back the release date because of shipping problems or something ( sob, sob) * good new is Atlantic is mailing out extra copies, and I Jennifer gets on yipppeeee!! * thats about it, but people are going to kill me for this.. I have 4 pavillion tics for Pearl Jam at great Woods, in MA on Sept 15th.. interested e-mail me... (sorry tori fans..... :( please forgive me) thank you.... for you patience.. any replies to any of this please reply to me privately unless you think it will benefit the mailing list ;) - -Jenn :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Once you get to know sad... she's got some sweet little dresses, you know?" - -Tori Amos - -Spin, 1994 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "boy you better make her raspberry swirl.. things are getting desperate when all the boys can't be men" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 01:16:58 -0500 From: bachelorette Subject: Re: Tori dates! i'm hoping to do basically the exact same thing, so if you wanna send that info my way too it'd be appreciated.. ana drive from minneapolis to chicago, and before >that to milwaukee... i called ticketmaster and they said they knew nothing >about the milwaukee and minneapolis shows (when theyd go on sale) if anyone >can tell me dates and stuff, that'd be great (: >i'm so excited for a tour that we all can see !! > blue skies are in my head http://www.overlap.org is currently mirrored at http://spice.mhv.net/~anabug/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 05:38:01 EDT From: Quinn024 Subject: Stickered Hotel... Hey- On the Choirgirl CD, well at least on the promo that I am looking at right now, there is a sticker that says: includes Spark Jackie's Strength Playboy Mommy 83095 - 2/4 Are these the singles, anyone think?? Tori said on 1515 that there was gonna be a Hotel video and single I assume, right?? I know that there will be a Jackie's Strength single, listening to the song it sounds like it would make a great single. What about Rasberry Swirl?? I heard that was to be a single and I've never heard anything about Playboy Mommy - though it would make a great single - honestly they all would (with the exception of Pandora's Aquarium, probably.)... We;; any thought why they picked those four songs to highlight?? Peace, NeilQuinn ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 05:07:23 EDT From: Quinn024 Subject: Tori and all this Grand Stuff... Hey- Where to begin, where to begin... Well I'll start here - I love Tori and I love life... I went to this exculsive CD listening party last night in Denver for Tori's new album and I was so excited - I just loved it and now I am sitting here listening to it, holding it in my hands - life is just being good to me. It really is a fantastic album. I am just amazed by it. I'm going to have like three or four copies pretty soon with all the give away stuffs and preorders, it's all so crazy. So anyway - Now I hear she's coming to Red Rocks which in my opinion is the greatest concert venue in the World. I can not wait for that. Red Rocks is mostly general admission - there is a small reserved section but often the GA seats are better. It seats 11,000 so, Warren, that is why she will just play one night here. I will be buying a slew of tix the day they go on sale but if I can I'll buy tix for anyone who needs them from out of state. What else, what else... Maybe that's it. The album is so good and this tour will be great and life, well life is just peachy. See you all at Red Rocks!! Whoop!! Peace, NeilQuinn ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 10:29:54 -0400 From: "Tuan N. Pham" Subject: Boston Show and Lilith Fair I know it's all old news, but I was at the meet and greet in Boston. I was the fool running around with a video camera. Well, I just want to tell everyone this because I'm going to be soon posting that whole video to the net. At least 30 seconds of it at least. The shots came out fairly decent and when she waved to the crowd, she was directly in front of my camera, and I got a perfect shot. I'll keep everyone posted on this. Also, I have two tickets for the Lilith Fair at Great Woods. I'm looking for two tickets for the 8-11 show because I just want to see Natalie Merchant. The seats are Section 4 Row G Seats 22-23. If someone wants to trade with me, email me back as soon as possible. I'm looking for an actual seat, not lawn seats. Tuan Pham tpham@tiac.net ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 01:47:30 -0400 From: jls7@monadnock.keene.edu (Jenn) Subject: ONE more thing you can stop voting for tori for PEOPLES 50 most beautiful people, the issue is out and not only is she not in it... but the review for her album is... and it is a bad one :( a nice pic though here's the review..... "some talking points for parents of teenage Amos fans : As always avoid further alienation by emphasizing the positive. In conversations with your child, note Amos's accomplished musicianship, her years of classical training, her soaring soprano, the complex structure of her songs. No need to mention that you find her musci repetitive, boring, and in dire need of a backbeat. Pretend you can't understand everything Amos says-she slurs most of the bad words anyway-and if you happen to read the lyric sheet, shun sarcastic remarks about phrases like "lollipop gestapo" and "icecream assassin" discuss less obscure songs on this CD like "Jackie's Strenght" It includes a line about "lunch boxes worshiping David Cassidy" a perfect opening for an anecdote or two about pop stars in your day. Or "Playboy Mommy" which actually has a story to tell. Above all, be convincing. The more you pretend to like this album, the less your kids will want to listen to it. Bottom line: A mess; don't linger here for long" I won't say anymore..... - -Jenn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Once you get to know sad... she's got some sweet little dresses, you know?" - -Tori Amos - -Spin, 1994 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "boy you better make her raspberry swirl.. things are getting desperate when all the boys can't be men" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 10:29:41 -0400 From: Nadyne Mielke Subject: Re: tori to play for free in cali - some US tour dates announced - mtv feature At 08:27 PM 5/1/98 -0400, HappyFantom wrote: >I have a question. Does any recall tori saying that she would do the 200 >show thing again? I thought i did, but perhaps i didnt. When I saw her in Ft Lauderdale, I got the chance to talk to Joel. He said that they were planning on another 200 shows like the last tour. >As im sure all the >detroit ewfs have seen from below, she is playing the palace. that is the >biggest venue in michigan. it is where the Detroit Pistions play >basketball. MAybe she is doing really big venues and then will return to >medium sized venues later on the tour? sorry that this isnt really news, >but someone could reply privately with any info it would be greatly >appreciated. thanks:) Beyond the announced tour dates, I doubt anyone knows anything. I personally am -very- disappointed that Tori's playing at Chastain Park here in Atlanta {IMHO, the absolute shittiest venue with the absolute shittiest audience on the face of the planet}, and hope that she comes back around and hits a better place {the Fox Theatre!}. - -*- And folks, for those asking "but what about my city?", just wait a little bit. These are only preliminary dates, and there are some huge holes in the schedule as it stands now. We'll see announcements of more cities as we get closer to the summer. With 200 dates, she's bound to come somewhere close to where you live. It does no good to clutter up the various lists with questions that no one {besides Tori and her tour manager} can answer. Just wait for the announcements, no one has any info beyond that. /nad ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 14:05:11 +0200 From: Dennis Snelders Subject: My personal review of From the Choirgirl Hotel Yo: Here^Òs my personal review of tori amos^Ò newest album "From the Choirlgirl Hotel" which was released in my country (holland) may 1st. A description of each of the songs along with my opinion: 1. Spark I^Òm not going to describe this song because y^Òall know it already. But I^Òll give you my opinion instead: It^Òs not one of my favourites, probably because of the distorted vocals. I do like the chorus though, and the part with the piano solo. I like this one better when it^Òs done live, Tori seems to play it live with much more passion. 2. Cruel I love the instruments on this track. It has some kind of mysterious atmosphere, especially in the chorus, when she sings "I can be cruel^Å but I don^Òt know why^Å" The track has a really relaxed beat and sometimes a xylophone comes in, which is a really strange but wonderful ^Ñfinishing touch^Ò. 3. Black-Dove (January) This song starts with a really dull piano (I^Òm not sure dull is the right word but you^Òll know what I mean) which sounds very much like ^ÑBells for Her^Ò. I^Òm sure they did something to the piano that gave it this unique sound. Then, after a slow intro, the other instruments come in and she sings a really loud ^Ñon the other side of the galaxy^Å^Ò Then after that some of the instruments remain in the background along with the piano. I read a review of the album in a Dutch magazine, and the reviewer thought this was the best song on the album. I don^Òt totally agree on that, but I do think it^Òs a quite good song. 4. Raspberry Swirl As a song, I don^Òt really dislike this one, it has a really positive up-tempo beat. BUT: as a Tori song, I do dislike it. It just isn^Òt Tori! The piano going wild is quite cool though. 5. Jackie^Òs Strength Not a difficult song to love, this is typical Tori. Beautiful piano tones with a complex string arrangement in the background. Definitely one of my favourites on the album. 6. i i e e e First, a somewhat eerie intro and then suddenly the music stops, and Tori starts singing ^ÑWhich your E^Òs and your ease and I do one more^Å^Ò the music only comes back on the word ^Ñmore^Ò and this just give me the chills. In the background, I first didn^Òt notice it - are strings again, which really sound wonderful. But at a certain point, the music becomes really ugly, much too hard in my opinion. Fortunately this ugly part doesn^Òt last too long so it^Òs a great song after all. 7. Liquid Diamonds This song lasts for more than 6 minutes but it seems to be much shorter, I can^Òt explain why but everytime I listen to it I feel like ^Ñwhat? Has it finished already?^Ò I truly adore the piano in this track, really relaxing and it matches the other instruments perfectly, especially in the beginning. No fast parts in this one, the atmosphere stays pretty much the same. A typical Tori song lyrically, this is also one of my favourites. 8. She^Òs Your Cocain Another up-tempo song, this one sounds really positive and cheery. It^Òs not a typical Tori song and I^Òve heard better ones, but it^Òs quite cool. The end is quite funny, the music stops all of a sudden and then tori says : "Cut it again!" She sounds like Jewel sometimes in this song^ÅEspecially at 2:28.. 9. Northern lad My favourite! I love it! I love it! It sounds pretty much like Hey Jupiter, especially at the end. When she sings ^Ñwhen you^Òre only wet because of the rain^Ò repetitively, I really get the feeling that this is what I spent my 40 guilders on. In my opinion, thise is one of the best songs Tori has ever recorded, so beautiful, so sad, so^Å. yummy. 10. Hotel Wow. By far, this is the most remarkable and original song on the album. I^Òm not going to say much about it, because I think you just have to experience this one. You^Òll know what I mean when you hear it. I^Òve never heard something like this before, it^Òs amazing. My second favourite. 11. Playboy Mommy My third favourite, (she has the order right!) this is lyrically a typical Tori song. If you^Òd only look at the title, you^Òd know straight ahead that it couldn^Òt possibly be a Michael Jackson song, this can only be Tori! I love the strange instruments at the beginning and the chorus. 12. Pandora^Òs Aquarium Something that immediatly struck me was the word Persephone in the lyrics. (I^Òm obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology) Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain. She was captured by Hades, god of the underworld, though, and Demeter could only see her in the spring and in the summer. When she was separated from her daughter, she neglected her tasks. (which was take care of the harvest). I^Òm not quite sure why I told all this, but I^Òm sure it can help interpreting the song. It has a typical tori piano only intro, but as the song progresses more instruments join in. Another beautiful one. My overall opinion: This album is great! Tori did it again. I think it^Òs too early to say if it^Òs tori^Òs best one so far or not, but it definitely comes close to that. I hope you enjoyed this review and I^Òm looking forward to read lots of reviews from you guys. CU - -- Dennis Snelders e-mail: dsnelders@geocities.com Dutch Tori Amos page 'Little Amsterdam': http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/lot/1017/littleamsterdam.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 16:18:34 +0200 From: sabrina Subject: New Tori article The German record chain WOM (World of Music) has a respective magazine, and in the May issue, there's a one page pic of Tori, along with an article. The great thing is, this magazine is free. Anyhow, I took the liberty of translating this, the best I could. It took me ages, so enjoy! - ---------------------------------------- Happy panting from Cornwall After "Boys For Pele", with which Tori Amos dealt with a failed relationship, her follow-up "From the Choirgirl Hotel" is a much more optimistic album. Yet during this conversation full of intensive insights into her own world, the 34-year-old shows us that she had to work through some of the most painful experiences of her life, for this record to come to light. "Under the Pink" was created in a hacienda in New Mexico, "Boys For Pele" in a church in the south English coast. Did you continue your liking for strange places with this record? TA: I recorded all songs in an old farmhouse in Cornwall, near the south English coast. I needed a different surrounding, because this time I had a different aim. I wanted to integrate the beat, the rhythm into my piano-playing. Until now, I had always recorded the piano and my voice first, and let the instruments find their place around them. There was no interaction. Did your relationship with the piano change with that? TA: Oh no, she (her beloved Bosey) and I have a close relationship; we are bound by a strong inner strength. Together with my drummer we turned that into a strong interaction. With the singing, piano and drums we created an intensive triangular relationship. With the new songs, I have the impression that you make your heavy breathing and sighing a trademark, just like David Coverdale. TA: I'll tell you something: In the beginning I didn't even notice that! But at some point I looked at my technician and said to him: "Oh God, this breathing is driving me crazy!" But he said: "Leave it Tori! That's how you sound". It has a lot of sex appeal TA: I think it sounds more like the panting of a water buffalo! What is the song "Spark" about? TA: Well, after the tour I noticed that I was pregnant. I was looking forward to becoming a mother, and started getting used to that idea. Then, after three months, I lost my baby. This happened around Christmas 1996. I lived through a never-ending, deep sadness, because of my loss. Which you worked through with your songs? TA: Each piece became a hiding place, because you just feel emptiness after you've had that spark of new life inside you. Although I lost my child under very painful circumstances, for one short moment I had the ability that taught me to love. That changed me forever. With that, your song "Professional Widow" experiences a painful new quality TA: With "Professional Widow" I immerged and understood that Lady Macbeth lives and breathes in me. I also know that I - like her - can be cruel. I have the strength in me, to become very angry. But as I wrote this song, I learned, that I can also find my strength in myself, instead of stealing it from someone else. In lyrics such as "iiiie" or "Spark" you have dealt with anger and sadness on a very personal level. TA: The anger lies in each of us; it just depends on how you deal with it. You have to dive into your own psyche, to find out who lives there. Most of the time, the monster that hides inside you, is the one you let loose on others. I'm not afraid of sadness. Yet even when you cry, until you can't cry anymore, you get to the point where you decide, for example, that you want to play with a drummer. Sadness lets you wear stilettos, sadness lets you dance in the moonlight. She just has dark rims around her eyes. Where do you get the strength, that lets part of your new record sound so joyous? TA: Well, I learned to cherish the wonder of life. Sure, I've always loved life, but never understood the secret of how wonderful it is. This experience has changed me forever. I had joy living again. Do you have an explanation for the discrepancy between the extremely rational lyrics and emotional music? And how do they find each other? TA: I think the interesting aspect lies in leading together music and contents. The songs developed their own character, another structure, which tells a story. This time even the rhythm takes over it's own life, all song structures behave on their own. It's actually like "Peter and the Wolf". Did you have similar problems like with "Boys For Pele" in putting down the order of the tracks? TA: No. Because this album isn't a musical journey. "Boys For Pele" was a joyride through the underworld. But this time there's no elevator going down. "From the Choirgirl Hotel" could have numerous different beginnings. We could for example start at the presidential suite and check what SHE is doing. After a while you meet all girls and receive an image of how and who they are. This time around, I just needed to decide through which door you go first. Then you can explore the hotel just the way you want. You explore the different rooms like in an Internet game? TA: Exactly! Good thought! Can I borrow that one from you? Of course! You speak of your songs in the third person, as if you're the choir-leader of real existing people. TA: Yes, because each one is a part of me. Sometimes the girls let me be part of the choir, sometimes I was just their leader. But slowly I got to know the girls. They gave me a lot of joy and hope. Soon I will go on tour with them for 9 months. Let's see how that goes. I could imagine that some fans have difficulty with the partially strange song-structures - people who still see you as the romantic "Cornflake Girl", sitting at the piano. TA: I can't think about who will accompany me on my journey. Those who want to come along are welcome. Those who want to split^Å others will take their place. I can't change what my muse and I do with each other, and I especially can't think of what the audience wants to hear. - ------------------------------------------- sabrina ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 12:12:48 EDT From: Toiletbag Subject: regarding the bad review reactions.... you guys have to understand that not everyone will love tori as much as we might. everyone has a different opinion of music, and you should learn to respect that. diversity is important. the author has a right to an opnion, just like we do.... - -marisa. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 12:18:10 EDT From: AKlink8489 Subject: Chicago Show Stuff Up! I've added the following to my web site from Thursday's Chicago Park West show: The whole story--line/meet & greet/the gift/the show/etc. Photos from the Meet & Greet Photos of the card we gave Tori--autographed The Set List Still to come: Photos of the Chicago group of fans I met & Reviews of the show from local papers. http://members.aol.com/toritour/chgostry.htm Amber "All the White Horses" http://members.aol.com/AKlink8489/index.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 10:23:40 From: Butterfly Angel Subject: 'Amos Is Dandy' (taken from the Edmonton Journal's May 2 issue..) AMOS IS DANDY by Shawn Ohler Tori Amos >From the Choirgirl Hotel (Atlantic, 54 minutes) ***1/2 A lot of people swore off Tori Amos after her last record, Boys For Pele. Noted less for it's music than it's bizarre liner art (Tori suckles baby pig, Tori genuflects on stained mattress), Boys For Pele was an over-reaching, esoteric nightmare that favoured unlistenable art over real songs. From The Choirgirl Hotel, Amos' fourth record -- fifth if you count her foray into Vixen-ish glam metal with late 80's dud Y Kant Tori Read -- is a super little comeback. With dozens of take-your-breath-away moments and coherent songs that exist on their own, Amos returns to the form of her 1991 breakthrough album, Little Earthquakes. Earthquakes and Hotel are not similar records, though. Where the former was spare and mostly piano/voice, the latter's a sonic shocker. Amos plays most of the new album with a full band. The result combines the ancient atmosphere of an old Kate Bush record -- or the new Loreena McKennit -- with a clattering, indierock sensibility. Some songs are all about groove, which has never been one of Amos's strong suits. The standout track iieee(that's right -- iieee) begins with an ethereal chant anchored by a rumblimg bass line and a sticky drum loop. Halfway through it slams into six bars that sound like they were yanked off the first Pixies record. Very cool. As always, Amos sings with a passion that's almost incendieary. And while Choirgirl's themes aren't as angry (or oblique) as Boys For Pele's, she hints at the pain of her recent miscarriage and fires away at the ghosts of some old relationships. There are some missteps here -- the choppy, electorinic Hotel, the monotonous Raspberry Swirl -- but the rest of Hotel is definetely worth checking out. OTHER CRITICS RAMBLINGS ON: *Tori Amos's From the Choirgirl Hotel "On From the Choirgirl Hotel, Amos comes clean with the rock'n'roll that's always driven her, from as far back as when she stormed out of her rehearsal room at Peabody Conservatory. Whereas 1994's Under the Pink and 1996's Boys For Pele strove to extend Amos' voice and piano foundation into different areas -- R&B and Dance -- From the choirgirl closes up shop and starts over with a live band recording." (James Hunter, Rolling Stone) Release Date: May 5 (***3 more days!!!) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 May 1998 17:47:23 +0100 From: "The Kickass Angel" Subject: NME Review - Choirgirl Taken from the NME.co.uk website... Julie =) "TORI AMOS Songs From The Choirgirl Hotel (East West) ANYONE WHO STILL TREASURES THE IDEA OF feminine mystique probably secretly regrets that the days of the ducking stool are long past. The whole concept is little more than a woolly softening of the mentality that, terrified of difference, went in for a bit of witch-burning on the village green. Nowadays, it's more socially acceptable to explain away any apparent oddity as being sweetly deranged, and, providing the person in question fits the bill, rather alluring. No wonder Tori Amos has enjoyed such great success - her eccentric mystique, together with that other supposedly female perennial, suffering, have made her a trauma poster girl, the screwed-up survivor with the sexy scars. Sure, only a fiendishly callous misanthrope would dismiss the very real, very painful events endured by Amos - not least the recent miscarriage that inspired this record - but her luxuriant soul-baring and indulgent assumptions soon grate. "You're only popular with anorexia", she sighs on 'Jackie's Strength', instantly forcing a whole world of victimhood upon the listener. Yet for all the passion, all the intensity, there's something strangely inert about 'Songs From The Choirgirl Hotel', as if all the emotion were recorded in the dead air of a lightbulb, the audience looking in through the glass, asked to admire and sympathise entirely on her terms. This is the infuriating indulgence that the confessional needs to avoid if it's not to make you take to the streets with a machete; the unbridgeable gap between Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder, Kristin Hersh and Alanis Morissette, between expecting applause for pulling out your heart and bleeding, and having the discipline to use a scalpel and a paintbrush. All of which would make 'Songs From The Choirgirl Hotel' utterly intolerable, were it not for the fact that it's often musically intriguing, a conscious effort by Amos to move away from her pianocentric horizons. The opening 'Spark' rains down in a cloud of Cocteaus-esque gloom, while the crazed 'Raspberry Swirl' is genuinely sexy, Tori convulsively growling "let's go" over a rogue-robotic pulse. Even 'Jackie's Strength', despite bringing those Giants Of Rock Mark Cohn and 10,000 Maniacs to mind, manages to be prettily affecting. Yet Amos' creative use of unpredictable rhythms comes across not so much as a new language, but as the same old language spoken by someone with a lousy grasp of syntax. At its best - on 'Iieee' and 'Cruel' - she shows the ill logic of an organic Tricky, cracking open a chilled, Martina-cool groove. At its worst, it's the self as show-and-tell, the messy splatter of 'She's Your Cocaine' or 'Liquid Diamonds' as irritating as an acid bath on sunburn. It would be easy to believe Tori, hanging from a heartstring, is just giving, giving, giving. In reality, all she does is demand. 6/10 Victoria Segal Review courtesy of NME " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...who could ever say you're not simply wonderful... ...who could ever harm you... - --Tori Amos - "Merman"-- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Apr 1998 17:55:56 +0200 From: Marcel Rijs Subject: Crossroads & Belgian mag Hi guys, It seems these days I only have questions, but here is another one: Can anyone help me find a copy of Crossroads featuring Tori with I'm on fire? I've heard it's an enhanced CD and I'd really like to have it. The Belgian magazine "Teek", issue may 1998, features an "exclusive" article on Tori Amos. If I didn't have RSI I would transcribe it, too. Hopefully someone else will, because it's an interesting article. The CD is also reviewed in the issue, BTW. Kind regards, Marcel Rijs - "Conan the Librarian" mfgr@plex.nl <--- Note the new address Go for it! The ultimate Kim Wilde Internet Experience http://kimwilde.go4it.net ------------------------------ End of precious-things-digest V3 #162 *************************************