New York Times
September 9, 2001
Added September 9, 2001
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New York Times
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A review of "Strange Little Girls" appeared in the September 9, 2001 edition of the New York Times. You can read this review at the New York Times web site or below. Ann Powers will be interviewing Tori at a special New York event on January 12, 2002. Click here for details about that. Tori Amos Filters Male Rock Dreams
By Ann Powers
SONGS are intimate creations that become powerful creators,
delivering one artist's perspective into the minds of countless
listeners and turning it into a universal view. When the artist is
male, which is most of the time, pop creates feminine icons that
are really ventriloquists' dolls fulfilling men's fantasies. This
is the principle behind Tori Amos's latest album, "Strange Little
Girls" (Atlantic), which takes the art of musical interpretation
into a new realm.
Twelve songs written by men dreaming of women give Ms. Amos a
fertile field to repopulate with actual women's voices. Her version
of Eminem's murder ballad "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" delicately
dissects abuse as perverted devotion. It deserves all the attention
it will get. But that's only the most brazen reworking among other
songs by the Beatles, the Velvet Underground, Slayer, Tom Waits and
more.
In the hands of Ms. Amos and her collaborators -- including her
husband, the engineer Mark Hawley; her longtime drummer, Matt
Chamberlain; and the guitarist Adrian Belew -- these "daughters" (as
Ms. Amos always calls songs) are thoroughly adopted. Neil Young's
plaintive "Heart of Gold" becomes a screaming James Bond theme, and
Slayer's "Raining Blood" grows wistful, a sad oracle's tale.
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" goes beyond the gender theme to encompass
the subject of gun control, unavoidable considering the song's
originator, John Lennon.
Some choices, like "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode, are hard
to grasp at first: what does this brooding bit of narcissism have
to do with women? After a few listens to Ms. Amos's ear-ticklingly
claustrophobic version, though, it makes sense: in pop, male
aspirations are so grand, they often exclude all else. Even a
gentle love song asserts dominance. "Strange Little Girls" exposes
this reality as Ms. Amos gently but firmly pries open the male
grasp until it gives.
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Please give me feedback, comments, or suggestions about A Dent In The Tori Amos Net Universe. Email me (Mikewhy) at mikewhy@iglou.com |
