Tori Amos - to venus and back

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  • Total voters
    10
Cécile

Cécile

Shep's Classic 12"
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00 Bliss
00 Juarez
00 Concertina
00 Glory of the 80's
00 Lust
00 Suede
00 Josephine
00 Riot Poof
00 Datura
00 Spring Haze
00 1,000 Oceans

00 Venus Live: Still Orbiting
 
I think this album is undeservedly underrated by Joe Public, but at the same time a tad overrated by the Toriphiles. I've never paid much attention to this album but lately it's been growing with me. The sound is similar to Choirgirl (her best album in my opinion) but the production is more electronic/minimal and overall less piano-heavy. "Spring Haze" could well have been a Little Earthquakes track.

Isn't "Concertina" Tori's favourite track to perform live? She almost always includes it.

10 Bliss
08 Juárez
10 Concertina
08 Glory of the 80's
10 Lust
08 Suede
08 Josephine
07 Riot Poof
07 Datura
10 Spring Haze
10 1000 Oceans

The live disc is amazing, especially "Sugar" and "The Waitress".
 
love, love, love it to pieces still

10 Bliss
10 Juarez
10 Concertina
10 Glory of the 80's
10 Lust
10 Suede
09 Josephine
09 Riot Poof
10 Datura
10 Spring Haze
09 1,000 Oceans

that looks over the top but i genuinley love them and think they are perfect, the only way to score any lower is comparing them to one another which i refuse!
lust, juarez, datura and suede are some of my favourite sex songs too
 
10 Bliss
09 Juarez
09 Concertina
08 Glory of the 80's
09 Lust
10 Suede
09 Josephine
09 Riot Poof
09 Datura
09 Spring Haze
10 1,000 Oceans

Her last properly amazing album.
 
A lot of people point to this album as the start of the decline of Tori Amos. I think it was her last really good album. Not that I dislike any of those that followed, it's just they seem a little directionless and unnecessary.
 
It is an ODD album. It wasn't really intended to be a studio album at all - Tori originally planned on releasing a live record but kept tinkering around on some new songs that eventually became the studio disc. I do like the airy spacey sound of it. Her creative juices were still very much flowing, and I think they continued to flow for Scarlet's Walk, and only after Scarlet did she start declining quite noticeably.

For me it's all about the Riot Poof - Datura - Spring Haze trilogy near the end. Three extremely strong songs (though I see you disagree Cécile :D).

09 Bliss
08 Juarez
05 Concertina (the single remix is MUCH improved however)
09 Glory of the 80's
06 Lust
07 Suede
07 Josephine (8 on a good day)
10 Riot Poof
10 Datura
10 Spring Haze
06 1,000 Oceans

That averages an 8 which is about right!
 
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11 Bliss
08 Juarez
10 Concertina
07 Glory of the 80's
07 Lust
08 Suede
09 Josephine
05 Riot Poof
06 Datura
08 Spring Haze
07 1,000 Oceans

08 Venus Live: Still Orbiting
 
I never gave this album the attention it deserves. I'm not sure why, listening to it now it's very good. I think it struggles because it lacks an overriding identity compared to her other studio albums. It just feels like a collection of songs, rather than a concept.

This is not necessarily a bad thing though.

I love 1000 Oceans. It's SO SAD. :(
 
also a 7 for glory of the 80s is criminal, if only for the sheer brilliance of the lyrics

i don't even know which line to quote!

in the glories of the 80's
i may not have to die
i'll clone myself
like that blonde chick
that sings betty davis eyes
 
and also

silicone party barbies to the left and
joan of arcs to the right
no one feeling insecure we were
all gorge and famous in our last lives

and the glories of the 80's you said
'the end is nothing to fear' i said
'blow the end, now baby
who do i gotta shag to get outta here'
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amazing
 
listening to this again in broad daylight is such a change cause this is a right night time record for me
it's not her best album artistically, but it actually might be my favourite
i still love everything on it with a passion

it was actually my second tori album after FTCGH which i really should thank god i bought on a whim after loving spark and raspberry swirl which i both saw once on the telly
 
I've put this in my cued up list for the day but I don't remember particularly enjoying it in the past. It had all gone tits up for me by From The Choirgirl Hotel but I still bought this hoping she would reclaim former glories. Instead, it's mostly just the self-parody she's tortured us with since then.
 
you should listen to it at night, chris
it's all a bit dark and slithery

for some reason i'm still pretty sure you'll hate it

listening to 1000 oceans now, i don't know why i always underrate this, maybe it feels a bit lazy for a tori ballad but it really is very tender and pretty
 
Maybe I'll save it for tonight then when I'm COLD and ALONE. I'm rather looking forward to it now. I may even crack open the GIN.
 
Christian said:
Maybe I'll save it for tonight then when I'm COLD and ALONE. I'm rather looking forward to it now. I may even crack open the GIN.
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drinks definitely beckon, for me it's more a summer album though so crank up the heat too
i remember vividly listening the hell out of it one heavy and sweaty summer holiday
 
I can see why some find 1000 Oceans it a bit saccharine, but in the context (2 miscarriages and she's carrying what will be her third lost baby while recording) it's really quite devastating. :(

Although the fact that finally managing to have a baby coincided with her music going to UTTER UTTER SHIT does of course taint it somewhat. :evil:
 
VoR said:
I can see why some find 1000 Oceans it a bit saccharine, but in the context (2 miscarriages and she's carrying what will be her third lost baby while recording) it's really quite devastating. :(

Although the fact that finally managing to have a baby coincided with her music going to UTTER UTTER SHIT does of course taint it somewhat. :evil:
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Happiness doesn't always make for good music :( Particularly for the banshees. Alanis' songwriting took a notable DIVE after her marriage and began to improve during the breakup.
 
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Right. The BOOZE is out and I'm OFF.

Ooh, "Bliss" is terribly dark, isn't it? I think I might enjoy this...
 
So I remember at the time I wasn't long off getting Hounds of Love and was convinced this was Tori's own career-peak moment happening.

Anyway, I absolutely adore it and the dive into a more electronic soundscape truly dazzles me to this day. From here on in I just never got the same sense of pursuit from her.

I listened last night to some, so here's a tentative scoring until I play it in full later.

10 Bliss - I'm rarely away from this song and it was the far stronger song to lead with than what was chosen for the UK.
10 Juarez - the jungle of exotica is the height of her imagination here.
10 Concertina - truly beguiling and yet the most unassuming thing here.
10 Glory of the 80's - arguably the Raspberry Swirl of the album, or maybe even Tear In Your Hand, it's a major swoon and postcard/diary entry like POV.
10 Lust - I am gone... this is the prettiest thing.
TBC Suede
TBC Josephine
TBC Riot Poof
10 Datura - a spiralling display of her talents, when it cranks into gear for the, shall we say, chorus, I absolutely never want it to end.
TBC Spring Haze
10 1,000 Oceans - in the aftermath of a thousand spliffs, here is the gorgeous comedown. Up there with Jackie, Jupiter and Damage if you ask me. It would be devastating were it not so achingly elegant.
 
I'm only scoring 7 songs - and they're all 10s :D

Lust and Seude are my favourites on this record. Lust is unbelievably tender and gorgeous.



super performance
 
I still need to spend more time with this record. Bliss is not quite top tier. some songs sound like Choirgirl leftovers, which I think is how Venus was born.
 
Jark said:
I still need to spend more time with this record. Bliss is not quite top tier. some songs sound like Choirgirl leftovers, which I think is how Venus was born.
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It was basically a way to try to get out of her record label commitment to release a certain number of albums, by releasing a double album to count as 2, but it accidentally was really good
 
I found out
Zero point —

Zero point your time is coming

We waited for 84 years 😭

Anyway this album is so underrated
 
So this little song
She’s one of my best friends of all the songs
She just didnt wanna be on any of the records
She was supposed to be on Pelé
And she told me to fuck off
and she she was supposed to be on Choirgirl
Sort of kind of
And then she said, you know…. No.
And then she decided she liked being played live
So I play her a lot
And this is sort of
My goodbye to you.
 
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