Product Description

With her abstract lyrics, idiosyncratic piano playing and quirky arrangements, Amos has rewritten a good deal of the post-Laura Nyro poet-gal-with-a-piano rule book since 1992's LITTLE EARTHQUAKES. As her legions of fans can attest, she's already made it plain that she can do the intellectual artiste thing with aplomb. What she proves on FROM THE CHOIRGIRL HOTEL is that she can also rock out with the best of them.
This recording finds her retreating a bit from the singer/songwriter-with-backing-band approach of her previous recordings in favour of a more band-oriented approach. Though the songcraft here is up to her usual standards, many of the tunes sound as if they were the product of Amos working closelywith her musicians and feeding off their inspiration, rather than cloistering herself away with her diary and piano. Itis this development that makes CHOIRGIRL HOTEL such a refreshing change of pace, and marks the next chapter in the continuing evolution of Tori Amos.

Track Listing

1. Spark
2. Cruel
3. Black-Dove (January)
4. Raspberry Swirl
5. Jackie's Strength
6. Iieee
7. Liquid Diamonds
8. She's Your Cocaine
9. Northern Lad
10. Hotel
11. Playboy Mommy
12. Pandora's Aquarium

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25072 in Music
• Released on: 1998-05-04
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
For Tori Amos, sex can be a weapon, a spiritual offering, or an act of protest. It's certainly been the singer/pianist's big subject since her 1989 debut Little Earthquakes. But while her earliest compositions tried to punch every emotional hot button at once and came off sounding turgid and overblown, her new album packs a greater punch by toning down mock-symphonic excess in favour of stark, haunting tracks that contain veiled mysteries. Love cuts both ways on Choirgirl. Songs such as "She's Your Cocaine" and "Cruel" view relationships as vicious power plays, while the protagonists in "Playboy Mommy" and "Northern Lad" desperately seek salvation via emotional connection. Hypnotic, affecting, and frequently gorgeous, From the Choirgirl Hotel is Amos's most accomplished album to date. --Marc Weingarten

Customer Reviews

Tori's best album since 'Little Earthquakes'!
In her first three albums, Tori Amos perfected a dramatic- if inherently limited- sound based around her soaring vocals and piano. There was always the question of whether her music could evolve and if she could ever get a really good band behind her. Also, on the back of the hit remix of 'Professional Widow' (and the unsuccessful remix of 'God' a few years earlier') it seemed entirely possible that Tori could become something of a dance diva! 'From The Choirgirl Hotel' proved that BOTH were possible as Tori reinvented and reinvigorated her music with one of her greatest albums.
The opener `Spark' is arguably the single most powerful and dynamic song Tori has ever produced. This song REALLY rocks and as it builds it is truly thrilling. The subject matter is however, heartbreaking. This is about a miscarriage and the refrain of " You say you don't want it-again and again but you know you don't really mean it" becomes more poignant with each repetition. `Cruel' is both sexy and nasty and has a dark dance groove. `Raspberry Swirl' is one hell of a rude dance track - " If you want inside the well, boy you better make her raspberry swirl" only means ONE THING as far as this fan is concerned! `Black Dove' and `Jackie's Strength' are more conventional Tori but both work well and are in welcome contrast to the more experimental tracks around them.
`i i e e' is a great trance track with multitracked harmonies and an upper range vocal part that is really effective. I can't claim to have the slightest idea what the song is about though! `Liquid Diamonds' is a classic style song given a dusting off with the energised sound of Tori's backing band. `She's Your Cocaine' sounds like a deliberate attempt to write a song akin to the `Professional Widow' remix. It's a spectacular and witty success!
`Northern Lad' is a bittersweet ballad about a failed relationship that features a powerful and wide ranging vocal. `Playboy Mummy' is a return to the subject of miscarriage, in a more restrained manner that is still just as evocative as `Spark'.
`From The Choirgirl Hotel' is arguably the bravest album of Tori's career. In reinventing her style she risked losing her fan base in the act of trying to expand it - but instead she produced her best album since `Little Earthquakes'; one which every Tori Amos fan should own.

Dark, emotional music with depth . . . absolutely divine
While BOYS FOR PELE is a strange, difficult album to get into, FROM THE CHOIRGIRL HOTEL is perhaps one of her saddest releases. As fans will know, Tori had suffered miscarriages before the release of this album, and this sadness is something that she certainly faces through her music. But, although the songs may be sad, they remain to be beautiful.

"Spark" is probably the best known single from this album. I bought it when it originally came out, even though I didn't buy anything else by Tori afterwards.
"Cruel" is perhaps my favourite track. Tori's voice is amazing and the music is brilliant. Strange and yet compelling, there is a real dark essence to this track. And her line, "I can be cruel, I don't know why" is just fantastic - when you put it with the music, it turns into something that you won't easily forget.
"Black Dove (January)" is a great track. Another great example of her ability to throw out some amazing ballads.
"Northern Lad" almost takes us back to her debut, LITTLE EARTHQUAKES. The song sounds more stripped down than the others, not so dark as some others here.

In my opinion, this album shows that Tori is a great singer / songwriter. She has heaps of originality, not afraid to experiment and explore deep, difficult personal issues. Any lover of true music should enjoy this.

Arguably Tori's best album
Most of Tori's hardcore fans will agree this album represents her best work. How anyone could not enjoy this startling piece of music is beyond me.

Written during a dark time in her life, after her miscarriage, a lot of the lyrics touch on it, in particular the two songs "Spark" and "Playboy Mommy" explicitly referencing it (Tori has stated many a time it is a song about her miscarriage) with such heartbreaking lyrics as 'She's convinced she could hold back a glacier, but she couldn't keep baby alive', and 'Don't judge me so harsh little girl, so you got a playboy mommy' (the 'playboy' does NOT allude to prostitution or anything like that, it is simply a metaphor for feeling inadequate, and not good enough, because she was unable to give birth to her child.)
It's a dark, dark album. "Black Dove (January)" and "Liquid Diamonds" are two pieces of genius which take a while to get into but once you're into them, you are completely stunned by the brilliant lyrics and overlapping, complex melodies.
"Northern Lad" is probably my favourite on the album, yearning for a long-lost love, it's Tori's tale of heartbreak and she does it stunningly. "Jackie's Strength" is a beautiful song, also.
The album has it's lighter moments, too. "Raspberry Swirl" is fun and dancy. "Cruel" is one of the standout tracks on the album also, very catchy. "She's Your Cocaine" is also pretty wonderful.
The theme of water runs throughout the album, and somehow the melodies and the way the piano and her vocals flow seem to capture this. The artwork also matches the feel of the album.

I could go on for hours about how wonderful this album is. All I will say to finish is that if you are a fan of music, I do not understand how you could not enjoy this.