May 2009
I don’t think I will ever ‘get’ Tori Amos. I don’t know who she is for. She certainly has staying power, with her latest offering marking the tenth album of a career spanning 20 years. Her talent is obvious, and Abnormally is boosted by her swooping vocals. But it is all just a bit odd, really. From the bizarre album art – from whips to a chameleon, any prop will do for our Tori – to the sinister quality of many of the songs, I don’t see who she appeals to. And this does not help a marathon album in which, at seventeen songs, the finishing line is rarely in sight.
The album waits until track five to kick into something resembling life, with the optimistically named “Not Dying Today” supplying a surprise variation on the keyboard-driven melancholy. Not that we should be surprised at the lack of party poppers – this is a woman with a lot to get off her chest. Rape and a miscarriage have provided rich source material for her music in the past and you get the impression emotional toil is always bubbling away below the surface.
Which is something I could happily do without. Computer scientists with Goth pretensions will no doubt love it. But as one not up for jumping off that cliff just yet, it is an album I would happily forget.
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