Track Listing

1. Horses
2. Blood roses
3. Father Lucifer
4. Professional widow
5. Professional widow (Amands star truck funkin mix)
6. Mr Zebra
7. Marianne
8. Caught a lite sneeze
9. Muhammad my friend
10. Hey Jupiter
11. Way down
12. Little Amsterdam
13. Talula
14. Not the Red Baron
15. Agent Orange
16. Doughnut song
17. Putting the damage on
18. Twinkle

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33738 in Music
• Released on: 1997-01-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks

CD Description
Spirituality is tangled inexorably with power and patriarchy for Tori Amos. On Amos' third solo record, the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele serves as her alter-ego, presenting a threat to Amos' ever-present, menacing father figures. On "Muhammad My Friend", she warns, "I know you've seen fire/But you've never seen fire/Until you've seen Pele blow". Amos is equally intrigued by other strong, angry females--on "Twinkle", she admires "a girl twice as hard" who reportedly killed aman.
In contrast to her words, Amos tends toward restrained, ethereal vocals; they occasionally verge on ferocity but never quite make it all the way. Her piano and harpsichordplaying is, by turns, delicate and passionate. Contrasts like those between confessional and enigmatic lyrics, and between an underlying sense of anger and a voice that holds backfrom truly expressing it, create an electric tension throughout BOYS FOR PELE.
PELE is the first record Amos has self-produced, and it branches out from her previous work, exploring more loosely structured songwriting and experimenting with the use of strings, brass and a gospel choir.

Customer Reviews

No! Do NOT get this version!
"Extra Tracks" is not true - it's actually REPLACEMENT track. And it's the worst possible replacement. Some marketing fool thought that the remix version of Professional Widow should be added after this was a dance hit. It's totally at odds with the rest of the album. Worse still, they removed In the Springtime of His Voodoo to fit the PW remix on.

This is a wonderful, 5-star album, but don't waste your money on this particular version of it. Get the real thing.

Give it time and be rewarded
This is a masterpiece. For so long, it was the only Tori album that I couldn't connect with. In fact, I never used to get more than half way with it. But one day, it just clicked with me, and now it's one of my favourite albums ever. It has touches of genius throughout, and although it may not be everyone's cup of tea, I fail to see how you couldn't love the beautiful Putting the Damage On or Marianne, or my favourite Doughnut Song.

Tori plays the harspichord with brilliance and emotion, which, believe me, is extremely hard. The experimentation with the harpsichord and also with a brass band on Putting the Damage On, work a dream.

If you have never heard Tori's work before, I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point. Her other albums are nothing like this, and it may put you off. The other danger is that you may go into this thinking that the dreadful remix of Professional Widow is the album version. Thank God this isn't the case. I think about 2 phrases of the original version were used in the remix. I don't know what possessed Tori to allow it (money I suppose!!).

Don't believe the people who say that this is a difficult album. It's genius, and well worth every hour you invest in it. It pays dividends!!

DO NOT get THIS VERSION
this message couldn't be stressed enough: get the regular version. this so-called "extra tracks" version replaces the wonderful, funky "In the Springtime of His Voodoo" with the atrocious dance remix of "Professional Widow"... you've heard it.

if you liked that remix, don't get this album. get the remix single. this album is musically sparse, lyrically abstract, dark, impressionistic pop.

the remix here sticks out like a heap of fresh elephant dung in a field of beautiful poppies.