Tori Amos - In Times of Dragons (New album) (1 Viewer)

I like the VIBE of it and the lyrics are great, but musically I find it overproduced... it kinda starts at 100 with that riff hammering away over and over throughout. will need to keep listening.
 
Puts me in mind of Bliss and/or Little Earthquakes. Either way, feels very much like she's BACK. The vocals aren't what they were (obvi) but the production, instrumentation, lyrics, very much are.
 
@jivafox get in here hun

real housewives drinking GIF by RealityTVGIFs
 
It makes so much more sense in the context of Shush than it did in the context of Stronger Together which in hindsight was a bizarre choice to tease the album with. (Although I do find it rather SWEET)
 
Yes, now this is more like it. I like ‘Stronger Together’ but it’s pleasant Tori whereas this is what I feel a classic Tori Amos track should sound like - brooding, ominous and darker. I think the riff coming in right from the start is perfect for creating a mood. It transported me right back in time.

I also love the (positive) reference to Courtney Love and the amazing ‘Live Through This’ album.

I want all the banshees to be happy really but they’re so much better when they’re angry/miserable/both.
 
BoysForSeles said:
Yes, now this is more like it. I like ‘Stronger Together’ but it’s pleasant Tori whereas this is what I feel a classic Tori Amos track should sound like - brooding, ominous and darker. I think the riff coming in right from the start is perfect for creating a mood. It transported me right back in time.

I also love the (positive) reference to Courtney Love and the amazing ‘Live Through This’ album.

I want all the banshees to be happy really but they’re so much better when they’re angry/miserable/both.
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🤩
 
track by track review



Veins

A moody little number, with Tori and her daughter Tash (who sounds fantastic on this). The verses are piano and band, followed by an interesting pre-chorus section with synths, where they exchange: “Tori: I don’t want it running in your veins, Tash: You don’t want it running in my veins? Tori: No, I don’t want it running in your veins.”

The song seems to be about a mother fiercely wanting to protect her daughter, perhaps from political brainwashing and ends in a sinister way, with Tash singing “it’s already running in my veins.” The strongest track so far.
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Tempest

I liked this one on a first listen. Upbeat tempo with a great piano hook that starts out the song and repeats after each chorus. “Saint Cecilia warning me, I could lose myself so easily”. Something about it reminded me of the more nuanced tracks from 2005’s divisive The Beekeeper, as if Barons Of Surburbia, General Joy and Mary’s of The Sea had a threesome and created this superior offspring.

It builds to a musical climax, with some excellent strings towards the end. One of the more epic moments on the record.
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Blue Lotus

This is my favourite by far. Tori and the Rhodes accompany a Hey Jupiter Dakota style beat on the verses. “I’m not going back again, to Salem, tied to their stick.” Some fantastic harpsichord work in the chorus “I’ll be burning, yes I’m burning into you, blue lotus.”

There are some great harmonies from Tori on the middle-eight section, which reminded me of how much I miss her complex vocal arrangements at times. The final chorus really lifts off and she replaces the harpsichord with some heavy piano playing with the drummer matching the sense of urgency.

I imagine this being a big fan favourite.
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23 Peaks

23 Peaks starts out with a long section (nearly 2 and a half mins) of cinematic, sombre sounding strings. Tori’s voice enters on top, with the distant sound of waves in the background.

No piano, just Tori and strings for the majority of the track, with an organ entering towards the end. It’s quite unlike anything else she’s ever done before. Perhaps her best vocal performance on record in quite some time. There’s a sense of desperation to her vocals that’s really palpable. Certainly her most ambitious album closer in many a year.
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I believe it is fair to say, In Times of Dragons is undoubtedly her most ambitious body of work since perhaps Scarlet’s Walk. I’m not claiming that it’s her best record since then — time will tell on that one, but it certainly stands out as her most unsettling and socially connected work since her much-revered 90’s output. Fans of Tori’s darker sounding From The Choirgirl Hotel and Boys for Pele will likely find lots to treasure within this release.

The songwriting is expansive, the arrangements surprising; the whole project sounds like less a collection of songs strung together with a loose theme and more like a complete work. Vocally, Tori is navigating changes to her voice really well. I believe that fans will be surprised, particularly by Blue Lotus and the closing track 23 Peaks, which showcase some of her best vocal work in quite some time.

Musically, the whole thing sounds quite intense and moody. There are few moments of levity throughout, but the overall vibe is unrelenting from the opening track to the stunning album closer.
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There's going to be a few listening parties, but as the London one is the day before the actual release I can't be arsed with having to actually interact with people
 
Iguana said:
I am however going to the HMV Q&A with her!
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Are you going to attempt a question or are you going as a listening experience? I won’t ask you for your question.

I remember when I was doing a quick check to locate the Palladium ahead of the gig there was already a wall of fans there who looked quite….protective? territorial? unhinged?
 
BoysForSeles said:
Are you going to attempt a question or are you going as a listening experience? I won’t ask you for your question.

I remember when I was doing a quick check to locate the Palladium ahead of the gig there was already a wall of fans there who looked quite….protective? territorial? unhinged?
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I don't even know if fans will get to ask questions or whether Noah will be doing all the asking. If I get to, I'd probably ask her about whether she'd ever give us an insight into more of the songwriting process like the demos we got of Playboy Mommy and a sorta fairytale on A Piano. I love those but she's very protective of the process!

And protective and gatekeeping? yes -- that sounds very much like Tori Amos fans doesn't it :D Have a great time!! Can't wait to see the setlist
 
Quick question: you’ve been reissuing previous albums on vinyl, some for the first time ever. From the Choirgirl Hotel from 1997 still hasn't had a vinyl re-release. Is that ever happening?

“We're trying. I don't like throwing people under the bus, but the people at my former record company who managed their library could have done a better job keeping the recordings safe. I blame Napster. They just didn't have the staff to store master recordings properly. So we're having to wrangle on our side. It's not easy. But we're working on it.”

And the rumored compilation of old B-sides and unreleased material you joked about during your last tour?

“[laughs] The question is whether I'll still be married if I make my husband [Mark Hawley is Tori’s husband and sound engineer - ed.] do all that work. This record alone took a lot to bring to life. Whether the B-sides thing was a joke or not, I genuinely need to check in with myself. Some unreleased stuff does exist, especially from the early 2000s. But there was a reason those things weren't released at the time. So I need to check with myself if I was joking or not.”
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Scarlet's Walk or Beekeeper bonus tracks exist? 🥺
 
Only the second time she's ever played Witness. The first time was when she brought in a London gospel choir to one of the two 2005 London shows, and of course my tickets were for the other show!
 
Some fans are screaming for her stylist to be SACKED but I don’t think it looks that bad!
 
There seems to be some fighting too about the length of the setlist though apparently that one lasted almost two and a half hours.

Fighting as in more songs and less extended versions that is.
 
BoysForSeles said:
There seems to be some fighting too about the length of the setlist though apparently that one lasted almost two and a half hours.

Fighting as in more songs and less extended versions that is.
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She did this at the Ocean to Ocean tour too - giving the music more time instead of her vocals. I think we just have to be grateful that we got 22-26 song tours as long as we did! And it could be worse, it could have been a 45 minute set.
 
I think more playing time than vocal time enables her to tour as extensively as she does these days and I don’t mind it all, the whole evening is just an experience to absorb.
 
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She’s sounding a lot better than I had feared and the backing vocalists are sensational! I was trepidatious about seeing her again, but now I’m so looking forward to it. Roll on May!
 
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