Tales of a Librarian: A Tori Amos Collection (Bonus DVD)

Tori Amos | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 18, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Atlantic
• ASIN: B0000CC6QG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (270 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,191 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #49 in Music > Alternative Rock > Singer-Songwriters

Track Listings

1. Precious Things

2. Angels

3. Silent All These Years

4. Cornflake Girl

5. Mary

6. God

7. Winter

8. Spark

9. Way Down

10. Professional Widow

11. Mr. Zebra

12. Crucify

13. Me And A Gun

14. Bliss

15. Playboy Mommy

16. Baker Baker

17. Tear In Your Hand

18. Sweet Dreams

19. Jackie's Strength

20. Snow Cherries From France

Editorial Reviews

The first Tori Amos collection includes 20 tracks and a bonus DVD with live performances, remixed audio tracks, two new songs, and two re-recorded rare B-sides. Tracks include Precious Things, Playboy Mommy, Spark, God, Cornflake Girl, Winter, Baker Baker, Tear In Your Hand, and Silent All These Years.
Genre: Popular Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 18-NOV-2003

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

261 of 291 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware The Wrath Of The Fanatics, February 8, 2004

By 

I. Hodgkinson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tales of a Librarian: A Tori Amos Collection (Bonus DVD) (Audio CD)

If you read through any of the reviews of Tori Amos's work, you'll see an unholy number of 5/5 reviews. You'll also note that even many of the critical reviews begin with the defensive "I'm a huge fan of... but... " And furthermore that these reviews tend to have ratings like "1/33 people found this review useful". This is because Tori Amos has an insanely devoted fan base, to whom she can do no wrong, and to whom any criticism of her is greeted with the kind of fury that even a threat to kill everyone in their immediate family, stapled to the body of their household pets, wouldn't evoke from them. Therefore, take these reviews with a pinch of the salt.

The reality is that Tori Amos is an incredibly talented artist, but she is not to everyone's taste. Nor is she entirely consistent purely within her own work, but more on that shortly.

As a sampler of her work, this is certainly honest; to those of you who have never heard her work before, it gives a very accurate overview of her entire career, taking representative songs from each album (except for the penultimate two due to label difficulties). The early emotive brilliance of Little Earthquakes and Under The Pink are well served by 'Silent All These Years' and 'Winter'. The highly personal (and gospel tinged) nature of Boys For Pele is shown by "Way Down" and "Mr Zebra".... If you were to choose to purchase any of Tori's past albums on the basis of liking a song here, and looking up which album it was included upon, you would be unlikely to be disappointed with it's companions upon the original platter. If you have ever heard just one Tori Amos song that has moved you in any small way, this would be a good place to test the waters before fully diving in to her entire back catalogue. I must admit that I though that I think Little Earthquakes by itself would be a much better starting point...

But back to this CD, and this is likely to get me plenty of "unhelpful" reviews, it must be understood that not all that is included here is magnificent. If you are a long standing Tori Amos fan, but are not blindly partisan, that is if Boys For Pele and the collection of cover songs Strange Little Girls put you off somewhat, this re-working of past classics will likely disappoint you. Very little has been changed from many of the original versions, so whilst what you are purchasing remains for the most part the songs you know and have grown to love dearly, the changes that Tori has made are mostly a regression in quality. Whilst taste in music is a subjective judgement, it's hard to see any addition to the songs as contained here which doesn't contradict the very things fans loved about the originals. Precious Things is still Precious Things, except that any hint of anger or bitterness, which made the original so evocative of that "kicked in the guts by love" feeling, seems to have been flattened out in this version, making it seem a much more pedestrian rather than a precious song. Sweet Dreams seems to have lost it's quirky beat. Winter on the other hand has instead gained a noticeably jarring drum beat in the background at one point..
Were this album a collection of complete remixes, it would perhaps be easily recommended to people who already have the albums, simply for a radically different perspective. But this is simply a collection of songs you've already got, but with lots of small irritants added to them, and as such I don't believe I can recommend this to those of you who actually have the originals.

And yet what of the new content included? Most of the reviews so far have enthused mightily upon them; Were they two songs of Tori Amos at her most phenomenal, I'd have no qualms about recommending this CD to anyone. It was in hope of a new `Song For Eric' or `Here. In My Head' that I purchased it myself... her fans need no further evidence of her ability; Little Earthquakes and Under The Pink have been closer friends to me than most people. However... My own view now is that the two tracks here, `Angels' and `Snow Cherries From France' remind me of nothing more than Tori at her most bland, at her most muzak-ical. Think of them as songs that didn't make To Venus And Back, due to being a bit flat and un-engaging. I thus find it impossible to then state that this CD is worth the price that is being asked for it on the basis of new content alone.
That's a minority opinion amongst reviewers here it seems though, and perhaps one that future listeners would not agree with either. So the question is whether you are prepared to take a risk on paying for a complete album in order to hear them and decide for yourself? Just how important is it to you to have everything Tori Amos has ever released in your CD collection? If, like myself, you value the quality of the music above all else, this is not an album you really need.

39 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Never heard Tori? Really? Well, here you go!, January 23, 2004

By 

Mori Girl Alice (Neverland) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Tales of a Librarian: A Tori Amos Collection (Bonus DVD) (Audio CD)

While I usually don't like to recommend best-of or collection compilations of artists as starters, I think this one does a good job of touching on the various aspects of Tori. Only setback is a collection can't give you that same feel of a single album--a single entity--and the message and culture that comes with it.

Tales of a Librarian seems to focus on her debut album quite a bit (whilst her live CD focused a lot on Under The Pink). So, from Little Earthquakes, we have: Precious Things, Silent All These Years, Winter, Crucify, Me And A Gun, Tear In Your Hand, and Sweet Dreams (well, the latter is a b-side from that era). A very fine set of songs! Each of these songs are special to me in one way or another, and I'd say they represent the best from Little Earthquakes.

On to Under the Pink! Cornflake Girl; always fun to hear. God is alright. Upbeat. And, as I scan the track list again, Baker Baker makes up the only other song. A neat little song, but I'd rather hear something like Icicle or Yes, Anastasia. Probably just me, though.

It's too bad that Boys for Pele isn't as well-liked as some of the other ones. It has a strange charm to it, and I always seem to listen to that one more than the others. Anywho, all of the Pele songs are grouped together here in the middle: Way Down, Professional Widow, and Mr. Zebra. Everyone loves Mr. Zebra; gotta have that one. And although I enjoy the original version of Widow, I've always disliked the remixes. Understandable that they'd include a remix since it's a club favourite (I wouldn't know). It's too bad Marianne, Hey Jupiter or Blood Roses weren't included. Again, probably just me. (Blood Roses wouldn't really fit the theme of Angels and Mary and God).

Choirgirl is a neat album, and it houses one of me favourite tunes: Spark. And, sweet delight, it's on here! Heh. The first time I listened to this CD and Spark came on, I made everyone shut up so as I could take in the whole song. Anyway, there's also Jackie's Strength (a pretty song), and Playboy Mommy. I've always been fond of Playboy Mommy. It has a nice groove to it.

Bliss (from Venus), is a neat combination of acoustic and electronic. I like. There aren't any songs from Strange Little Girls (aw, no Rattlesnakes) or Scarlet's Walk (I have a feeling it was made before Scarlet's, and wasn't released until now because of label issues).

The new songs are neat. Angels sounds like a toned-down groove derived from Strange Little Girl (song, not the album). I'm not the biggest fan of Mary. Maybe it's the harsh chorus. And Snow Cherries From France is a good way to finish things off.

As far as the DVD goes, I've read some negative stuff about it. I must object! Maybe it's because I love Tori's work and am completely moved everytime I hear her live (whether it's with a band or just her solo), but I loved the performances on the DVD. Besides, with the whole collection at the same price as one CD, the DVD is practically free. Who's complaining? Tales of a Librarian is a nice addition to veteren and newcomer alike.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Tori Collection, December 26, 2003

By 

Aaron (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of a Librarian: A Tori Amos Collection (Bonus DVD) (Audio CD)

For the most part, this is an outstanding collection of some of Tori's best works. Of course, you can't please everyone and a couple of my personal favorites aren't here *China, Hey Jupiter, Northren Lad* but oh, well.

Many of the stand-outs on here are from her debut "Little Earthquakes." These include the haunting "Crucify" along with the beautiful "Winter" and "Silent All These Years." "God" from "Under the Pink" is here and respresents one of Tori's most controversial moments. "Boys For Pele" is horribly misrepresented on here which is my biggest complaint. "Professional Widow" is in a horrible remixed form and the other two tracks from this album are the short tracks "Way Down" and "Hey Zebra." I would've rather seen "Hey Jupiter" or "Putting the Damage On." Thankfully, the highlights of "From the Choirgirl Hotel" are presented being "Spark" and the gorgeous "Jackie's Strength." New tracks include "Mary" "Sweet Dreams" and my favorite "Snow Cherries From France."

To sum it up, a strong collection, but I wish something from "Scarlet's Walk" would've been added *namely "A Sorta Fairytale."