Little Earthquakes

by

Tori Amos

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Although Little Earthquakes is Tori Amos' first CD, it is also her best. As much talent and innovation as she has shown in the years since this album was released, she has yet to re-achieve the well-nigh perfection of her initial offering. These songs utilize beautiful music, raw emotion, and lyrical poetry to address a wide array of issues, ranging from rape to relationships to religion. Tori's style is uniquely her own, and the contrasts between soft piano-playing and abrupt emotional outbursts of strident notes, instruments, and words are incredible. No one bares her soul through music as forcefully as Tori. This is best exemplified by the a cappella performance of "Me and a Gun," which deals with Amos' own experience of being raped. These songs are all about empowerment, courageously finding one's voice and taking control of one's life.

"Crucify" is probably the most recognizable song on the album. Its message is one of freedom; too often people restrict themselves out of the fear of being laughed at or judged unfavorably; and Tori preaches that you don't have to wallow in your self-guilt and suffering in order to achieve happiness. "Silent All These Years" suggests a life spent with an abusive or insensitive partner and the self-imposed exile and voicelessness such a relationship can lead to. "Winter" deals with standing on one's own two feet, believing in oneself, and bravely striking out in a world without your father's constant protection. "Mother" strikes a similar theme, evoking images of a caring mother pushing her child out of the nest and helping it begin a new life of its own. "Tear In Your Hand" is an anthem of self-discovery in which Tori tells the man who is leaving her for another woman that she is more fascinating and powerful than he has ever taken the time to realize. In "Little Earthquakes," Tori cries out for both life and pain, realizing that a full life by necessity includes both the good and the bad. "Girl" carries the message that you must be true to yourself, that if you live your whole life trying to please others and ignoring your own desires, you will go crazy. "China" explains how two people can gradually grow apart over time. "Happy Phantom" is a fun little jaunt in which Tori looks forward to forgetting her earthly troubles and becoming a ghost, but it ends on a more serious note about the limited lifespan of memory. The real prize of this CD is "Precious Things," an intensely emotional song hearkening back to days of unrequited crushes, cruel individuals, and adolescent pain; the message is that you must forget the painful memories of your past in order to become your true and ultimate self.

These songs may mean different things to other people, and it is almost impossible not to discover new hidden insights each time you listen to them. Tori Amos truly bears her soul for all to see on this CD, and we can all benefit ourselves as a result of her efforts. Tori Amos is a unique musician, and her music will not appeal to everyone, but this album is much more accessible, particularly lyrics-wise, than her later releases. As far as I am concerned, this is the greatest CD ever produced by any musician.

It almost impossible to find a halfway objective review of a Tori Amos album on here - either her music gets lavishly praised by those creepily obsessed "Toriphiles", or it gets rubbished by people who think she's just Kate Bush-lite. I have no strong opinion either way about her music - I am drawn to some of it because I love music with just voice, piano and haunting melodies. This album has some of that, but it also has some not so great songs. To be honest, I sort of like this album and I sort of don't. A reflection of that is that I have purchased it twice and sold it again twice subsequently!

First of all, I think that as a male, it's slightly more difficult for me to listen to this music than for a female. It has a certain feminine perspective that can be alienating. Now I love most of Joni Mitchell's work and other female artists such as Fiona Apple, and their music is very "female", but this is an altogether different experience.

For me, exactly half of this album is wonderful - 6 tracks. Those are "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "Winter", "Happy Phantom", "Leather" (the highlight) and "Little Earthquakes". The rest range from pleasantly forgettable to downright boring. The much lauded "Me And A Gun" is so personal and difficult to listen to that it's embarrassing. And for someone who doesn't really care about Tori's lyrics all that much, it's boring as well because there's no music. Go on, deride me for my insensitivity or whatever - I know the song is about her rape experience - but sorry, I had to press the skip button every time.

The main problem overall with this album though actually has nothing to do with Tori or the songs - it's the production. This is frankly the most dated sounding album from the 90's that I've ever heard. Voice and piano should be timeless, but listen to "Crucify" and the title track - great songs, but production-wise it's stuck in a time warp.

So overall, this album isn't really the classic it's made out to be. Half of it is great, as I said. Unfortunately, it all went downhill after this album, with Under The Pink being one of the more impenetrable works I've ever encountered from a mainstream artist. That doesn't necessarily make it bad, but it makes for a pretty underwhelming listen.

In the end, this is what I did: Got rid of Little Earthquakes (only half decent) and Under the Pink (collecting dust on my shelf), bought the "Cornflake Girl" single (her best and most accessible song), which has a fantasic b-side called "Sister Janet" and another quite good piano "suite". Then I bought the "Crucify" EP, which gives me 2 out of the 5 songs I liked on Little Earthquakes ("Crucify" and "Winter") plus 3 terrific covers - "Angie", "Thank You" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This is all the Tori I'll ever need I think and with this limited selection I think of her as a good artist and a terrific pianist, rather than someone who released a couple of good songs and a lot of overwrought garbage.

I await your unhelpful votes!