toritime
So I was tooling around in a Tori community earlier and saw something interesting that I thought I'd do here. You're supposed to pick your favorite and least favorite song off of each album. In this here personal post, I'm gonna write about why each song wins the title it does.
Little Earthquakes
Favorite - Precious Things
Least Favorite - China
Favorite Bee Side - Here. In My Head
Precious Things just *moves* me. That higher pitched piano pounding in the beginning and when those drums kick in... my heart is beating faster just thinking about it. Also, it speaks to the ugly girl inside of me, the one who nobody wants to be friends with, and certainly nobody wants to date. Basically, it speaks to the woman scorned inside of me.
China is just... corny to me. The way she sings the word "sometimes" makes me cringe every time. Also, "China decorates our table?" C'mon, Tori.
Here. In My Head is my favorite bee side because of her performance of it on that old school LIttle Earthquakes VHS tape. That's actually the only concert video that she didn't seem totally incoherent and weird in. Her performance of Here. In My Head was a little creepy, but not *too* creepy. It's certainly not her performance of Cornflake Girl on the RAINN concert video. *shudders*
Under the Pink
Favorite - Cloud on my Tongue
Least Favorite - Icicle
Favorite Bee Side - Honey
Holy shit, Cloud on my Tongue. It sounds like 15-year-old me looking out the window in the dead of winter as big fat snowflakes fall through the light cast by yellow street lamps in the middle of the night. Or of 24-year-old me laying in bed with Holly contemplating the demise of my relationship with Andrew while my neighbor burns leaves in the fall. Basically, it makes me think of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel during my deepest despairs. It's beautiful, it's flowy, it makes me want to cry and dance. It's almost perfect. My only gripe - SPIT, TORI! Jesus fucking christ, did you seriously not feel the spit garbling around in your mouth during the "circles and circles and circles, again"? Did you not hear it on the fucking playback? During the mastering? Did ANYONE ELSE hear it? God, that song would be absolutely PERFECT if that didn't happen.
I'm not a fan of Icicle. I remember being a teenager and thinking it was cheesy and indulgent, even then. In my opinion, if you're going to write a song about masturbation it shouldn't be boring. And that's exactly what I think this song is.
Honey is my favorite bee side... probably ever. Her voice has never sounded as perfect with the piano as it does in this song. They practically melt together.
Boys for Pele
Favorite - Father Lucifer
Least Favorite - In the Springtime of His Voodoo
I should mention that Boys for Pele is my absolute favorite Tori album. She has such fire, such passion on this one. Father Lucifer is my favorite because of the amazing vocal parts. That whole triple-layered part gives me chills every single time I hear it... and I've probably heard it a three thousand times.
I never liked In the Springtime of His Voodoo. I just hate the way she sings in it. Unfortunately, it seems like she decided to keep singing with that weird nasally kind of voice in later albums.
From the Choirgirl Hotel
Favorite - Playboy Mommy
Least Favorite - She's Your Cocaine
So. Choirgirl. I must admit - I sobbed my eyes out the first time I heard it. It was such a huge departure from Pele. There were songs that I couldn't even hear a piano on at all. It was really rock-based, which is all right I guess... but if I wanted rock I would put on rock. I really liked the girl-and-her-piano thing, with the occasional band accompaniment. Playboy Mommy was a really great track, though. I loved the squeezebox sound in it, the imagery she used, and of course, the "talkin' 'bout Hosanna" part.
She's Your Cocaine is exactly what made me cry about this album. Tori uses her shrill voice a lot in this song, and it's just shitted up even more with the boring noise tracks behind it.
To Venus and Back
Favorite - 1000 Oceans
I loved 1000 Oceans. It was a really pretty ballad. The video was good, too. You may notice that I don't have a least favorite for this album. That's because I thought most of the entire rest of the album tied for the "least favorite" title. This is really where Tori lost me. I thought I cried when I heard Choirgirl. This album was full of boring, electronic trancy kind of stuff. Don't get me wrong - sometimes I'm in the mood for some good electronic trancy music. But this isn't good. Almost no song stands out as a good one besides 1000 Oceans or Concertina.
Strange Little Girls
I barely even gave this album a second listen. I was so disappointed with her selections and renditions on this album. Even songs I thought might be cool like Enjoy the Silence or Happiness is a Warm Gun... garbage. I have since read that she only put this album together to finish out her record contract with Atlantic... that kinda makes it all right that this is part of her discography. On the whole, though, I couldn't even sit through it to pick a favorite or a least favorite. I was actually excited when it was first coming out because I usually love Tori's covers. I was so let down.
Scarlett's Walk
Favorite - Don't Make Me Come to Vegas
I loved Don't Make Me Come to Vegas. It was subtle and groovy, and I thought the lyrics were pretty good. This album made me be friends with Tori again. It certainly wasn't Pele, but it also certainly wasn't Venus. I still couldn't pick a least favorite, just because there were a few that I thought were just unimpressive. None of them caused a violent reaction like some of the ones on Choirgirl or Venus, but there were a few that just didn't do anything at all for me.
The Beekeeper
Favorite - Parasol
Least Favorite - Ireland/Cars and Guitars/Witness
I really liked Parasol, mostly because of the structure of the song. It's generally pretty, but when the chorus opens up the way it does... it's sigh worthy. Good sigh worthy. I also think it's a good mix of the piano and the rest of the band. The piano/keyboard isn't drowned out by drums or guitars, which is nice.
The three-way tie just HAD to be done. I hate all of those songs. Yeah, violent reaction here. What is that corny "cha-chi-chi-cha" thing in the beginning of Ireland? And dude... "sha-na-na-na"? Seriously, Cars and Guitars? And Witness just had this awful church group feel to it. God, I hated the keyboard sound in it, too. And why the hell is she singing like that?
American Doll Posse
Favorite - Bouncing Off Clouds
God, Bouncing Off Clouds rocks. Period. I love the drums on this, one, too. Because they're so simple. They perfectly accent the piano.
I couldn't pick a least favorite for this album, either. I get it - it's a concept album. But seriously... did Tori have to put 37 40 second songs on here? I simply can't choose which little shitter song I like the least. Come to think of it, though, none of the full-length songs stand out, either. This album really features that nasal weirdly accented Tori voice that I must say I'm not a fan of. But shit, this whole album was worth listening to just to hear Bouncing Off Clouds.
Abnormally Attracted to Sin
Favorite - Welcome to England
Least Favorite - Not Dying Today
Now, I've only had this album for a couple of days so I might change my mind about my selections. I think that Welcome to England is the most interesting sounding on the album so far. I found most of the songs to be forgettable, but this one sticks out. It's busier than I normally like a Tori song to be, but I think that's just cuz I'm old school.
Good God, Not Dying Today. Her lyric, "I said, 'What the hell?!'" makes me throw up in my mouth. This song sounds like Sweet Dreams's annoying little sister. It's jaunty and rock-y, but crappy in the way that Sweet Dreams rules.
So, I'm clearly one of those people who fall into the old school category of Tori fan. No album, or song really, after Boys for Pele has changed my life in any substantial way. Those first three albums, though... they're ingrained in my soul in a very specific way. I listened to those songs incessantly during the most formative of all my years - young puberty formative years AND adult formative years alike.
I feel like I relate a lot more to the girl-at-the-piano-spewing-emotion persona more than the girl rock star persona. I mean, I know that's what she's always wanted to be - otherwise Y Kant Tori Read wouldn't have been a thing she did. But I liked her song writing and her voice a LOT better on those first three albums.
Anyway, there are only really three other artists who I feel have influenced me as much as Tori did: the Beatles, Tool, and Ani DiFranco. Maybe I'll have time to do a post for each of these bands like I did this one. It's fun for me to go through a band's discography and remember why they're my favorites. :D
Little Earthquakes
Favorite - Precious Things
Least Favorite - China
Favorite Bee Side - Here. In My Head
Precious Things just *moves* me. That higher pitched piano pounding in the beginning and when those drums kick in... my heart is beating faster just thinking about it. Also, it speaks to the ugly girl inside of me, the one who nobody wants to be friends with, and certainly nobody wants to date. Basically, it speaks to the woman scorned inside of me.
China is just... corny to me. The way she sings the word "sometimes" makes me cringe every time. Also, "China decorates our table?" C'mon, Tori.
Here. In My Head is my favorite bee side because of her performance of it on that old school LIttle Earthquakes VHS tape. That's actually the only concert video that she didn't seem totally incoherent and weird in. Her performance of Here. In My Head was a little creepy, but not *too* creepy. It's certainly not her performance of Cornflake Girl on the RAINN concert video. *shudders*
Under the Pink
Favorite - Cloud on my Tongue
Least Favorite - Icicle
Favorite Bee Side - Honey
Holy shit, Cloud on my Tongue. It sounds like 15-year-old me looking out the window in the dead of winter as big fat snowflakes fall through the light cast by yellow street lamps in the middle of the night. Or of 24-year-old me laying in bed with Holly contemplating the demise of my relationship with Andrew while my neighbor burns leaves in the fall. Basically, it makes me think of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel during my deepest despairs. It's beautiful, it's flowy, it makes me want to cry and dance. It's almost perfect. My only gripe - SPIT, TORI! Jesus fucking christ, did you seriously not feel the spit garbling around in your mouth during the "circles and circles and circles, again"? Did you not hear it on the fucking playback? During the mastering? Did ANYONE ELSE hear it? God, that song would be absolutely PERFECT if that didn't happen.
I'm not a fan of Icicle. I remember being a teenager and thinking it was cheesy and indulgent, even then. In my opinion, if you're going to write a song about masturbation it shouldn't be boring. And that's exactly what I think this song is.
Honey is my favorite bee side... probably ever. Her voice has never sounded as perfect with the piano as it does in this song. They practically melt together.
Boys for Pele
Favorite - Father Lucifer
Least Favorite - In the Springtime of His Voodoo
I should mention that Boys for Pele is my absolute favorite Tori album. She has such fire, such passion on this one. Father Lucifer is my favorite because of the amazing vocal parts. That whole triple-layered part gives me chills every single time I hear it... and I've probably heard it a three thousand times.
I never liked In the Springtime of His Voodoo. I just hate the way she sings in it. Unfortunately, it seems like she decided to keep singing with that weird nasally kind of voice in later albums.
From the Choirgirl Hotel
Favorite - Playboy Mommy
Least Favorite - She's Your Cocaine
So. Choirgirl. I must admit - I sobbed my eyes out the first time I heard it. It was such a huge departure from Pele. There were songs that I couldn't even hear a piano on at all. It was really rock-based, which is all right I guess... but if I wanted rock I would put on rock. I really liked the girl-and-her-piano thing, with the occasional band accompaniment. Playboy Mommy was a really great track, though. I loved the squeezebox sound in it, the imagery she used, and of course, the "talkin' 'bout Hosanna" part.
She's Your Cocaine is exactly what made me cry about this album. Tori uses her shrill voice a lot in this song, and it's just shitted up even more with the boring noise tracks behind it.
To Venus and Back
Favorite - 1000 Oceans
I loved 1000 Oceans. It was a really pretty ballad. The video was good, too. You may notice that I don't have a least favorite for this album. That's because I thought most of the entire rest of the album tied for the "least favorite" title. This is really where Tori lost me. I thought I cried when I heard Choirgirl. This album was full of boring, electronic trancy kind of stuff. Don't get me wrong - sometimes I'm in the mood for some good electronic trancy music. But this isn't good. Almost no song stands out as a good one besides 1000 Oceans or Concertina.
Strange Little Girls
I barely even gave this album a second listen. I was so disappointed with her selections and renditions on this album. Even songs I thought might be cool like Enjoy the Silence or Happiness is a Warm Gun... garbage. I have since read that she only put this album together to finish out her record contract with Atlantic... that kinda makes it all right that this is part of her discography. On the whole, though, I couldn't even sit through it to pick a favorite or a least favorite. I was actually excited when it was first coming out because I usually love Tori's covers. I was so let down.
Scarlett's Walk
Favorite - Don't Make Me Come to Vegas
I loved Don't Make Me Come to Vegas. It was subtle and groovy, and I thought the lyrics were pretty good. This album made me be friends with Tori again. It certainly wasn't Pele, but it also certainly wasn't Venus. I still couldn't pick a least favorite, just because there were a few that I thought were just unimpressive. None of them caused a violent reaction like some of the ones on Choirgirl or Venus, but there were a few that just didn't do anything at all for me.
The Beekeeper
Favorite - Parasol
Least Favorite - Ireland/Cars and Guitars/Witness
I really liked Parasol, mostly because of the structure of the song. It's generally pretty, but when the chorus opens up the way it does... it's sigh worthy. Good sigh worthy. I also think it's a good mix of the piano and the rest of the band. The piano/keyboard isn't drowned out by drums or guitars, which is nice.
The three-way tie just HAD to be done. I hate all of those songs. Yeah, violent reaction here. What is that corny "cha-chi-chi-cha" thing in the beginning of Ireland? And dude... "sha-na-na-na"? Seriously, Cars and Guitars? And Witness just had this awful church group feel to it. God, I hated the keyboard sound in it, too. And why the hell is she singing like that?
American Doll Posse
Favorite - Bouncing Off Clouds
God, Bouncing Off Clouds rocks. Period. I love the drums on this, one, too. Because they're so simple. They perfectly accent the piano.
I couldn't pick a least favorite for this album, either. I get it - it's a concept album. But seriously... did Tori have to put 37 40 second songs on here? I simply can't choose which little shitter song I like the least. Come to think of it, though, none of the full-length songs stand out, either. This album really features that nasal weirdly accented Tori voice that I must say I'm not a fan of. But shit, this whole album was worth listening to just to hear Bouncing Off Clouds.
Abnormally Attracted to Sin
Favorite - Welcome to England
Least Favorite - Not Dying Today
Now, I've only had this album for a couple of days so I might change my mind about my selections. I think that Welcome to England is the most interesting sounding on the album so far. I found most of the songs to be forgettable, but this one sticks out. It's busier than I normally like a Tori song to be, but I think that's just cuz I'm old school.
Good God, Not Dying Today. Her lyric, "I said, 'What the hell?!'" makes me throw up in my mouth. This song sounds like Sweet Dreams's annoying little sister. It's jaunty and rock-y, but crappy in the way that Sweet Dreams rules.
So, I'm clearly one of those people who fall into the old school category of Tori fan. No album, or song really, after Boys for Pele has changed my life in any substantial way. Those first three albums, though... they're ingrained in my soul in a very specific way. I listened to those songs incessantly during the most formative of all my years - young puberty formative years AND adult formative years alike.
I feel like I relate a lot more to the girl-at-the-piano-spewing-emotion persona more than the girl rock star persona. I mean, I know that's what she's always wanted to be - otherwise Y Kant Tori Read wouldn't have been a thing she did. But I liked her song writing and her voice a LOT better on those first three albums.
Anyway, there are only really three other artists who I feel have influenced me as much as Tori did: the Beatles, Tool, and Ani DiFranco. Maybe I'll have time to do a post for each of these bands like I did this one. It's fun for me to go through a band's discography and remember why they're my favorites. :D