Customer Reviews

Abnormally Attracted to Sin [Vinyl]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

By now there must be a division of Tori Amos fans--the ones, like myself, who like her earlier work, and the ones who like what she has done over the past decade. I'm sure there are die-hard fans like myself who subject themselves to everything Amos, and who might be lulled into a comfortable coma that feels (on the surface) blissful, but then the inability to come to sets in.

"Abnormally Attracted To Sin" carries on the Amos tradition set forth by "Strange Little Girls" back in 2001. Slick production, that also sounds flat and bland--like it was made behind a wall. Amos's clever and wry lyrics about the same old subjects--religion, sin, womanhood, etc. Plus her inimitable vocals which don't reach the dizzying heights of her earlier work anymore. She sounds like she's been taking Valium for the past decade, lazily churning her own butter, far from the taste buds of her adoring fans.

There's nothing here to get excited about. The songs come and go with no particular track standing out. This is just like her last three albums, and what's strange is she jumped record labels only to make the same album for a fourth time in a row. All of her albums this decade have been overstuffed (can Amos actually make a 40 minute album? She seems musically challenged to do so).

"Welcome To England" is a mediocre first choice as a single. What's she singing about? I don't know, I fell asleep already. To her credit, I liked "Give", "Maybe California", "500 Miles", and well, all the songs are just fine, really. That's the problem--there's nothing compelling or gripping here. Amos is supposed to represent intensity, originality, experimentation. All gone. It all died after "To Venus And Back" in 1999. Amos has gone through a longer blue period than Elton John.

Wake up and smell the coffee, Amos. Oh wait, that's all you've been doing for the past decade, because it's the only place your music has been heard--at Starbucks across the U.S. I expect more from you. I want my money's worth. Surprise me next time.

Here's how "Abnormally Attracted To Sin" compares to her other work:

1992 Little Earthquakes: Five Stars
1994 Under The Pink: Five Stars
1996 Boys For Pele: Five Stars
1998 From The Choirgirl Hotel: Five Stars
1999 To Venus And Back: Four Stars
2001 Strange Little Girls: Two Stars
2002 Scarlet's Walk: Three Stars
2005 The Beekeeper: Three and a Half Stars
2007 American Doll Posse: Three and a Half Stars
2009 Abnormally Attracted To Sin: Three Stars

Lots of people are moaning about this album on these pages. And I am honestly not sure why. Tori's voice sounds terrific, the lyrics are intelligent and the music is rich and melodious as well as interesting, colorful, and diverse. All on one CD clocking in at over 72 minutes! Who else bothers to do this these days - or can? I certainly don't want Tori to start kicking out 40 minute albums like every other recording "artist". She has more to offer and thankfully does so with a rare and rewarding consistency. Is the texting generation now so attention-span challenged to actually consider this a liability? Pitiful. And as for the ad-hominem attacks, they are utterly pointless and not worth rebuttal. I have every Tori Amos album and they are all excellent on their own terms. AAtS is no exception. In fact I have listened to it now for the 7th time in the 4 days since I bought it. So if you have found immersion in a Tori Amos record in the past a pleasing experience you should expect nothing less from this piece of work because the girl has still got it - in spades!

In the midst of such volley of criticism, I feel the need to redress an imbalance. This album is Tori's tautest, most exciting effort in (exactly) a decade. Many a fan has noticed (mostly with dismay) the change in direction in her music after "To Venus and Back", an abrupt change whose somewhat disheartening harbinger was an entire album of covers, "Strange Little Girls". What distinguished her subsequent output was a situation whereby diminishing melodic inventiveness was made up for (as we have seen happen so many times with lesser artists) by an inflation in para-musical aspects: the underlying "concept", the production, the duration, all of which became rather sprawling and overblown.

As of 2000, in other words, Tori began to sound--surprisingly--like somebody else. More specifically, in my opinion, she began to sound like Sheryl Crow on a good day (nothing wrong with that, except that we're talking about Tori Amos here, a unique artist whose first stunning string of 5 masterpieces inured listeners--unfairly, no doubt-- to expect excellence as a matter of course). The softer, folkier, more upbeat, mainstream sound which permeated "Beekeper" and "Scarlett" I felt only skimmed the surface of her reservoir of talent.

The albums, mind you, were not bad by any normal standard (not even the least of them, "Beekeeper"): the point is, perhaps, that they could have easily been made by somebody else. They ceased to be unmistakably Tori's, as her uniqueness only surfaced in glimpses and twists, diluted over an ever-lengthening landscape of not-so-essential songs enslaved to a fastidious, often Byzantine "concept" arc.

A return to form was announced by American Doll Posse. The editing laxity was still rampant, but her Sheryl Crow routine (enriched by echoes of Juliana Hatfield, among others) reached heights that Sheryl herself could never have attained. And there was a lot of Tori-ness to it too, more so than in the previous two albums, so things were indeed looking up. (She is indeed one of those artists who draw their musical strength from their dark side, rather than their sunny one: and in Posse, luckily, the dark side is back: which means, thank goodness, no more bees and vineyards!)

And now comes "Abnormally Attracted to Sin". At first sight, the 70+ minutes spell an alarming continuity with her interminable predecessors. But after the second listen, the sonic landscape reveals a tightness that had been missing since the astounding "Choirgirl Hotel", and the melodic inventiveness is back around those apices. There is hardly a dispensable song in the lot (one or two tops: and, let's be frank, not even her early masterpieces were untouchable in this respect), and so many are excellent ones, worthy of the old Tori. The lyrics are marvelously hermetic, the voice mangles away at English phonetics (who else could make "Tennessee" sound like "Genocide"?), warping and dragging vowels like she's channelling Billie Holiday, and the old INTENSITY is back--although, as some have noticed, further removed, and a bit over-rehearsed, even antiseptic. But we can hardly expect from Tori the same spontaneity she exhibited 20 years ago. Or maybe we should say "spontaneity effect". For, let's not forget that spontaneity is mostly achieved through hard work. Despite what the film "Amadeus" would like us to believe, even Mozart was known to tweak, fix, tinker, and agonize over his best work.

To get to the selection: As one perceptive reviewer put it, "Give" is probably the strongest opening since "Spark" (from "Choirgirl"), with a serpentine pentatonic streak running through it. "England" is quietly beautiful, "Vine" deliciously twisted and dark. "Flavor" is ok, perhaps a little too conventional, "Dying" sounds straight out of the best part of "Posse", "Maybe California" is one of her standard intimate ballads, "Police" is a real tour de force, infectious, dark, and rich in melodic and rhythmic invention, "That guy" (the most Billie Holiday-esque) moves me to tears, "Curtain" and "Fire" are sinuous enough to sustain interest throughout, "Sin" gets under your skin (no pun intended), "500" is maybe dispensable (meaning: it could have been on "Beekeper"), "Mary Jane" is the old let's-expose-the-obscene-puritan-underbelly Tori back on top, "Ophelia is majestic, and "Lady in Blue" possesses the timeless, hypnotic, monumental beauty of an old Blues song (like Sinatra's lunar rendition of "Baby won't you please come home" from "Where Are You"): what an amazing way to end a great album.

In my opinion, then, "Abnormally" is a sure-footed return to form after a decade of uneven, meandering, generic music. Of course, as we set out to write reviews, we should never forget how extremely subjective a listening experience is bound to be. My highly unprofessional yardstick is the following: an album is really exceptional if it manages to bring tears to my eyes at least twice (by the time of my second or third listen, that is: and I'm not talking about an emotional upheaval brought on by words per se, but rather by a certain melodic/harmonic progression, like the piano flourish that introduces the bridge "You gotta bring your own sun" in "Welcome to England", or the breathtaking "Make up to break up" chorus in "That Guy"). Those two episodes alone are worth--if we want to be prosaic--the price of the album. Enjoy!

This is another great production from of Tori Amos. A Spectacularly haunting album. If someone were expecting another Little Earthquakes or Under the Pink, he's gonna be dissapointed. In my case, i've learned to hear her records alone without keep constantly comparing one album to another. This record - just like all the others - has it's richness of it's own and it's wonderful. It's not a record for those who wants only piano, but for those who likes music. She's going to different directions, but always keeping her trademark. She does perfectly with synths and guitars. The songs Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Give and Lady in Blue are ones of her best songs ever. And I just love her political and theological views as she shows in Strong Black Vine and Flavour. A dark, satisfying piece of work.

I strongly recomend you to buy the Deluxe Edition. It comes with an poster and an amazing DVD with 16 videos of the CD songs. I like it very much. She's a good actress. The visualletes of Strong Black Vine, Ophelia, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Maybe California and Police Me are perfect! This is her best Deluxe Edition so far. I hope that she in her next albums releases a Deluxe Edition with a DVD full of live versions of the songs.

This album must be heard at least four times to be understood. Once you have an open hear and mind, you'll eventually love this record.

I consider myself a tori fan. Haven't been to as many shows as some Tori fans have, but she has definitely changed my world for the better. This new album of hers, "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" is her best yet, and I'll tell you why. She's a mother, a wife and an artist making a living doing what she loves. She's grown, and this CD is everything about who she is today. The other CDs are phenomenal too; there is no reason to compare them really. They are all what they are--gems and gems and gems. The first time listening to "AATS" I came alive. "This is her for real," I thought. She's making a difference, she's shining in a way I've not seen her shine before. The music is so new, nothing like she has played before. Thanks for yet another gem, Tori.

Call me the fan in the "soft" Tori spectrum. There's something about her piano playing that lends emotional connection to her most cryptic of lyrics and most bizarre arrangements. That was what made Tori so great to me - her music transcended the surrealism of her words. You listen to her wanting to kill a waitress, taking the Lord's name in vain, and other dirty images - and yet, you feel the songs speaking to/about you clearly. And that was why I wasn't particularly fond of heavier albums such as ADP or FTCH.

"Abnormally Attracted To Sin" has its share of heavy and slow tempo arrangements, so I can't fault it by being too much of a rock album. Predictably, "Police Yourself" and "Strong Black Vine", the most drowned in heavy rhythms are my least favorites.

I DO FAULT IT FOR BEING... BLAH. Alright, "Fire To Your Plain" does have a catchy tune, "Welcome To England" has the recognizable sweetness in Tori's elongating of her vowels, and "Flavor" (my favorite track) mirrors the soulfulness of "Beekeeper" (plus reminds me of that Bush song from the "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" soundtrack). The rest seem to be forgettable tracks. A 17-track record is not necessarily too long - but this one is because I'm waiting in vain for a gem. My ears just stop paying attention after track #12.

It's nice that "That Guy" starts out nicely like snake charmer's music, and that there are vibes of other-worldliness and tribal in "Give" and "Not Dying Today", respectively. Touches of eclecticism, sure, but so wanting in the quirkiness and wit that made me love good old "Mr. Zebra", "Happy Phantom", "Past The Mission" and "Wrong Band" so much. "Mary Jane" has a little hint of that, but not enough to make you smile in wonderment.

"Maybe California", with its string accompaniment, evokes a familiar mood as "Gold Dust" and "Toast" from a few years ago, and even ends in a similar minor chord. Overall, though the whole record somehow pictures Tori as a more complete and stronger woman - albeit detached and devoid of any vulnerability. Plus, there is absolutely no sign of Tori's haunting piano anywhere!

What doesn't help and this was also why ADP didn't leave me with a stronger impact - was that whatever initial impressions I have of the tracks has little room for "growing on" because... I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE SONGS ARE ABOUT! And it's not that they're odd, apart from choruses... THEY'RE JUST PLAIN UNINTELLIGIBLE! Whether it is the synths and guitars or the accent drowning the vocals, it totally robs the songs of their personality. While I give up on making out Tori's garbled speech, I mentally try to find aural cues by finding similarities from old albums just in an attempt to connect to the songs. (For instance, is the title track in any way connected to "Original Sin-suality"?) But after the comparisons, the connection ends.

As a last note, I can't help but notice there are some traces of the "dolls" here (yeah, I'm looking at the blonde wig in the "Fire To Your Plain" video and super-straightened hair on TV guestings). I hope it stops before anybody notices that makeup amount and costume outlandishness level are inversely proportional to quality of music.

I don't know what to say, except that I want to say something. I love the work of Tori Amos. I've been reading reviews of Tori Amos' CDs on Amazon and other sites...So many people have worded what I have felt much better than I have, yet...Like others over the years I have found it harder and harder to connect with her music but I don't give up. I play the CD's over and over again, I listen to the lyrics, and I don't research any of the messages that are behind them...only what they mean to me.

Over the years I've been hearing less and less of the piano and more and more of an electronic sort of sound, and when I picked up Abnormally Attracted to Sin it was very evident. But I've found songs that bring me into that deep dark place that I love like Lady Blue and Give from this CD, Smokey Joe from another, and fun songs like Mary Jane! I even enjoyed American Doll Posse, I connected a lot to the darker versions of Tori even though I myself am growing.

I never did connect well to Scarlet's Walk I did connect with a few and I didn't connect with The Beekeeper (though there were 1 or 3 songs I liked). But even so to me her music hasn't degraded it hasn't gone down the hole, I began to notice that a different kind of people were attracted to songs from The Beekeeper and even American Doll Posse. I realized what was happening!

Tori Amos was growing, and her music was evolving with her though I do not know Tori Amos. She was the first concert(and last for anyone that I'll ever go to). When I saw her swear and say "Get out of my f-ing show" to someone from the stage..I felt disillusioned and realized she wasn't a Goddess, just a woman I don't know who sings well and has lyrics that I connect to for completely different reasons than for what she wrote them!

I do wish that though I was too young to go, that I could have witnessed the concerts of the Choirgirl Hotel and earlier eras because those are the eras I relate to even now when I am not as in much pain as I once was.

You see, Tori Amos has moved on from all that. She's growing and evolving and is sharing that with us, and even people who connected with the older stuff can't connect with the new stuff that's fine. Because in the end even if this isn't true 'I' don't think it was ever about us (in the make music that makes us happy not for herself sort away) for Tori it was about sharing her soul, her ideas, her feelings when she has them, and people connected with those things. And as she grows and evolves she's attracting a different kind of people which isn't a terrible thing at all, at least from my perspective.

Even though I may never go to another concert, and even though I may never get what I once got out of the old CDs, I can relate to some of the songs, and I will buy every CD always because it's rare to get to watch and see a transformation of a human soul in the very sound of her voice and look. It's spectacular.

I really love this latest CD, and I loved American Doll Posse, the latter had 'light' parts that had to grow on me. I never grew on to The Beekeeper but I loved this CD. I mix my favourite songs with the playlist of older CDs that I have, even the techno songs she's made (Blue Skies).

I hope she always keeps singing, and I hope this isn't her last CD because I really want to see more, even if I can't connect with every track except one, the beauty of witnessing a transformation alone is good enough. Just listening and not judging.

I wouldn't call myself a Toriphile in the sense of knowing everything about her, going to every single concert, owning every single CD (because I make an active choice not to). I am a Toriphile in the sense of her music being the only music I have brought every CD of and can still find something to love in each one and listens to it every night since I was 11-12 (I'm in my early 20's now), I try to give it up, and even though I don't have a connection to the person herself because I don't know her, there's something magical still about the music she makes...maybe it's because I've grown up with it and her music has been with me through everything, I've got a song for every album for every emotion I feel and for every good and bad time. And there's something cool about listening to the playlist shuffled with songs from all the different albums and not judging why one is not as good as the other but appreciating the beauty of what the song or album as an individual. Picking which ones I am in the mood to listen to and just going with that.

Besides, I love how every CD has a different theme and a different tone. And it means a lot to me that Tori Amos has shared pieces of her heart and I for one can not bring myself to judge it, only appreciate what it is for what it is, a piece of her heart and her own personal journey...not mine, but hers.

She's not a sell out (like others have said maybe not here but in other places/In my opinion) because if she were, she would force herself into depression and keep on singing the sad old songs just to please an old crowd who want her to stay making CDs that 'they' can relate to not ones that she herself can relate to anymore.

So...there will be people who no longer feel they can stay on the Tori Amos track because of the direction her life is moving in which shows in her music, and that is fine. Those people will always have those older CDs that they can play provided they haven't grown out of them, which is fine. I guess for me well...I'm just glad to still be on the track and will be there listening to this journey until the music stops.

It's sad to see so many fans not grow with tori as she has. Each album is like an novel, a story. Take it or leave it, it's no fun to continue to tell the same story repeatedly. I think Tori has taken a fair road, she appears to be writing for herself and what she wants to hear.
The album is beautiful. I like to think of it like the quiet girl in the corner at party that has so much going on in her head, with lush imagination and fun conversation though she stays reserved and quiet in her solitude. I feel lucky to get to know what she is thinking.
Not every track is amazing, but i feel that way about most albums in general. My favorite tori album is still Pele but it isnt always the album i want to hear.
My favorite Tracks from AATS are "welcome to england" "fire to your plain" "starling" and the amazing "fast horse".
Fast horse is by far my favorite track at the moment. It has intensity, an obvious southern sound and the lyrics are hauntingly perfect.
The album reminds me a lof of To Venus and Back because it seems to be an experiment in sound though there are traces of all of her previous musical Works.
For anyone looking for the intensity of Tori's previous works just keep in mind she's grown up and is adifferent person. The things she feel most intensly about have changed and the music reflects that. This album is hauntingly beautiful and sensual.

The first thing I think about when I listen to this album is how far Tori has come. This is a new sound for her. She is always trying new things, which is very good. Who wants to listen to the exact same album time and time again? This new CD works. At times I hear To Venus And Back styles here, but for the most part it is very fresh. It gets better with each play. A must have CD.

Sonicly, Abnormally Attracted To Sin is a collage of clippings from each of her former albums. Songs such as the opener "Give" and the ethereal ballad "Flavor" are heavy with the experimental synth flavor of To Venus and Back. While other songs borrow the cadence of favorites from Boys For Pele or the bouncy giddy-up rhythms of American Doll Posse. "Starling" could have been a b-side to Choirgirl and includes a lyrical nod to "Yes, Anasthesia" from Under the Pink. What is missing from AATS is the clarity and poignancy of Tori's earlier piano driven albums. In fact, this album sounds as if it would more aptly be credited to The Tori Amos Band. The irony of this is that AATS marks Tori's first album with complete creative control at the helm of production. The production is ambitious but pushes itself forward to center stage while the girl and the piano we all know and love is left somewhere in the background.

Fans that have been dissapointed by Tori's last few albums should find at least a little solace in AATS. The artist returns to the arenas that suit her most: sex and religion. There is an emotional urgency and sexuality present on AATS that we haven't seen since Choirgirl Hotel. However, don't expect the incediary wit and writhe of songs like "Precious Things," "God," or "Professional Widow."

Tori displays an emotional presence on this album that has been long missed. It isn't a Tori album in the classic by any means, but long term fans will be pleased to see her moving back in the general direction of the Tori we used to crave and jones for.

My advice to the Tori fans who have felt disenfranchised of late: Appreciate classic Tori for what it is and approach the new work as something completely new. You may not be instantly grabbed, but AATS is a bouquet of flavors that lingers and evolves with each listen. You can't listen to Tori sandwhiched between anything else. She's a full 8 course meal, and this is a candlelight and red wine album. Take your time. Listen for the subtleties, the complexities. Listen to the raw honesty of Tori's reflection on the past 30 years of her career in "Curtain Call" or the catchy haughtiness of "Police Yourself" and for god-sakes kick back and bask in the sweeping crescendo of piano against the crash of guitar on "Lady in Blue." This album is far richer than anything we've heard from Tori in a while.