A review of Tales Of A Librarian has been posted to the January 15-January 21, 2004 edition of The Fulcrum Online at thefulcrum.com.
More Details
Thanks to Christoff for telling me about this. You can read the review online at thefulcrum.com or below:
CD Reviews
by Cara Hill & Drew Gough
Tori Amos
Tales of a Librarian
UNLIKE MANY "GREATEST Hits" compilations, Tori Amos' Tales of a Librarian does not come across as a cop-out in the face of a lack of new material, but rather as a personal revisitation to beloved aspects of a long-running career. Described in her own words as a "musical autobiography", Tales of a Librarian features 20 songs taken from her seven prior albums, all of which were personally enhanced to appear on Tales.
Set up to span sections in a library, the album includes such memorable tracks as "Crucify" (230 Christianity and Christian theology, 234 Salvation and Grace), "Silent All These Years" (410 Linguistics, 414 Phonology), and "Playboy Mommy" (610 Medicine and Health, 618 Miscarriage).
With these overt references to the subject matter of each song, not only does the album provide the type of musical learning experience that only Tori Amos is capable of delivering, but it also allows for a window into the mind and thoughts of a very private artist.
Also included in the "collection" is a DVD featuring live performances, additional audio tracks, and a photo gallery. The great thing about the DVD is that both the performances and audio tracks present songs that do not appear on the CD (with the exception of "Mr. Zebra", which appears on both). The DVD also provides an additional "glimpse" into the artist, as the performances are taken from her sound check, and depict Tori playing to an empty arena.
As is often the case with this type of album, if you already own her previous efforts, the CD alone-aside from the remastering of each of the tracks-offers nothing new. However, if you are a die-hard Tori Amos fan, do not let a little repetition deter you; the DVD, although not an extensive feature, is enough of a justification to purchase this album. -CH
