Tori Amos – Under The Pink

She’s back again, perhaps a little more contemporary than she was with Little Earthquakes, and more than likely as a result of her surprising success things have moved into a more modern direction. The verdict? Too bad. Her debut album was so powerful simply because it was drastically different from current product. The changes, while not quite a wholesale defection to commercial expediency, really wind up being unnecessary. But there are enough songs which seem to be on the right track in spite of themselves – “Pretty Good Year”, the seemingly Ren & Stimpy-inspired “Space Dog”, and the curious “Icicle”. The standouts are the likeably different “The Waitress” and as before, an emotional roller coaster ride comes out as my favorite on the entire album, “Cloud On My Tongue”. The album’s weakness is, in turns, trying to be too different from its predecessor and then trying to be too much like it.

1. Pretty Good Year (3:25)
2. God (3:58)
3. Bells for Her (5:20)
4. Past the Mission (4:05)
5. Baker Baker (3:20)
6. The Wrong Band (3:03)
7. The Waitress (3:09)
8. Cornflake Girl (5:06)
9. Icicle (5:47)
10. Cloud on My Tongue (4:44)
11. Space Dog (5:10)
12. Yes, Anastasia (9:33)

Released by: Atlantic
Release date: 1994
Total running time: 56:40