As an occasional fan of Ms Tori rather than a devotee, I was very pleased to hear the announcements heralding this album's release. It's basically Tori on piano, plus a string quartet and a few wind instruments, all played and sung to the highest standard, this album is being released by Deutsche Grammophon after all.There's a lyrical theme/song cycle here - which frankly I can't be bothered to relate - and each tune is based on a piece of classical music (Bach, Chopine, Schumann, Schubert, Debussy, Satie et al). And should anyone question whether classical composers could write pop tunes - just listen to some of these exquisite melodies.
My only criticism is the lyrics which are decent but not great. However that matters little when encountering such stellar music making. I wasn't expecting a Tori Amos album to feature in my year's top ten, but it's now highly likely. Brava Tori!
My Rating: 10/10, it's a beautiful listen.
Baroque poppy? Essential. This blog exists for albums like this.
Gabriel's second singer/songwriter about follows a similar format to the first. Full review to follow.