Tori Amos Gets Festive

What happens when your favorite musical artist makes a Christmas album? What happens when this particular artist is known for her outright avoidance of traditional American flair, pop sensibility, or anything close to the term “selling out?” One has to wonder if it is the musical apocalypse or if it is a strategic and well-timed concept album.

Tori Amos has for several years now been on a decline according to her devout fans. They love her, but feel disappointment after disappointment with each successive album post From the Choirgirl Hotel. Her music once outrageous in content and diverse in sound has been steadily following a very similar format reminiscent of adult-contemporary radio. Should we expect this mother and maturing woman to stay in one zone for her entire life and musical career? Certainly in our rational minds we would not demand such a thing, but in our thirst for nostalgia and nerve awakening, fans long for the “old” Tori.

Where can you from an up? Obviously down, and that meant from the volcanic tip of Pele. Boys For Pele was Amos at her finest. It is her masterpiece. It was before her child, it was fueled by internal journeys some psychedelic in nature, and it no doubt was in a time in anyone’s life where passion is paramount.

Her sound was varied and extraordinary. In the past several years one song to the next sounds the same, but there is texture and enlightenment in them that still surpasses her peers.

Does the Christmas album signal the bottom of Amos’ capabilities and vision?

Critics are saying absolutely not. It may be an album debuting around Christmas, but it seasonal and conceptual and quite possibly a harking back to the best of Tori.

We’ve gone from, “God sometimes you just don’t come through” to “O Come O Come Emmanuel.”

It’s a hard transition.

WIKIPEDIA INFORMATION:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwinter_Graces

BUY THE ALBUM FROM AMAZON:

http://www.amazon.com/Midwinter-Graces-CD-DVD-Combo/dp/B002QCKOME

TORI FAN SITE:

http://yessaid.com/