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Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted to Sin Review

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by: Emily Costantino

Normally, I am an ardent fan of 90's grunge-era female artists such as PJ Harvey and Fiona Apple, and have welcomed their forays into the new millenium with open arms. I expected to feel the same way about Tori Amos's tenth studio album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, but after a few listens, I couldn't help but feel ambivalent. It's not bad but really not that great, but one thing's for sure: Tori is still perfectly willing to be the poster child for angsty teenage girls.

Abnormally Attracted to Sin explores typically Tori themes such as religion, temptation, confliction, and anguish. The album's title song is filled with images of churches and sexual temptation. "Maybe California" is Tori at her heartwrenching best, weaving a tale of a mother contemplating suicide. The album ends on just the right note somewhere between melancholy and optimism with "Lady in Blue." It's overflowing with metaphor, but sometimes this combined with Tori's weird pronunciation of words can leave listeners scratching their heads.

With this album, Tori continues to prove that she is a master at creating haunting piano melodies, especially on tracks such as "Curtain Call" and "Ophelia." This sound is often oddly combined with heavy percussion, New Wave synth, and electric guitar. In fact, "Police Me" gets downright grungy with that guitar, and not necessarily in a good way. Tori also tries her hand at a cabaret-style sound with a lounge-y piano in "Mary Jane" (a thinly-veiled metaphor for, well, you know) and with staccato strings in "That Guy." Altogether, the album seems a bit confused.

The main problem with the album, it seems, is that it is epically long, featuring 17 songs (18 if you count the iTunes-exclusive bonus track, "Oscar's Theme"), but the music isn't quite epic enough to match its length. In fact, the album gets vague and even forgettable at times, and these weaker songs are what hold it back. This album, I believe, could have been much better if Tori only had an editor to banish some of the "eh" songs to the B-side where they belong.

 

 

 

 

TOUR DATES:
07/10: Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theater
07/11: Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
07/13: Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
07/14: Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
07/16: San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s
07/17: Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
07/18: Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre
07/20: Salt Lake City, UT @ Abravenal Hall
07/21: Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
07/23: Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
07/24: Grand Prairie, TX @ Nokia Theatre
07/25: Austin, TX @ The Long Center for the Performing Arts
07/27: Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park Amphitheatre
07/28: Orlando, FL @ Bob Carr Performing Arts Center
07/29: Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach @ The Jackie Gleason Theater
07/31: Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center
08/01: Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall
08/03: Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
08/04: Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theatre
08/05: Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre
08/07: Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre
08/08: Detroit, MI @ Detroit Opera House
08/10: Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
08/11: Montreal, QC @ St. Denis Theatre,
08/13: New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall,
08/15: Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre
08/17: Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion


 

 
 

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