Tori Amos

Sound Familiar?

“Crucify,” “Cornflake Girl,” “God”

Who Is She?

A classically-trained piano prodigy with some of the most personal songs you’ll ever hear.

Myra Ellen Amos started playing the piano at age two, and by the time she turned five, she had a hefty scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Maryland. Yes, age five. I couldn’t even spell Christmas at age five.

As she grew older, Myra got really into rock music, much to her family’s disdain. As the age of 13, she began playing in gay bars and piano bars (with her father as a chaperone, of course). Myra didn’t get noticed on a local level until she won a teen talent contest in 1977 with a song called “More Than Just a Friend.” She won another contest with a song called “Baltimore,” which became her first single.

(Fun fact: Myra Amos performed under her middle name, Ellen, until a boyfriend told her the name Tori suited her better.)

At 21, Tori Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career. In 1986, she formed a group called Y Kant Tori Read (a reference to her days at the Peabody Conservatory, where she was able to play songs by ear, but couldn’t sight read). The group released a self-titled album in 1988, but it was a commercial failure. Y Kant Tori Read disbanded shortly after the album’s release.

Even though her band didn’t make it, Tori still had a six-record contract with Atlantic Records. The label bigwigs wanted a new album by 1990, so Tori gave them Little Earthquakes in 1992. The album touched on the more personal aspects of Tori’s life, including her religious upbringing, sexual awakening and sexual assault. Little Earthquakes became her commercial breakthrough and paved the way for her next two albums (1994’s Under the Pink and 1996’s Boys for Pele) to climb the charts.

Tori took a detour into electronic territory with her last two ‘90s releases, From the Choirgirl Hotel and To Venus and Back. Both albums deal with womanhood, from marriage to miscarriages (Tori is very candid in her music, choosing not to sugarcoat any of her experiences).

Where Is She Now?

Still playing deeply personal piano ballads and just being a badass babe in general.

Tori became a mother in 2000, which inspired her to release a cover album in 2001 called Strange Little Girls. She recorded covers of songs written by men about women, choosing to reverse the gender roles to show a woman’s perspective. The album included covers of Eminem’s “’97 Bonnie and Clyde,” Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” and Slayer’s “Raining Blood.” If that’s not an eclectic mix of songs, I don’t know what is.

After fulfilling her contract with Atlantic, Tori moved to Epic Records and released Scarlet’s Walk in 2002. Scarlet’s Walk is a concept album (or “sonic novel”) that explores Tori’s alter ego, Scarlet.

(Fun Sam fact: “A Sorta Fairytale” is one of my favorite songs, and the music video is one of the most amazingly bizarre things I’ve ever seen. Tori Amos + Adrien Brody + feet = romance.)

After a couple more concept albums, Tori left Epic Records and moved to Universal Republic to release Abnormally Attracted to Sin in 2009. A few classically-influenced albums followed (including Night of Hunters, which paid tribute to such composers as Bach, Chopin and Debussy), and soon after the release of her most recent album (2012’s Gold Dust), Tori formed her own label, Transmission Galactic.

But Why Tori Amos?

Her new album, Unrepentant Geraldines, is set to be released in spring of this year! According to Tori, this album will be a welcome return to her earlier, more personal work.

What Does Sam Think?

If you think I’m in love with Tori Amos…well, you’re right. Perhaps my intense admiration for Fiona Apple made it a little obvious, as both ladies rock it out on the piano. The difference between Fiona and Tori (and yes, there is a difference) is the delivery.

Fiona definitely has more angst, which is apparent in songs like “Sleep to Dream” and “Limp.” She isn’t afraid to be aggressive and a little intimidating. Tori, on the other hand, takes a more subtle approach. She does have some anger in her lyrics (see one of my favorite lines, “So you can make me come / That doesn’t make you Jesus” from “Precious Things”), but she has a much softer delivery. Her voice is incredibly emotive, but she kind of casually delivers biting lines like the ones I just mentioned.

I think Tori’s at her best when she keeps things personal. If you’re not familiar with her more recent stuff, that’s okay. I mean, unless you really like classical music, I would avoid it. Of course it sounds beautiful in a classic way, but it’s kind of a hollow beauty. Like I said, Tori is great at emoting in her music. And while she’s a fantastic pianist, I’m not really into hearing her play a sonata with little to no singing. I’m glad to hear that she’s going back to her original style, though.

One of my favorite things about Tori is that she continuously takes risks. She’s done everything from intricate concept albums (Scarlet’s Walk) to ambitious cover songs (Strange Little Girls) to classical compositions (Night of Hunters). Not all of them work, but at least she keeps things fresh. I do think it’s time that she returns to her confessional style of music, though. And of course I would like to see some more experimental music videos.

-- Sam Boyer, reporting from the ‘90s.

Alanis Morissette

Sound Familiar?

“You Oughta Know,” “Ironic,” “Thank U”

Who Is She?

The reigning Canadian queen of angsty girl music.

Before Alanis Morissette was ripping Dave Coulier a new asshole in “You Oughta Know,” she was flexing her acting muscles in You Can’t Do That on Television and crooning Top 40 hits in Canada. In 1991, Alanis released her debut album Alanis, which eventually went platinum. Of course, it was only released in her native country.

The dance-pop debut earned Alanis the title of “The Debbie Gibson of Canada.” (You ‘80s babies should get the reference.) Alanis spawned the glitzy single “Too Hot,” which gained a handful of Juno Award nominations. (Fun fact: Alanis’ first tour was as an opener for Vanilla Ice.)

A year later, our Canadian queen released a ballad-driven follow-up called Now Is the Time. It was a commercial failure, but paved the way for a more personal third album that you may have heard of.

Keep in mind that Alanis wasn’t even out of high school when she released her first two albums. After graduating in 1993, she moved to Toronto to start recording Jagged Little Pill. By spring of 1995, Alanis had completed the album and signed with Maverick Records (only after almost every other label had passed on the album).

Jagged Little Pill was released internationally in 1995 and was only expected to sell enough copies to pay the bills. But once influential Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM put “You Oughta Know” into rotation, Alanis’ popularity snowballed.

Once “You Oughta Know” hit MTV, Jagged Little Pill went straight to the top of the charts. Subsequent singles “All I Really Want” and “Hand In My Pocket” enjoyed moderate success, but it was “Ironic” that proved to be Alanis’ biggest hit.

Jagged Little Pill is currently in the top 20 best selling records of all time, beating out Purple Rain and Abbey Road. How’s that for success?

The album also earned four Grammys in 1996, including Album of the Year.

Following the 18-month tour, Alanis decided that she needed a vacation, so she headed to India for six weeks.

In 1998, Alanis was featured as a guest vocalist on Ringo Starr’s album Vertical Man and Dave Matthews Band’s Before These Crowded Streets. She also contributed the hauntingly gorgeous track “Uninvited” to the City of Angels soundtrack, which won the 1999 Grammy for Best Rock Song.

The follow-up to Jagged Little Pill was 1998’s Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Considering the fact that matching the success of such a huge record is almost impossible, Infatuation Junkie did surprisingly well.

The wordy lyrics alienated many fans and Infatuation Junkie ended up selling considerably less than its predecessor. However, it still received positive reviews, including a four-star review from Rolling Stone.

Alanis rounded out the decade with an appearance at the disastrous Woodstock ’99 and a tour with fellow singer/songwriter Tori Amos.

Where Is She Now?

Still releasing albums, though slightly less angsty.

In 2001, Alanis released Under Rug Swept, which featured guest musicians Eric Avery (of Jane’s Addiction), Dean DeLeo (of Stone Temple Pilots), Flea (of Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Meshell Ndegeocello.

The songstress caused a little controversy in 2004 with her appearance at the Juno Awards. Alanis hosted the ceremony dressed in a bathrobe, which she took off to reveal a flesh-colored bodysuit. The stunt was a response to increased US censorship following Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.

Unfortunately, the increased censorship also hindered Alanis’ promotion of her next album, 2004’s So-Called Chaos. The lead single “Everything” failed to achieve commercial success in the US partly due to American radio stations refusing to play it. The first word in the song happened to be “asshole,” which didn’t fly with the uptight censors.

After a tour with The Rolling Stones in 2005 and a tongue-in-cheek cover of The Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps,” Alanis released her seventh studio album, 2008’s Flavors of Entanglement.

Alanis made some appearances on various charity singles and American Idol in 2010, and announced that she had begun work on the follow-up to Flavors of Entanglement in 2011.

But Why Alanis Morissette?

Her new album drops this year! Look for Havoc and Bright Lights on August 24. In the meantime, enjoy Alanis’ newest single “Guardian.”

What Does Sam Think?

Female singer/songwriters of the ‘90s had some balls. Fiona, Tori and Alanis, among others, proved that girls could rock, too. These women were part of a new breed of female musicians. They were the antithesis to image-centered artists like Madonna. Instead of working to preserve a persona, they spoke their minds.

Alanis Morissette stands out because she made the huge jump from teen pop star to sharp-tongued alternagirl. How many other female musicians have gone from releasing dance-pop hits to songs about going down on Uncle Joey in a movie theater? I challenge you to send me a list if you can.

If you started reading this entry wondering where the hell Alanis went, you’re not alone. As you can see in the brief history above, her albums since Jagged Little Pill haven’t been nearly as successful. As much as I’d like to say that this is a grave injustice, it’s really not that surprising.

You see, Alanis went soul-searching after her jump to mainstream stardom and picked up a little wisdom on the way. You can hear the drastic shift in maturity from Jagged Little Pill to Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (which is a fantastic album, by the way). That caught most fans off guard because they were expecting another bitter break-up song like “You Oughta Know” or even a radio-friendly hit like “Ironic.” Instead, they got a grown woman singing about moving on and finding spirituality.

It may sound pretentious on paper, but it Alanis made it work. Though she’s faded into slight obscurity, she still makes the music she wants to make. Her later albums (with the exception of Under Rug Swept) are a little lackluster, but I’m glad she didn’t fall into the trap of churning out 10 more albums that sound exactly like Jagged Little Pill.

The bottom line is: Alanis is a queen. She is the poster-woman for girl power (and not in the Spice Girls sense of the phrase). She’ll always hold a special place in my heart, even if she doesn’t really know how irony works.

-- Sam Boyer, reporting from the ‘90s.