Customer Reviews

Midwinter Graces (Deluxe Version)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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)

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.

Ten years from now, when pop Christmas albums have come and gone, Tori Amos' "Midwinter Graces" has a strong potential of becoming a great holiday classic--oh if only the public would give it a chance!

Pop Christmas albums sell more of the artist and less of the songs. As the artist's star fades, expect that album to be played less and less.

Surprisingly, "Midwinter Graces" isn't just Amos' most accessible album, it is also the most timeless.

As the first few bars of each song play, you'd think you were hearing original compositions. And for the most part they are. However, Amos beautifully injects lines and tunes from classic Christmas songs. Not just reinterpretation, but reinvigoration.

In standard Tori fashion, a number of the songs are bittersweet in tone, but she also has a good number of heartwarming ditties. "Star of Wonder," "What Child, Nowell," "Harps of Gold" and "Jeanette, Isabella" are personal faves.

"A Silent Night with You" could easily be part of a movie soundtrack. "Snow Angel" is a playful tease. "Pink and Glitter" is fun. "Holly, Ivy & Rose" sounds like a magical medieval ritual.

Again... if only the general public would give this a chance!

For those old Tori Amos fans who became disenchanted with her later work, this album is a return to form. It is tight and beautiful while still full of surprises to keep your interest. Similarly, for those who have become disenchanted with the celebrity artist holiday fare, this album blows away nearly everything else on the market. Tori Amos manages to create an album for the holidays that can also stand on its own at any other time of the year.

Highly recommended.

From reading most reviews of Tori albums on Amazon, and in general, there seems to be two camps, those that dislike (or aren't overly impressed with) everything after Venus, those that love everything.

Venus was her last great album, Scarlet was enjoyable, but after that she seemed to file the edge down to a blunt lip, with excessive invariable production, same melodies, over long, high concept albums sprinkled liberally with horrible cheesy MOR guitar. That sound is still here, It's actually not much different from Sin, if one disregards the holiday theme, it's almost like a collection of Sin outtakes and b-sides.

Good news is that is only 12 tracks long (hope for future recordings) and Star of Wonder , A Silent Night With You, Winter's Carol and Our New Year are lovely tracks, which would have made a fine ep that includes some beautiful images of Tori in the snow.

Not a classic & not her best work, but like most things by Tori it doesn't grab right away & requires a few listens. I'll probably pop it in for seasons to come, but for the most part I find it uninspired & unimaginitive with few highlights.

This is a stunning Christmas album. Tori Amos proves once again that she is a musical genius who thinks carefully about every song she records, adding history and mythology to create a mix of traditional and unique holiday tunes. You may have to listen to it more than once to get in to it but once you do it takes you away. One of the songs, 'A Winter's Carol', is from her forthcoming stage musical 'The Light Princess' and 'Holly, Ivy, and Rose' features Tori's daughter, Tash, singing some lyrics. You can hardly tell them apart. Tori's nephew is the model for the snow angel. The deluxe version comes with a DVD of Tori explaining the ideas behind the songs.

Best effort in years. Period. We want more like this Tori, more like THIS.

Like many others, I was skeptical about the prospects of a Tori Amos holiday album. I'm happy to conclude that she's surpassed my expectations.

It's not a perfect album: Amos's bizarre pronunciation of words (singing "of" as "oov," "lineage" as "leenidge," or "torches" as "toe chez" for no discernible reason) continues to distract from the music; Pink and Glitter, though a nice enough song, doesn't seem to fit quite right with the tone of the rest of the cd; and the guitar in Harps of Gold sounds a bit to much like Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill.

But the good far outweighs the bad: When Tori hits her mark, it's extraordinary. The first five songs, in my opinion, is her best run of songs in years. Though it could be considered a Christmas album, it's really more of about the season, as the title suggests. With a few exceptions, the album is subdued and dark, even sinister at times, a wonderfully icy match to the theme of "midwinter." John Philip Shenale deserves much credit for his string arrangements, which add weight to the songs and help hold the album together as a unified whole, rather than just a collection of covers. Midwinter Graces benefits from great musicianship all around, as well as the fact that Tori limited the length to manageable 12 songs (14 on the deluxe edition, but still coming in at about 55 minutes).

Tori Amos is a strange, eccentric performer and songwriter, and that's why we love her. Making Midwinter Graces seemed to be an unusual choice even for her, but in the end it fits perfectly within her catalog. Strong songs masterfully arranged and performed - the result is an excellent album for this and many winters to come.