Articles - June 1998

Return To The Articles IndexReturn To ToriNews


Out Magazine
June 1998
    A review of "from the choirgirl hotel" appeared in the June 1998 issue of Out Magazine (with Anne Heche on the cover.) Many thanks to Toriphile Caryn for sending this to me first.

    With her wails and whimpers, muscular piano playing, and far-out imagery, Amos has always painted vivid worlds in her songs. The full band she's now recording with gives new depth and color to her work. The use of drums, guitar, bass, and the metallic clang and hiss of electronic instrumentation both propel her songs and ground her melodramatics. The music now bends and curves with her swooping voice and hammering piano, but it's still Amos' sheer emotional power and anguish that holds it all together. Since her 1991 debut, she's been consistently challenging voice in pop music, laying the groundwork for the many women muscians who have taken over the charts. Could it be her turn now? - R.R


Danish newspaper Politiken
June 26, 1998

Evening Standard newspaper (U.K.)
June 3, 1998

OOR Magazine (Dutch)
June 13, 1998
    There was a short concert review of Tori's June 1, 1998 performance at the Pinkpop Festival in The Netherlands that appeared in the June 13, 1998 issue of the Dutch music magazine OOR. Erik van Broekhoven sent it to me. There was also a nice photo from the Festival. You can see the photo and read the review on my Pinkpop Reviews Page.


Electric City newspaper
June 25-July 1, 1998
    Toriphiles Christina Cielski, Danielle and Sean sent me a good review of "from the choirgirl hotel" that appeared in the June 25-July 1, 1998 issue of Electric City, a free alternative paper in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania.

San Diego Union-Tribune
June 25, 1998
    Tracy Yen sent me an article that appeared in the June 25, 1998 edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune in the Night & Day Section. It is an interesting article called "A bold taste of Tori would complement the Lilith fare."

The Guardian (UK) newspaper
June 27, 1998
    Boolbar sent me an article that appeared in the 27th June 1998 issue of The Guardian (UK) newspaper. The article was part of "Hard To Avoid...", which is a regular feature with a different celebrity each week. They also printed the hideous cartoon of Tori that you see to the right.

    Hard to avoid . . .
    Tori Amos

    Why spend hours reading all the celebrity interviews when the most interesting elements boil down to a few key quotes ? This week : Tori Amos, promoting her album From The Choirgirl Hotel just about everywhere.

    To Steven Daly in Rolling Stone, on people who laugh at her for believing in fairies.
    "You'll get some reporter from Vogue who doesn't know what she's talking about, who paints me as some insipid Tinker Bell character - well, Tinker Bell ain't up my Strasse, baby. I'm not some shivering waif in the forest. Sometimes I want to grab these bitches by the hair and take them to the world of faerie and say, 'Would you repeat that?'"

    To Adam Mattera in Attitude, on her dreams and nightmares.
    "Someone asked a friend of mine, 'Hey, do you and Tori wanna go see Scream2 ?,' and she said, 'fuck that, Tori lives this every night - she is Scream 2 . . .' I do have a very violent dreamworld. It's not always fun- sometimes I don't make it out of there, you know ? Like I wake up and . . . they got me !!"

    To Nigel Williamson in Uncut, on growing up a strict Christian in Baltimore, the daughter of a "controlling" Methodist minister.
    "It's made me really take issue with people telling other people what to do .. . Chrissie Hynde is a good friend but if she pushed her militant vegetarianism on me, I swear I'd eat my own arm. You don't convert people by shaming them, like the church."

    To Nigel Williamson (again) in the Sunday Times, on being raped at gun point when she was 21, a trauma she sang about in her 1991 album, Little Earthquakes.
    "After I moved to LA, I was raped. I wrote the song Me And A Gun about that, but I haven't talked to my mother or anyone about it . . .I have a shrink and I deal with it through that."

    To James Bennett in the Times, on her recent marriage to her English sound engineer, Mark Hawley, in West Wycombe.
    "I wanted the wedding to be real private, just our friends. But family is tricky. It's like the f**king Waltons, my family - they'll show up like critters crawling out from under the Appalachian mountains and be at your door with a banjo."

    To John Dingwall in the Daily Record, on her recent miscarriage, the inspiration behind her new album.
    "I got angry with the spirit of the baby for not wanting to be born and kept asking myself why it had happened . . . I was going through the anger and the sorrow when the songs started to come, without me really being aware, until they were coming to me in droves."


Maxim Magazine (U.K.)
June 1998
    A review of "from the choirgirl hotel" and a short article about Y Kant Tori Read appeared in the June 1998 issue of Maxim Magazine in the U.K. Many thanks to Toriphile Jason C Goodmanson for sending me this.

    I also received a different review of "from the choirgirl hotel" from Mike Gray, which he says also appeared on Maxim Magazine, though I am not sure if it was also the June 1998 issue or perhaps May.

    Read the Maxim reviews and article.


SCRATCH Zine
June 1998

The Inside Connection Magazine
June 1998

Venice Magazine
June 1998
    A review of Tori's sneak preview club show at the Fillmore in San Francisco on May 5, 1998 appeared in the June 1998 issue of Venice Magazine, a local publication in Los Angeles. The review also contained some photos. The review is not a favorable one.

    Read the concert review and see the photos.


Sonicnet's Music News Of The World
June 22, 1998
    An article about the Heineken Jammin' Festival in Imola, Italy on June 21, 1998 appeared on Sonicnet's Music News Of The World web site on June 22, 1998. The article quotes Tori from a press conference that was held before the concert and also reviews the entire festival, including Tori's performance.

Entertainment Weekly Magazine
June 26/July 3, 1998

    Entertainment Weekly Magazine had a double issue (#438/439 - June 26/July 3, 1998) that contained a feature called "The IT list: The 100 Most Creative People in Entertainment." (This issue has Cameron Diaz on the cover.) On page 65 there was a nice photo of Tori and a small article about her that you can read below. (The quotes are pure Tori!) I would like to thank Danica for being the first to send this to me and for the photo. I also thank Matt Page, Joe, Lisa, Justin and Chris Whitney for informing me as well.

    Tori Amos
    "The Siren"

    Age: 34

    Why her?: Despite - or because of - her penchant for dense, piano-based songscapes and all-but-ineffable lyrics, this Gen-Next Joni Mitchell has a cult whose members live to ponder "What makes Tori tick?" Her latest, from the choirgirl hotel, may be her most challenging yet.

    Work habits: " You know how in that Warner Bros. skunk cartoon where that girl skunk comes and the boy skunk smells her scent and he's just off? That's what happens: This girl skunk comes, and whether she's a song, a rhythm, or whatever, I'm just following her."

    Recurring dream: "I'm always dreaming that these bulls are chasing me. Half the time I don't get away - I almost get over the fence, and then they gore me."

    Next?: She's touring through Novenmber, backed for the first time by a hard-rock band. "Girls are pressed up to the front of the stage and ready to take their shirts off. I'm like, 'That's okay girls. I'm not Axl Rose.' "


People Magazine
June 22, 1998
    The June 22, 1998 issue of People Magazine in the U.S. is called the "Hollywood's Happy Couples" issue and features some photos of Tori's wedding on page 84. (Of course, Tori really has nothing to do with Hollywood, but oh well...) Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise are on the cover. There's almost a full page photo of Tori and Mark Hawley (a common photo that you can already see on my Tori Wedding Page), plus a smaller pic of some men dressed like monks carrying torches during the wedding. There is a small article as well. At the end of the article there's a cute part about how Tori talked to an eight year old about getting married one day. Special thanks to Neochik, Laura, Eddie, Carlyn Brazelton, Me the Flea and Julia K. for telling me about this. Kelly Stitzel kindly sent me the article which is below:

    You can also read this article and see a photo from it online at the People Web Site. (Thanks Jonni.)

    Tori Amos & Mark Hawley
    February 22, 1998

    The arduous climb to St. Lawrence's, a 13th-century Norman church atop a massive hill in the tiny English village of West Wycombe, didn't deter the locals when North Carolina-born Tori Amos, 34, wed British sound engineer Mark Hawley, 34. "No one really knew who she was, because it's more of an older population here," says villager Michelle Holborne. "But as soon as they heard she was famous, the said, 'Oh, well, we'll just go up and have a nose around.'" What they found was a scene ripped from the pages of a medieval fantasy. The singer wore a floor-length silver cape over her ice-blue gown to march to the church, chere clusters of candles burned in every window and uilleann pipes played an Irish folk song. "I believe in the elementals," Amos explained to Q magazine. "I figured if I had [the wedding] where there were trees and water, then maybe the fairies would show up." After the Church of England service, torchbearers costued as monks led the 150 guests outside for a toast. While no fairies were sighted, Amos did connect with a local 8-year-old, Elizabeth Cameron. "She asked me and my friend if we were going to get married one day," recalls Cameron. "I said I didn't know, and she said, 'Well, make it a special day.'" Indeed.


Rail Magazine (The Netherlands)
June 1998

Request Magazine
June 1998
    Lissa, Erin Dolll, Lee, Nancy, Bert, and Melissa Pierorazio all informed me that there was a Tori article in the June 1998 issue of Request Magazine (with Shirley Manson on the cover.) This magazine can be found on the newstands and for free in various Musicland, Sam Goody, and Media Play stores. The article also included some Tori wedding photos and an excellent drawing of Tori by Amy Davis. (The wedding photos have already been published in other magazines and can be seen on my Tori Wedding Page.) The interview in the article is a a more complete version of an interview that appeared on the May 1998 issue of Mojo Magazine.

    Read the article and see the drawing.


LAUNCH CD-ROM Magazine
Issue #19
    Toriphiles Kate, Steve, Melissa, Amanda and Robert Reynolds tell me that the latest issue of LAUNCH CD-ROM Magazine, Number 19, has Tori on the cover, and includes exclusive video interviews and a live performance of "Spark." You can see the cover to the right, sent to me by Kate. You can also go to the MyLAUNCH web site, which is affiliated with the CD-ROM Magazine, and read a recent article about Tori. (The site was down when I last tried to access it.) Toriphiles Melissa and Amanda add that on this web site you can request a free copy of Launch as part of a trial subscription offer at no obligation. They are sending out the Tori issue! You can find details about the free trial offer here.


Rolling Stone
June 25, 1998

    It should have happened a long time ago, but Rolling Stone magazine finally placed Tori on their cover in the June 25, 1998 issue. I would like to thank Toriphile melissa/madsag for first sending me pics of the cover, and to Erin Dolll who also sent me some pics from this issue. I don't have the entire article online yet, but you can see more photos and read some details about this issue.


Rolling Stone
June 11, 1998

    A small Tori blurb and photo appears in the Random Notes section of the June 11, 1998 issue of Rolling Stone magazine on page 24. (This issue had Johnny Depp on the cover.) I would like to thank David, Eddie, John Tyler, JiLL Thomson, Little Jupiter, Andrew and dink for telling me about this. Photos were sent to me by David, Little Jupiter, and John Tyler, and one more anonymous source. The article talks about the sneak preview club tour that Tori did in North America in Spring 1998. They incorrectly stated the number of club shows..there were only twelve.

    The small article says:

      "I really got nervous & I lost my voice, so i'm taking steroids," TORI AMOS told a sold-out audience at New Yorks's Irving Plaza. "I don't know how weight lifters do it, because I'm craving things right now!" She did not attempt to bench-press her piano. On her brief sixteen-city club tour, Amos previewed her adventurous new album, FROM THE CHOIRGIRL HOTEL. But No worries - she promises plenty of beefed-up favorites when she plays arenas this summer.

    Photo Caption: "Amos tickles the ivories for your listening pleasure. Tips accepted."


Spin Magazine
June 1998
    Tori has the lead review in the June 1998 issue of Spin Magazine. The review has the title "Original Sinner: On her poppiest album in years, Tori Amos is still trying to lose her religion." The review was written by Sarah Vowell and the album got an 8 out of 10 rating. The review includes a large photo of Tori in a pink skirt (another variation of one of the "postcards" included with the U.K. limited edition "Spark" single.)

    Read the Album Review and see the photo.


Vox Magazine (U.K.)
June 1998

Alternative Press
June 1998

    The June 1998 issue of Alternative Press includes a small blurb on Tori and the photo you see to the right. David Kauffman reports that this issue includes a story/review of this summer's tours and gives a brief mention of Tori's tour. The Tori blurb says, "Tori Amos follows up her "Sneak Preview '98 Plugged Tour" of smaller clubs with a larger tour following the release of her new album from the choirgirl hotel in May. As with the club tour, Amos will perform with a full band this time out."

Return To The Articles IndexReturn To ToriNews

Please give me feedback, comments, or suggestions about my site. Email me (Michael Whitehead) at mikewhy@iglou.com