Tori Amos Strange Little Girls: (LP) Review
Summary: Rhino dazzles with a beautiful looking and sounding LP release of a niche but beloved Tori Amos album 25 years later. Four new unreleased tracks make this a must buy for Amos fans.
5
Stranger Little Girls
In 2001, Tori Amos was infamously at war with her then–record company Atlantic and required to produce one more album to fulfill her contract obligations. Not wanting to gift them new songs to own, Amos released a then seemingly obscure album of a dozen covers titled Strange Little Girls. This was supplemented by Amos’ heavy in-person touring of the album (with proceeds likely going to Amos versus Atlantic), one I was thankful to see live in San Diego. She was literally doing two shows a day.
An odd thing happened on the way to Amos sticking it to Atlantic. Most Tori Amos fans surprisingly enjoyed this quirky final Atlantic release, including Tori’s creative choice of pairing each song to a unique caricature of Amos as cover art. Critical reception? That’s another story.
Related, the incredibly diverse selection of otherwise male-sung songs – ranging from The Beatles, Eminem, Tom Waits, Depeche Mode, and Slayer – offered Amos tremendous opportunity to make them her own. In typical Amos fashion, Strange Little Girls is heavily driven by Amos’ piano-playing genius and ethereal voice quality. Most songs on this album barely resemble their original source material.
As it is not one of Amos’ most famous offerings and given its sordid origins, it was certainly surprising to see Rhino pay homage to this underrated gem 25 years later. This included releasing Strange Little Girls on LP, with all twelve covers available for purchase. Luck be a lady, as my cover version is a personal album favorite, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions’ “Rattlesnake.”
Also, Rhino surprisingly added four previously unreleased tracks to this LP release: Bruce Springsteen’s “Growing Up,” “Hoover Factory” by Elvis Costello, David Bowie’s “After All,” and Alice Cooper’s “Only Women Bleed.”
If you own the original, “Growing Up” has a wonderful Thunder Road feel, with Amos on piano replacing what would’ve been lead guitar accompaniment. “Hoover Factory” is the yang to Costello’s yin, buoyed by a flowing ballad and memorable chorus now emphasizing dramatic piano octave changes. “After All” is no longer soulful and upbeat, with Amos harkening back to Under the Pink in composition. Finally, in “Only Women Bleed,” imagine Alice Cooper’s drums replaced by a piano for underlying rhythm, with lengthy movements of the left (bass) hand to adjust tempo.
As a collective, there are some albums that truly shine on LP, and Strange Little Girls is surprisingly one of them. Amos’ never-ending vocal subtleties and vibrato are now crystal clear. Similarly, the nuance of finger-pressure variance in her piano playing is now single-note audible.
By inspiration, Strange Little Girls is a storytelling album featuring unique song interpretations. Now in LP format, Rhino celebrates the subtleties of this reality and makes them shine. Playing Strange Little Girls at high volume on LP does not diminish audio quality one iota; in fact, it highlights the beauty of the original recordings and its four new previously unreleased additions.
Final Thoughts
For Tori Amos fans – especially those who loved Strange Little Girls the first time around – jump on this LP version for the best version possible and with four very solid new tracks. Go pick out your favorite cover… or all of them(!)… from our friends at Rhino Records.
Track Listing
Side 1:
1. New Age [Originally By The Velvet Underground]
2. ’97 Bonnie & Clyde [Originally By Eminem]
3. Strange Little Girl [Originally By The Stranglers]
4. Enjoy The Silence [Originally By Depeche Mode]
Side 2:
5. I’m Not In Love [Originally By 10cc]
6. Rattlesnakes [Originally By Lloyd Cole & The Commotions]
7. Time [Originally By Tom Waits]
8. Heart Of Gold [Originally By Neil Young]
Side 3:
9. I Don’t Like Mondays [Originally By The Boomtown Rats]
10. Happiness Is A Warm Gun [Originally By The Beatles]
11. Raining Blood [Originally By Slayer]
12. Real Men [Originally By Joe Jackson]
Side 4:
13. Growin’ Up [Previously Unreleased Originally By Bruce Springsteen]
14. Hoover Factory [Previously Unreleased Originally By Elvis Costello]
15. After All [B-Side Originally By David Bowie]
16. Only Women Bleed [B-Side Originally By Alice Cooper]
Product Photos
About the Author
Paul Stuart A gamer for over 30 years with 400+ reviews across four sites literally spanning the globe, Paul Stuart has an unhealthy obsession with Assassins Creed, God of War, and all things Lord of the Rings.
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