Y Kant Tori Make Good Videos?

I'm all excited! The last time Tori Amos had a new album coming out, it was entitled "The Beekeeper" and I bought it with money recieved after doing the Junior Cert. I was really pysched about buying it and I distinctly remember getting it, along with Bloc Party's debut "Silent Alarm" on the same day. I even got the Special Edition of Tori's album, paying just that little bit extra for fancy packaging and a dvd just because I love her music.

Unfortunatly, it was terrible. I listened to it twice through and put it back on the shelf. Since then I've listened to certain tracks again, but mostly it lies there gathering dust, unlistened to. "The Beekeeper" is a very poor album, especially from an artist with such a great back catalogue.

But I suppose Tori Amos has always been quite patchy. Out of the albums I'm familiar with, here are my rankings:

1. Under The Pink (1993)
2. Little Earthquakes (1991)
3. From The Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
4. Scarlett's Walk/Welcome to Sunny Florida (2002/2004)
5. Strange Little Girls (2001)
6. To Venus and Back (1999)
.
.
.
.
.
176. The Beekeeper (2005)

Obviously I'm discounting her best-of and I haven't heard Boys For Pele properly the whole way through to comment on and I doubt I'll ever want to hear "Y Kant Tori Read", but it's clear that Amos' best work is her earlier material, before marriage and motherhood dulled her tongue and knack for a tune. A journalist once commented that the only way to get a decent album from Tori nowadays would be to "kidnap her daughter" which is harsh, but probably true. I certainly thought so, until I saw the video for her latest single "Big Wheel".


Okay, the video is very student-y and shoddily made, but the song is such a refreshing change! I love the jaunty piano, the bluegrassy feel of the chorus, the sense that Tori has her spark back. I'm suddenly eager to buy its parent album, "American Doll Posse" which is landing instores on 1st May. Looking at the promo pictures and hearing this song has restored my faith! Here's hoping it's not another Beekeeper-fiasco...

Edit - Okay, well it looks like the video got pulled off YouTube. No matter, you can still hear it, along with the rest of "American Doll Posse" at Tori's Myspace. There's only so much stop-motion Tori you can take, so it's probably better just to listen to it.

I was almost reluctant to hear these songs before buying the album, but then I thought - screw it. It's not illegal if she put them up herself, and I have no idea when I'll have the money to buy the real thing. Currently on track 4 (but I won't get much further as I'm going to Stars In Yer Eyes in a few minutes. Perliminary thoughts - it's very much a rock album, which can only be a good thing after the Middle-of-the-Road cringe that was "The Beekeeper". I'm still psyched, people.