Tori Amos
Strange Little Girls
(Atlantic)
½

If you leaf through the CD sleeve of her sixth studio album, Tori Amos looks like she’s trying to outdo Madonna. Strange Little Girls is an album of cover songs – not an unprecedented gambit for Amos, who scored in 1992 with a redefining piano rendition of Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit," released on an EP that also featured covers of The Rolling Stones’ "Angie" and Led Zeppelin’s "Thank You." But for Strange Little Girls, Amos has adopted "personas" of a series of different women, with a Madonna-like portrait book of different hair colors and looks to back those personalities up.

Amos says the disc is all about redefining songs written and performed by men with a woman’s voice. And it will no doubt receive its most notoriety from her whispery, Southern-accented reading of Eminem’s "’97 Bonnie & Clyde." Amos’ version lacks the pop-hook quality that Eminem’s rap version had when it was spliced with a Dido song. But Amos’ storytelling delivery leaves more of a chill in the mind, as she completely encapsulates a wife-killer’s thoughts and delivers them via "baby talk" to his newly motherless daughter. Her theory on this, and on all the songs, is that these very "male" lyrics sung through the voice and emotions of a woman will open up new layers of meaning for listeners in the songs. While that theory seems to apply to her cover of Eminem, most of these tracks seem to be simply covers – I don’t hear the characters she says are singing these songs, I hear Tori Amos stripping back other artists’ songs to their basic emotional roots and piano melodies.

The success or failure of a "cover song" for an artist depends on a couple factors: the interest an audience has in hearing that song performed again, and the newness of the interpretation the artist brings to it. Strange Little Girls doesn’t work consistently for me in part because, I must admit, I never was fond of some of the source material. Her dirgelike reading of 10CC’s "I’m Not In Love" strips the song back to its base melody and a drumbeat, revealing the naked heart of a song that this listener would love to go through life never hearing again. Her choice of The Beatles’ "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," certainly has plenty of message at its heart, but little melodic interest. It was hard enough to listen to Lennon sing this one. I don’t want to hear Amos behind it. She softens the classic delivery of The Boomtown Rats’ "I Don’t Like Mondays," but otherwise doesn’t bring anything new to the song.

There are complete rewrites, however. Slayer fans will probably hate her dark piano and ponderous echoey vocal reading of the metal band’s "Raining Blood." She also loses points for wailing the title over and over through a seemingly endless guitar jam cover of Neil Young’s "Heart of Gold." Young’s version has heart, Amos’ angst. I vote for heart. "Raining Blood" and the CD opener, The Velvet Underground’s "New Age," feature Amos at her electric piano, without much help from a band (she’s currently touring without a band, as well). And the album’s two most affecting tracks, aside from "97 Bonnie & Clyde," feature Amos alone at her acoustic piano. She makes Depeche Mode’s melancholy "Enjoy The Silence" even more dark with minimal piano accompaniment, and delivers the disc’s prize, Tom Waits’ "Time," with a bittersweet breathiness and a somber piano ballad backdrop. This one’s as affecting a keeper as "Northern Lad" from her From the Choirgirl Hotel album. She also scores well with a quiet cover of Joe Jackson’s exploration of the roles of men, "Real Men," which closes the album.

There are some tracks here that people may want to hear for their novelty value, alone. But if I was to boil down this disc to the songs that I’d want to really listen to more than once or twice, I’d come up with few keepers. "Real Men," "Time," "New Age," and the disc’s first single, a full-band, fully developed rock cover of The Stranglers’ "Strange Little Girls." Four out of 12 is not a good track record – Amos would be better served in developing her own melodies, dipping into the cover bin only occasionally to relive an old standard.

Tori Amos will appear live in a solo piano performance at Chicago’s Arie Crown Theatre on October 23.

New On The Shelves

Columbia has pulled together an album to serve as a patriotic backdrop to the current "war on terrorism." God Bless America features Celine Dion’s new recording of the title song, as well as Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s new "Land of Hope and Dreams" and an acoustic version of John Mellencamp’s "Peaceful World." The disc features Frank Sinatra’s 1945 version of "America The Beautiful," Lee Greenwood’s 1996 recording of "God Bless The U.S.A.," Pete Seeger’s 1964 recording of "This Land Is Your Land," and a 1965 recording of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing "The Star Spangled Banner." Other inspirational songs include Mariah Carey’s "Hero," Tramaine Hawkins’ "Amazing Grace," Billy Gilman’s "There’s A Hero," Bob Dylan’s "Blowin’ In The Wind," Simon & Garfunkel’s "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Mahalia Jackson’s "We Shall Overcome," Gloria Estefan’s "Coming Out of the Dark" and Bill Withers’ "Lean on Me." Much of the proceeds from the disc will benefit the Twin Towers relief fund…

Columbia is capitalizing on Journey’s recent concert tour and new studio album by issuing a new two-CD collection called The Essential Journey. The new set still only covers the band’s recordings with vocalist Steve Perry (their latest album, Arrival, features Steve Augeri). The first disc of the new hits set follows almost the exact song order of their 1988 Greatest Hits album, adding in "When You Love A Woman" and "After The Fall." The new set however, covers Journey’s releases through 1996, offering three tracks from Trial By Fire, the band’s only 1990s release. The second CD of Essential Journey includes more "classic" Journey favorites that didn’t appear on Greatest Hits like "Chain Reaction," "Stone in Love," "Still They Ride" and "Just the Same Way," among others…

Columbia’s soundtrack to the new Bruce Willis movie, Bandits, also has a mix of old and new songs, but in more of a folk-rock and easy listening vein. Jimmy Page & Robert Plant lead it off with "Gallows Pole," and Bob Dylan offers "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum" from his new Love and Theft album. Bonnie Tyler’s hits "Holding Out For A Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" turn up, as do Aretha Franklin’s "Walk on By," Tanita Tikaram’s "Twist in My Sobriety," Grover Washington Jr. & Bill Withers’ "Just the Two of Us" and Michael Martin Murphey’s "Wildfire." Newer material includes Five for Fighting’s current hit single "Superman (It’s Not Easy)," Pete Yorn’s "Just Another" and Mark Knopfler’s "Rudiger." The disc also includes the orchestral "Bandits Suite" from Christopher Young.

The Hollywood Records soundtrack to Ben Stiller’s Zoolander includes The Wiseguys’ current hit dance mix single "Start The Commotion," as well as older dance hits like Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s "Relax," Wham!’s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," Herbie Hancock’s "Rockit," and a Moby remix of Michael Jackson’s "Beat It." It also is heavy on remakes, including newcomer Nikka Costa’s revamp of Blondie’s "Call Me," No Doubt’s remake of the disco standard "Love to Love You Baby," and Rufus Wainwright’s cover of the classic Hollies hit "He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother" as well as Powerman 500’s attack on "Relax and The Wallflowers version of the Bee Gees’ "I Started a Joke." Orgy, BT, Freestylers and The Crystal Method also turn up….

—John Everson

Originally published in The Star Newspapers October 18, 2001
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