Tori Amos' The Beekeeper CD-- a disappointment

CraigL · 01-18-2005, 10:30 AM

Hey all,

I've been listening to this CD for the last few days and been struggling to get into it. I hate to say it but this is (by far) the worst album she's ever put out. Now in saying this, I'm a HUGE Tori fan. Seen her in concert more times than I can count. But this is now "tori-lite" and it's really working my nerves. Just a huge disappointment. The "duet" on The Power of Orange Knickers is atrocious and it sounds like he was added in at the last minute. Would have been a great song without it. Just wondering if anyone else has any thoughts. It's not coming out until later next month but...*ahem*...it's been leaked.

Chris · 01-19-2005, 10:26 AM

I received an honest, legitimate copy.. I too, am dissapointed. I've followed Tori for years, (since the first album) she's an important part of my life in a way that's hard to relate to people (I woke up from a coma to UtP after a very bad mugging) and I met my wife through her music.

But this album is to me as Y Kant Tori Read was in the 80s.. it's an attempt to get in and make an album that will "sell" to the adult contemporary market with very little merit behind it. It's not as challenging or well structured as "Boys for Pele" "Under the Pink" etc. and it's not as musical as "Little Earthquakes" or "Scarlett's Walk".. it breaks no new ground and seems very.. tired ;(

CraigL · 01-19-2005, 12:03 PM

Chris,

I think we've encountered one another in a different thread but I'm happy (and a little sad) to see that others are feeling the same. I have a good friend (who gave me my copy) and he seems to love it even more than SW. There are songs on here that seem unfinished or sound more like Demo's or alternate takes more than a finished, polished album. Does that make sense? Musically, it's just pretty boring.

I'm so sad.

I notice you don't even mention Venus and Choirgirl which are my two absolute favorite Tori albums. How did you feel about those?

Chris · 01-20-2005, 12:36 AM

I think Venus and Choirgirl were both very good albums. For sentimental reasons, and musically, I find her "peak" (IMHO) was probably "Under the Pink: Australian Ed. w/ B-Sides", and this album is easily the weakest.

Choirgirl often reminded me of middle Beatles albums.. sort of Tori's Revolver. It's a good album, with a few really stand out moments. To Venus and Back was a really mixed bag for me.. of the new material, some was very good.. but a lot I felt like "ok, where is this going?" (of course, we're leaving out Strange Little Girls, her remake album, but of that, the single "Time" is an incredible effort, and on her appearance on Lettermen following 9-11 in his first show back is one of the most amazing moments ever on television)

Scarlett's Walk is a hard one to judge.. it received some of her best critical reviews, and had some great moments in it (Wednesdays was a good number, etc.)

When I think of Tori, though, I often think of really challenging, different material when I feel she's at her best. Little Earthquakes was raw, emotional, heartfealt and some of her best vocals.

Under the Pink (IMHO) is like Tori's White Album (OK, I'm also a Beatles fan, so you'll get lots of comparisons) intricate songs that complement each other or can be taken seperately with a certain grace about the album that is hard to walk away from.

Boys for Pele is an album that grew on me and became one of my favs; it was an attempt to do something radically different, and kudos to her.. but since then, several of her albums have drifted into a fairly familiar formula.. they aren't (as a whole) as intricate nor as well focused as I think some of her earlier works are. This isn't to say she doesn't hit a home run when she's on (I'd buy Strange Little Girls for just two of the tracks alone, etc.)

This album, however, for me is missing that one "holy crap" song where I say "this is the artist I think she is" everything sounds much the same and the production values are not very good.

I'll give it a few more listens. The first time I heard Boys for Pele, I felt very mixed about it, as time wore on, I enjoyed it much more.. but this album just doesn't seem to have the storytelling intricacies that BfP did.

Mark_TS · 01-23-2005, 07:40 PM

I think she may be hit with the 'Columbia/Sony' curse:
once a popular, creative female singer moves to that label, they sort of get mediocre, or disappear.

an example: Kate Bush

they (Sony) either finally get them past their prime OR
they give them so much freedom that they self-indulge/destruct OR
they simply do not know how to properly 'market' the music.

But I sure wish WEA would put out the Singles Collection on DVD...

**HTF Ads**

Chris · 02-22-2005, 02:21 PM

Very reminiscent of all the trash that's going on with Fiona Apple, trapped in a situation where they don't want to release her album because it isn't "pop" enough at her label..

Bah. This album is truly a dissapointment.

CraigL · 02-22-2005, 03:59 PM

If you have a chance, check out Rolling Stone's review of the album. Spot on.

PerryD · 02-23-2005, 02:08 PM

I've listened to the new album twice, and overall I like it much better than Scarlet's Walk, which I liked better than Strange Little Girls, my least favorite album of hers.

The new album has much more song variety than SW. I felt the tracks from Scarlet's Walk just blended into one long boring song. On Beekeeper, Barons of Suburbia has the vibe of Precious Things, I like the cha-cha from Cars and Guitars, other tracks I enjoy right off are Witness and Sweet the Sting. I absolutely do not like the male voice singing with her in Power of Orange Knickers though.

I am disappointed that Atlantic records didn't ever release a 'B'-sides album, I have a few on CD and cassette, but she has so many more that I don't have the time and energy to track down.

CraigL · 02-23-2005, 02:16 PM

Quote:

I felt the tracks from Scarlet's Walk just blended into one long boring song.

That's EXACTLY how I feel about this album.

Quote:

she has so many more that I don't have the time and energy to track down.

You should email me. I have 1 CD for each album full of every B-side released.

Joseph J.D · 02-23-2005, 08:42 PM

Quote:

she has so many more that I don't have the time and energy to track down.

Ain't that the truth.....it took me several years to locate all the B-sides (spent a lot of time - and money - searching through used CD shops and record shows finding them all). Whenever I decide to pick up an ipod (or whatever MP3 player I choose)....they are all going in.

I haven't got my copy as yet.....the limited edition isn't available in Canada this week. Got fed up waiting and ordered through Amazon so it should come soon. Although the consensus here isn't favourable so far, I still look forward to listening to the new CD.