new introductory bit here.

This is a reviews page based on my own collection, which just keeps growing despite itself. If it isn't listed here, it's because I don't own it yet, or I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Also, bother your local "new rock" radio station and make sure they are playing "new rock" and not "Rock the Casbah," which is not new.

note: entries in red text indicate my pick for the artist's best available album. A gold numeral indicates the POPocalypse winner of the year's best album; second- and third-place winners are in blue. Green lettering indicates an obviously exploitative record company compilation without apparent artist input.

North Carolina native Tori Amos began her career in the late 80s as frontwoman for a hopelessly naive big-haired pop metal act called Y Kant Tori Read, but survived that lame West Coast experience to emerge as one of pop's most interesting faces of the '90s, who began her proper career with 1991's Little Earthquakes, a piano-led tidal wave of emotions. Coupled with the visually stunning lead video for the beautiful "Silent All These Years" single, it heralded a major new talent who refused any compromise in her explorations of everything from broken hearts to her harrowing experience of being raped. Earthquakes didn't make the US top 40, and radio and MTV both eventually shied away from her, but she built a mammoth following that ensured sold-out concerts, strong sales, and cultish scrutiny anyway.

1994's Under the Pink cemented her sales power, going top 20 in the US and making #1 in England, where her radio play and fan base seemed most concentrated. To their credit, Atlantic Records have ensured most of her singles have remained in print thanks to the rabid interest of new fans. The album was very much a progression from the first, with nothing new in sound or tone. However, fans of the first will certainly enjoy the second, with standout tracks including "Past the Mission," "The Waitress" and the single "Cornflake Girl."

The 1994-95 tour led, after only a few months' break, into 1996's very successful Boys for Pele. This third album saw her moving further afield from the simple majesty of her debut album and perfecting a lyrical style reminiscent of Neil Young in his heyday. Her characters have already dealt with a nasty backstory and the songs are like confessionals, giving the audience only hints at what's happened. Compounding the unpleasantness are the strange images of the CD booklet, featuring glimpses of Tori walking away from a burning piano outside a convenience store, and breast-feeding a small pig while ghostly children hammer at windows.

She took a short break thereafter, during which she married, and by the time she resurfaced, she had moved a step back to Earth after the disturbing Pele. The imagery of from the choirgirl hotel is not as frightening, and the tone not as angry all the time. It's still a dense ride for newcomers, and the almost successful singles "Spark" and "Raspberry Swirl" probably didn't win too many new fans, but they're still great. The remarkable video for "Spark," which features one of the most visually stunning images she has yet presented, caused much controversy and cost her what little airtime the video outlets had so far allowed. Nevertheless, the singles from the album continued into 1999, leaving only a few months off before a double-set, to venus and back was launched. One of the two CDs included was a new album, promoted with a barrage of new singles in a bewildering number of configurations, while the second was a live set of earlier career highlights.

TORI AMOS: Live at the Center Stage 1994! (Atlanta, 4/1/94, Laughing Cow)
An average-quality live boot of this 14-song Atlanta concert. Tori chatters a lot between songs, and the high points include "God," "Leather" and a harrowing "Me and a Gun."

TORI AMOS: Fairy Tales (London 4/29/94 & Raleigh 7/29/94, KTS)
The sound quality and the performance of tracks 1-11, the London show, is superb. Tori was playing a stunning medley of "American Pie" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" during these shows. "Bells for Her" and "China" are other great moments. This edition does not include the three songs she played as encores at the London show, but fills the running time with four lower quality audience-recorded numbers from the 17 she played at Raleigh that summer.