Been wanting to answer this every time I'm in the car, then the engine stops, the music stops, and it's back to everyday life.
Here's my take.
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Tori's last two, Beekeeper and Scarlet's Walk, were rather mellow.
The Beekeeper in particular, let's admit it, had many of us worried that Tori was going the way of Sarah McLachlan. Very adult contemporary. Not that it was all bad - most of my favorites (Orange Knickers, Jamaica Inn, Ribbons Undone, Cars and Guitars, Ireland, Martha's, Pisces) on it were of that ilk . It's just that the stuff that tried to be 'funky' or whatever had the same mellow grove, which made it all very awkward.
Hadn't been a huge fan of Scarlet's Walk either. There were some lovely moments on it (Sorta Fairytale and Taxi Ride were tight, Wednesday fun, ... okay now that I look at it a lot of it was excellent ... Gold Dust and Your Cloud just beautiful). But again, mostly in a smooth sonic groove. No Crucify, no Cornflake/God, no Lite Sneeze, no Spark, no Bonnie and Clyde, no Bliss (though to be honest I felt this trend started on Venus and Back).
So where does American Doll Posse stand? It has some rock back, and feels mostly like Scarlet's Walk + Strange Little Girls with a bit of Choirgirl in there.
Here's the track breakdown. The "Musically" is just sonic style, what album/songs it recalls to me. Nothing to do with lyrics or quality (except "Like?").
American Doll Posse.........Musically.....................Like?
-------------------.........---------.....................------------
01. Yo George...............(throwaway)...................Nope
02. Big Wheel...............Rockabilly Talula.............Yes
03. Bouncing Off Clouds.....Glory of the 80s..............Yep
04. Teenage Hustling........Strange Little Girl...........Oh yeah
05. Digital Ghost...........Northern Lad..................Nice
06. You Can Bring Your Dog..Funky Rattlesnakes............So-so
07. Mr. Bad Man.............Ireland.......................Cutesy/fun
08. Fat Slut................40 secs of Heart of Gold......Ugh
09. Girl Disappearing.......Strange.......................Yes, if monotone
10. Secret Spell............? Taxi Ride via Beekeeper.....OK
11. Devils and Gods.........Agent Orange w/ Irish guitar..Nice, short
12. Body and Soul...........Spark via Strange Lil Girls...Yeah
13. Father's Son............Marianne......................Yes, again monotone
14. Programmable Soda.......Mr Zebra......................Much fun
15. Code Red................Sugar/Honey with groove.......Very much so
16. Roosterspur Bridge......Virginia......................Yeah, not listened to much
17. Beauty of Speed.........Amber Waves...................OK, rhythmic variety
18. Almost Rosey............Jackie's Strength.............Yes, melodic
19. Velvet Revolution.......Purple People.................Love it, too short
20. Dark Side of the Sun....Choirgirl-ish Not Red Baron...Yes
21. Posse Bonus.............Groovy Take to the Sky........Yeah, head-bouncy
22. Smokey Joe..............Beauty Queen/Gold Dust........Great
23. Dragon..................Pretty Good Year..............Very good
So overall? I'd go UtP > LE > Choirgirl > Pele > ADPosse > Venus > Scarlet > Strange > Beekeeper. But ADPosse, Pele and Choirgirl are all close, and ADPosse may improve on more listening. I've read some say if Tori trimmed this to 12 tracks it would be among her very best; I'd say that's true... its upside is kinda Choirgirl plus all B-sides.
Note iTunes has booklet and 2 videos in price, 1st blah, 2nd good.
Definitely worth getting, and I'll probably go see her perform this.
3 comments:
Nice review. And I will buy it now. After the last two, I had given up. Interesting you like Little Earthquakes less than Under the Pink. I'm the opposite, although every time I hear UtP, I am startled by how good it is.
Yeah, I go back and forth on how much I like LE and Venus vs other albums.
I got into LE slowly, not a revelation, and my expectations for UtP were crazy and it topped them. That's when I really got into her. Also life timing comes in; UtP was Auburn -> Manchester and I used to play it on the St. Anselm chapel piano.
What LE had in immediacy (which she's never matched except in moments on Choirgirl), UtP had in complexity and density... Anastasia and Space Dog, Cloud on my Tongue. Pele also had that amazing music but the immediacy was buried way way down.
For me it's kind of like (a more consistent) Solace vs Fumbling... I don't think anything on Fumbling is as good as Black (or maybe even Back Door Man), but musically Fumbling just overwhelmed me.
I downloaded her cd about a week ago and felt it was overall good. This is the first cd of hers that I own. I know perrykat has been a big fan but never knew you were too.
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