You got my short version already. I didn't think it was possible for her to top American Doll Posse in terms of terrible album title and packaging...and maybe she didn't, but she sure came close. I'd like to say those things don't matter, but they do, especially in someone as meticulous as Tori appears to be. What exactly does it mean to be "abnormally attracted to sin?" If "sin" weren't attractive, it wouldn't really be a problem. Maybe I should have listened to the lyrics of the title track to determine the answer to this question, but I didn't.
I don't think of her albums as containing "filler," especially lately when they also don't contain "hits." It's more that she has loads of ideas and no firm grasp on which ones are good, so they all end up on the record.
Up through Beekeeper she's always had at least one track on each album I'd skip reflexively after the first few listens. In case you want to know:
"Happy Phantom" and "Me and a Gun" "God" and "The Waitress" "Professional Widow" and "Little Amsterdam" "Raspberry Swirl" and "She's Your Cocaine" "Juarez" and "Datura" (and, often, "Riot Poof") "Wampum Prayer" and "Pancake" "Witness," "Hoochie Woman," "Original Sinsuality"
I don't include Strange Little Girls because it contains only four tracks I DO listen to: "New Age," "Strange Little Girl," "Rattlesnakes," and "Real Men."
And now there's Doll Posse, and I'm sure there are a few songs I still have on my iPod but I couldn't name them for you. With this new one I previewed it on Lala and the only track I liked enough on first listen to allow that I might ever want to hear it again was "Ophelia," probably because it sounded enough like her usual stuff to be bearable.
It's not totally awful. I do applaud her musical eclecticism, such as it is, and there was little about the songs that was actively off-putting. And every Tori album has had to grow on me (except for the ones that didn't, like ADP and SLG). But only ADP and this album have failed to floor me on first listen with at least ONE track, and it's feeling to me like she's just lost me.
I'm not sure what it is. The urgency is gone? Not every album is going to be sing-for-your-life catharsis (LE, BFP, FTCH), and she won't always have a loose, vague, impressionistic story to tell (SW) or just a knockout collection of gorgeous songs (UTP, and with exceptions, TVAB). But I'd be more excited about an album of 20s jazz covers from her at this point, and that's saying a LOT.
My qualms about the title were lessened when I found out it's from Guys & Dolls. The phrase sounds lame when you think of it coming from Alternative Chick-Rock Provocateuse, but from a musical character its inflated redundancy seems appropriately campy and prudish.
On the first few listens, I agree that my impression was less "actively off-putting" than the last two. Which is certainly faint praise. But I'm liking it more and more as I listen to it.
It's more that she has loads of ideas and no firm grasp on which ones are good, so they all end up on the record.
I think that this is a good summation of what's happening with her. She's got too many ideas, and she's in an echo chamber that won't force her to work on those ideas. I really think that she needs to (a) stop producing her own albums, and (b) try out another recording studio. She's in a comfort zone, and she needs to come out of it.
I don't think of her albums as containing "filler," especially lately when they also don't contain "hits." It's more that she has loads of ideas and no firm grasp on which ones are good, so they all end up on the record.
Up through Beekeeper she's always had at least one track on each album I'd skip reflexively after the first few listens. In case you want to know:
"Happy Phantom" and "Me and a Gun"
"God" and "The Waitress"
"Professional Widow" and "Little Amsterdam"
"Raspberry Swirl" and "She's Your Cocaine"
"Juarez" and "Datura" (and, often, "Riot Poof")
"Wampum Prayer" and "Pancake"
"Witness," "Hoochie Woman," "Original Sinsuality"
I don't include Strange Little Girls because it contains only four tracks I DO listen to: "New Age," "Strange Little Girl," "Rattlesnakes," and "Real Men."
And now there's Doll Posse, and I'm sure there are a few songs I still have on my iPod but I couldn't name them for you. With this new one I previewed it on Lala and the only track I liked enough on first listen to allow that I might ever want to hear it again was "Ophelia," probably because it sounded enough like her usual stuff to be bearable.
It's not totally awful. I do applaud her musical eclecticism, such as it is, and there was little about the songs that was actively off-putting. And every Tori album has had to grow on me (except for the ones that didn't, like ADP and SLG). But only ADP and this album have failed to floor me on first listen with at least ONE track, and it's feeling to me like she's just lost me.
I'm not sure what it is. The urgency is gone? Not every album is going to be sing-for-your-life catharsis (LE, BFP, FTCH), and she won't always have a loose, vague, impressionistic story to tell (SW) or just a knockout collection of gorgeous songs (UTP, and with exceptions, TVAB). But I'd be more excited about an album of 20s jazz covers from her at this point, and that's saying a LOT.
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On the first few listens, I agree that my impression was less "actively off-putting" than the last two. Which is certainly faint praise. But I'm liking it more and more as I listen to it.
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I think that this is a good summation of what's happening with her. She's got too many ideas, and she's in an echo chamber that won't force her to work on those ideas. I really think that she needs to (a) stop producing her own albums, and (b) try out another recording studio. She's in a comfort zone, and she needs to come out of it.
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