You are hereReview Challenge 7/125: Attaboys
Review Challenge 7/125: Attaboys
Ah, Boys for Pele. A clumsy, difficult introduction to Amos; an introduction not recommended by her fans largely for those reasons. Keep in mind, though, that Tori Amos fanatics are far from being on any radical end of the musical spectrum. There’s nothing ‘radical’ about any of Tori Amos’ records—feminism, a piano, some songs about men, and a whole bunch of—as Nabokov might say—“moth-bitten” mythologies.1 But don’t let that stop you, as Boys for Pele may just be Amos’ best work.
This was the first Tori Amos album I purchased, around two years ago. It didn’t ‘turn me off’ from her music, mainly because I found it so rich, very full-bodied and baroque. And, hey, there were a bunch of postmodern, ambient photos in the booklet, all of them probably taken with an ISO of like a billion. Two-years-ago-me was, doubtlessly, impressed.
But even more impressive than a bunch of cheesy Lomographs was the way Amos raged on this record. There was a hell of a lot of harpsichord but it all sounded violent, if at times hopelessly fragile. The wit was sharpened and honed, despite the occasional dose of forced eclecticism.2 It was a grand ole’ time, if songs about heroin and the ‘girl zone’ are your idea of fun.
Good times have to end somewhere, though, and one wonders why Amos had to make this record the musical equivalent of The Second Sex. Eighteen songs? That’s pushing it, especially when the hooks start to drift farther and farther apart from one another (“Putting the Damage On”). The first half of the record is generally fantastic, and it’s the second portion where one starts to encounter problems. Amos begins to soften her tone, and by the final track she sounds like a delicate twig, ready to snap. Why not finish strong?
Despite its shortcomings, Amos demonstrates on Boys for Pele the ability to merge highly idiosyncratic mumblings with classical flavour and alternative appeal. It may not be a work of genius, but this album is hard to pass up as its influence can be seen so clearly in the tender-throated starlets of today—Bat For Lashes, Poe, Fiona Apple. Boys for Pele isn’t magnificent, but it is essential.
Notes
1: Can't find the quote but I'm almost sure I've read it somewhere (maybe The Paris Review?)
2: Also demonstrated by Amos’ breastfeeding of a pig in the CD booklet.
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