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A review of the Fade To Red DVD collection from the Washington Blade
February 10, 2006

Updated Sat, Feb 11, 2006 - 12:31am ET

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You can read a review of the Fade To Red video collection on DVD from the February 10, 2006 issue of The Washington Blade, a gay newspaper based in Washington D.C..


More Details

You can read the review at washblade.com or below:

Amos explains it
Commentary on Tori Amos' new DVD collection proves the singer songwriter takes herself way too seriously.


By BO SHELL

If there's anything more imaginative, artistic or just plain "out there" than Tori Amos' and her music, it's her music videos. From dancing with snakes in "God," to crawling on rocks in "China," to making out with Adrien Brody in "a sorta fairytale," Amos' video collection "Fade to Red" is somehow appropriate for her image.

The two-disc DVD box set is scheduled to be released Feb. 14 and includes almost every video from the singer-songwriter's 14-year, nine-album career. The collection also provides comprehensive, if strange, audio commentary from the artist and a short film on the making of the 'a sorta fairytale' video.

For eight years after Amos first released her video catalogue on VHS in 1998, fans were clamoring for an updated collection. The long-awaited update includes the 15 videos from the first collection, plus six more recent videos, including the two from her latest album, "The Beekeeper."

Amos videos rarely make THE airwaves or the charts. Fans who never saw the videos are treated to new experiences with this release, but die-hard "Tori-philes" are sure to relish the rare commentary Amos offers for every video.

In true Amos style, the commentary is a little heady. Even after hearing the singers ramblings, common listeners and non-fanatics are still left in the dark with random references like Mary Magdalene, the Dark Prince and Anne Boleyn used to explain creative decisions.

Amos seems unable to laugh at herself or her crazy videos, and she comes off taking herself too seriously. Even true fans can look at the videos in and out of context and give them a laugh, not just because they're dated -- and some of them clearly are -- but because they're just plain freaky.

But the best videos are explained in ways never heard before. The clips that feature strong narratives, like "Jackie's Strength," "Spark" and "Past the Mission" are arguably Amos's most beautiful videos, each with audio commentary that is educational and enlightening.

Who knew Amos' mom was on the set for "Past the Mission," that the driver in "Spark" is the same as in "Jackie's Strength," or that said driver is missing half a finger?

Noticeably absent from the collection, besides the driver's fingertip, are two videos that somehow got lost in the shuffle: "Glory of the '80s" from the album "To Venus and Back" and the title track from "Strange Little Girl."

There seems to be no reason why "Glory of the 80s" didn't make the cut. Two other tracks from the album made it to the DVD, so we know it wasn't an album-specific issue, which may be the case with "Strange Little Girl," considering the album was released in the shadow of some fall out between Amos and Atlantic Records.

Also absent is Amos' video for "The Big Picture," which was recorded for the 1988 album "Why Kant Tori Read." The video would have made great fodder for the DVD collection, but it's really no surprise it doesn't appear here.

Amos distances herself from that uber-'80s era of her career, and who can blame her, but the video is priceless, and imagine the commentary (read: excuses) Amos could conjure for donning a frilly blue pirate blouse, jacked up hair and black spandex.

Fans may be surprised that a DVD collection with videos from Atlantic and Amos' new label, Epic Records, is available at all, while others are distraught over the exclusions that make the collection less complete.

With that in mind, Amos still does her followers a favor with a DVD collection that any true fan wouldn't be without.


Posted by: Mikewhy


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