Midwinter Graces [CD/DVD Combo]

Tori Amos | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 10, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Universal Republic
• ASIN: B002QCKOME
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,987 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #77 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Opera & Vocal
  • #95 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > General Christmas

Track Listings

1. What Child, Nowell

2. Star of Wonder

3. A Silent Night with You

4. Candle: Coventry Carol

5. Holly, Ivy, and Rose

6. Harps of Gold

7. Snow Angel

8. Jeanette, Isabella

9. Pink and Glitter

10. Emmanuel

11. Winter's Carol

12. Our New Year

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

For Midwinter Graces, Amos has again teamed up with long time collaborators Matt Chamberlain on drums, Jon Evans on bass, and Mac Aladdin on guitars. Tori has enlisted the help of a Big Band and an Orchestra with stunning John Philip Shenale arrangements to create Tori's new seasonal classics.

Product Description

After nearly two decades writing and recording some of her generation's most emotionally powerful music, Tori Amos will release her first seasonal album, Midwinter Graces, on November 10 via Universal Republic Records. A follow up to Tori's critically acclaimed studio album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Midwinter Graces will find Tori reworking and expanding on classic carols as well as developing some of her very own seasonal tracks. Midwinter Graces is an album that has been in the making for the past 40 years. Raised in the Baltimore area under the watchful eye of her Methodist minister father, Tori grew up playing holiday carols at Sunday services and Christmas Day celebrations in her father's church. These were the songs that gave a young Tori her first taste of music, and now almost 40 years later Tori gets her own chance to reimagine classics like "What Child, Nowell" and "Star of Wonder." Tori will also add her own bittersweet bliss to the season with original tracks like "Pink and Glitter" and "Our New Year."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Holiday Album Ever, November 10, 2009

By 

W. M. Bell "Maegan Bell" (Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Midwinter Graces [CD/DVD Combo] (Audio CD)

I was pretty skeptical at first. I don't usually even listen to seasonal music, its just not to my taste usually. Tori making a seasonal album? Really? Could easily have been a disaster. However, this album is quite the opposite. It is easily her best since Scarlet's Walk. All of the songs are gorgeous and most have these incredible layers that just wrap you in a wintery kind of audio sauna.
The reworked old carols really shine under Tori's care. She found a great balance between respecting the original while giving them a totally different feel, changing lyrics here and there making it very inclusive of people of all faiths and not rehashing Christian ideaologies over and over. She's celebrating something older than Christmas here guys...this is a real Midwinter Festival kind of record. No santa claus hats and puppy dogs. In the reworded hymns there is the Tori element but you can still imagine the ancestors from centuries past filling the streets to this stuff. (this is excluding Harps of Gold, which is the most modern of the reworkings...and probably as upbeat as it gets, you can barely recognize the "Gloria" elements to it, not that its a bad thing!)Her originals are even better. Pink and Glitter has an old hollywood vibe, amazing. Snow Angel is so haunting, and the strings on this one are just impeccable.Winter's Carol, the star of this production, takes my breath away. There is not a dull moment in that song. It is so very well put together and a rather dark and beautiful kind of way.
I could go on forever about this piece of holiday magic, seriously. Hear for yourself! You won't be sorry!

Buy this for yourself, your friends, and anyone who loves holiday or simply amazing music.
This one's got something for everyone.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A twist to the genre, November 18, 2009

By 

Daniel Ting (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midwinter Graces [CD/DVD Combo] (Audio CD)

Like Tori mentioned before the album was released, the real shocker in this album is that there is no real shocker. Overall it is a very pleasant listen with Tori doing songs across a wide range of sounds. There is big band (Pink and Glitter), medieval (Candle: Coventry Carol), Persian-tinged folk-rock (Star of Wonder) and music from the Dark Ages (Emmanuel). There is also a song, Winter's Carol, that is from the musical Tori is working on (The Light Princess). Tori also wrote a song in memory of her brother Michael, Our New Year, which is a very beautiful, true-to-Tori-form song with some nice strings.

One highlight of the album is that the piano is now back to the center, an element that has been missing in the last few Tori albums. I must say I enjoyed watching the interview, it shows a side of Tori that is not usually brought out in past interviews - and you see that she really does know quite a fair bit about church history. Even though this album is very much your unconventional Tori, I really think Tori could have done a little better with this album. For one, songs like Harps of Gold and Candle: Coventry Carol were not very suited to Tori's voice. And the album cover (I know this should not be a point of contention, but it is not something easily ignored) looks very obviously photoshopped - as a Tori fan put it: "she looks more and more like an android with each album cover." I don't mean to speak this way about Tori but there is something to the raw Tori we all find magical.

My favorites on this album are:
Star of Wonder - reminds me of Strong Black Vine.
Pink and Glitter - a wonderful nod to the big band era, reminiscent of the songs Tori sang on Mona Lisa Smile.
Jeanette, Isabella
Comfort and Joy (Bonus Track on Deluxe Edition)

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very beautiful album everyone will enjoy, November 11, 2009

By 

Jennifer Barthe (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midwinter Graces [CD/DVD Combo] (Audio CD)

I was pleasantly surprised by how mellow and smooth this album is. Once you start listening to it, you'll get into such a relaxed mood that all you'll want to do is sit in a comfy chair and sip coffee or tea. I'm listening to Midwinter Graces as I type this review and I have a cup of coffee right next to me :)

I can honestly say that even my parents would appreciate hearing these songs over the Christmas holidays. Now don't get the idea that this album is totally mainstream or lame, because it's not, remember this is Tori Amos were talking about. But it's so well done that non-Tori fans will be asking "Who IS this? And where can I get the CD?".

It's the perfect holiday album to listen to with loved ones but it can also help you introduce Tori's brilliant music to new listeners. Don't be surprised if months from now, your mother discovers 'Little Earthquakes' and shouts to the world that 'Cornflake Girl' is her new favorite song, lol. Trust me, by listening to this album with your family it's ridiculously possible. Of course you'll have to explain to your mom what 'Cornflake Girl' is about and that's it's not just a catchy tune, but a song with a deep message.

Now back to Midwinter Graces...

My favorite songs on this album include:

1. Star of Wonder (my #1 favorite)
2. Holly, Ivy, and Rose (a believe she sings this song with her young daughter)
3. Snow Angel
4. Jeanette, Isabella
5. Emmanuel (a beautiful version of the holiday classic)
6. What A Child, Nowell
7. Winter's Carol

At times it doesn't even feel like I'm listening to a holiday album at all, just a mellow Tori album. I highly recommend getting/downloading it and listening to Midwinter Graces all year round. It's really that good.