What's your favorite song on Ocean to Ocean? Also, as always, I don't seek out real-life biographical details to guide my analysis, so feel free to add any relevant information in the comments. :)
I think Devil's Bane and 29 years are at the top right now, mostly because of the great production. But honestly, this is the first Tori album in a decade or two where it seems too short. More songs could have been as long as Spies, which at first I wasn't warmed up to, but in context of the album, it just sparkles! Love Ocean to Ocean track as well. Only a couple of dud tracks (Flowers Burn to Gold mostly, because of the terrible UG bad habits), but that's only the production and not the songs themselves.
Favorite track: Addition Of Light Divided. Ever since her return to "pop" with Unrepentant Geraldines in 2014, Tori has been increasingly returning to her artistic chops for which she's because famous. With this album, she has now fully realized her potential from days of old. Just for context, she lost both her mother and best friend in 2019, days apart from one another. Many songs on this album speak to those losses, especially that of her mother, Mary. PS: I'm in Cloud 9 with this album! Thank you for your beautiful review! I always look forward to your physical vibing with the albums.
favorite track: metal water wood. i really think it's one of her best songs in a looong time. she's said it was the first song she wrote for the album. also really dig devil's bane, ocean to ocean, 29 years, and addition of light divided (which totally reminds me of a 90's sarah mclachlan song). this instrumentation and production on this album are outstanding.
PS. you were right about spies being written for her daughter, she wrote swim to new york state and birthday baby for her niece, and speaking with trees and flowers burn to gold were largely inspired by her mother's death.
Metal Water Wood comes at a time when I need to learn to be like water to save myself from my own reactions, and so it takes top position as I take in the mantra.
Imagine listening to Tori’s first 7 albums for the first time and then listening to Ocean to Ocean directly after Scarlet’s Walk? It must have sounded like magick to you. I’m so envious. NO skips were found. (Her post-Scarlet’s Walk albums are quite controversial among Tori Amos fans. Some fans love them, some hate them. Ha. But the first 7 albums are GOLDEN.) I love this reaction/review. Subscribed.
Eric, the underlay here is mainly to do with the death of Mary, her mother. It's her most personal album to date and I think a real accomplishment in so many ways. Great review and you look so good in that skeleton outfit. With the beard the boy doth become a man :)
If you like compelling time signature changes, wait till you get to Night of Hunters, particularly Star Whisperer and Your Ghost. Both so unexpected and the layering effect of a ‘song within a song’ is mesmerizing. Thank you so much for your Tori Amos videos. I’ve been a devoted fan since the 90s and you’ve given me an entirely different appreciation with your articulate analyses. You’re a great talent honoring a legend well. Keep it up!
Eric, when you listen to Abnormally Attracted to Sin, it would be of benefit to listen to it on headphones. It has a lot of textures that are lost over basic speakers. The first time I listened to it on headphones, it was like experiencing the album again for the first time.
So true! Definitely my favourite among her 00s albums -after Scarlet's Walk of course-. Maybe California is quite offensive, but there are so many songs on it that I love. It's very obvious to me that she was struggling to adapt to the change in her voice, but the songs and production were on point, with a few exceptions.
@@spyrospal1 I see so LITTLE discussion about the change in her voice. Personally I hadn't gone back to pinpoint when it happened. Also no idea why. Can we discuss? Do you know what went on to make that happen?
@@beulahboi Apparently that was ultimately due to surgery she had for her ulcerative colitis around 2008-2009. She did look a bit sickly during that time-definitely lost some range and power there. Combine that with her jawbone deformity and whatever she had done to her front teeth (her consonants sound less sharp ever since) and you get a much different sound. As for the breathiness, that's most likely just her aging.
@@coconutnghtmr9931 Does she have ulcerative colitis?? Oh my God. My mother died from it during the 2016-17 holidays, and I can't listen to 'Reindeer King' to this day because it reminds me of that time.
I really enjoyed this album and your reaction--particularly 29 Years, Devil's Bane, and Swim to New York State. If you liked this, you'd probably also appreciate her great previous album Native Invader, whose lyrics were a bit more complex and imagistic at times, which I always enjoy.
Oh wow Eric, you rock! To have reacted "so soon" to Ocean To Ocean has made me so happy! Plus it has totally peaked my interest in what you'll have to say! You're so intuitive! (I'm a huge Tori fan since the beginning and have watched all of your Tori reactions several times! They really like you in the Tori fan group I'm a part of, by the way!!^^) Haven't even watched this yet but laid here and listened this morning to the whole album, so when this reaction came up on my youtube I just 'had' to say thank you for reacting so soon. Now I gotta go watch what you have to say! From, ~Cascadia (this is my first comment ever, I think 🤔)
I have really enjoyed these videos Eric!!! It's so refreshing and fun to see a young person like me discover her music, although I knew about her at 17-18, but believe me, it's a blessing to get to know her music at this age. I would really love to see you react to Y Kant Tori Read, her 80's project, and Strange Little Girls, because it is important to discover her evolution and her full work. I can't wait as well to see the day in which you react to her b-sides for example!!! Your channel is pure gold and fun!!! Thank you very much.
Totally agree. Y Kant Tori read was surprisingly good, and surprisingly Tori, as when I first heard about it, the general consensus seemed to be Tori was trying to be someone else to placate what record execs wanted to see, but Tori's unique vibe is still there. Also, totally hold he reviews the b-sides. Tori's b-sides are still some of my faves including upside down, here in my head, sugar, honey, cooling and more. Those are the songs with the deepness that needs Eric's analysis fr.
I love the Bridgers garb to accompany the Amos gab. I loved this album. Working on a cocktail menu for it. I feel like quarantine and drinking goes hand in hand.
“After a Pretty Bad Year” 👏. Great review Eric, others have already pointed out where lyrics refer to the death of her mother, and Spies being a lullaby for her 21yo daughter who was scared of bats flying into her bedroom while staying with T during the pandemic. I think Ocean to Ocean is her most consistently good albums in years, and collaborating (remotely) with her bass player and drummer from the 90s really helped. They’ve been MIA for a long time, and her music suffered for it.
I forgot to say my fav track! At this stage it is Metal Water Wood, it has a very strong Kate Bush vibe. Speaking with Trees also touched me having recently lost a parent too. The direct lyrics just hit you in the heart.
Birthday Baby has roots in Lady In Blue which is in my humble opinion the best track of Abnormally Attracted to Sin. I can't wait for you to review that song.
Just finished my first listen and at this point "Metal Water Wood" "Devil's Bane" and "Speaking with Trees" are my favorites but this is another no skips Tori album. I listened to her entire discography leading up to the release of this album, so fun revisiting all the songs and enjoy watching your analysis of them. Pele still my favorite after all these years...
Spies reminds me a little of Space Dog. I think Ocean to Ocean album features most of the best parts of her post 2000s albums, but with the energy of her 90s albums.
Wow, you look so handsome with the beard!! ^_^ Also, thanks for the review. That first song sounded mesmerizing. I will listen to the album myself soon.
Unlike most of Tori's music, this particular album really is lyrically straight forward, with not much to analyse. With that stated, it's her best album since "Night of Hunters".
Not to be too contrarian, but I just listened to Devil's Bane a few times thinking of your analysis and I don't think it's about alcoholism. I think the devil's poison she drank was "shame!/shame!/on your Jezebel breed"-consistent with songs like Crucify, Take to the Sky and others (especially "Climb," from the album Native Invader), I think this is another reckoning with the shame of being a woman and guilt about all thoughts and actions that she has been trying to exorcise from herself all her adult life. I think she shot of tequila she takes at the beginning is meant to be ironically cleansing of the poisonous Christian ideologies that she was forced to drink throughout all her formative years. She sings that "he" (the patriarchy, I'm sure) has turned her against herself, who she likens to Venus-feminine representative of love-and "Your soul he's seekin'/All the while he's preachin'." In the last verse, she prays for the next wave of this sort of corruption and lies to bypass the world and for the next train seeking "a queen of poison" to also bypass the world. In line with some of the other songs on the album, I read this one as her reckoning with some of her past poisonous behaviors that were the result of having drunken the poison that was fed to her by a culture that robbed her of her ability to be whole through love and sensuality, and in the end she is making a plea to break the cycle, to end the poisoning of women's spirits and the making of poisonous people through this process. In the very end, she says she barely got out with her life and she keeps running from the poison (which I read as poisoned thought), and so even with the recognition, she's trapped in this cycle. The theme carries through the album as she sings about piecing herself together for 29 years and asks the ocean's tides to take the unwanted pieces away. I imagine the unwanted pieces in great part are the poisoned thoughts of shame and guilt that have haunted her from 'Crucify' to 'Devil's Bane.'
This was an amazing run down of the album. I look forward to watching your other videos :) Great job. Keep it up man. My fav tracks are "Ocean2Ocean", "Metal Water Wood" and "Flowers Burn to Gold". This album is a masterpiece.
Great video! I'm really living for the dynamics on Swim to NY State and the vibe of Birthday Baby. Really a refreshing release and I'm so thankful for some new Tori. 💛
Welcome to the Tori fandom, Eric! That was such an enjoyable review and I can't wait to see you react to the rest of Tori's albums. Her post-Scarlet work tends to much more divisive amongst fans and critics so with your attention to detail I'm sure you will have plenty of interesting insights and analysis of those records :) PS would love to see you react to Joni Mitchell's discography!
Spies - written as ‘ A lullaby about benevolent beings from Cornwall to England and through the isles that were helping kids get to sleep at night and chase away their nightmares’ . Tori wrote it as a story for Tash who is now in her 20’s . Bats 🦇 were scaring Tash in their home when they were in quarantine. There is an interview on Facebook with her talking about it 💕
Great reaction! I really like it, and like a lot of her output some songs or perspectives/aspects open up after repeated listens. The "Spies" are bats, by the way. She regards bats as benevolent beings and already did so on her last album (on the songs Bats and Benjamin). She actually wrote it as a lullaby for her 21 year old daughter, who got scared because of bats invading their home in Cornwall. So you were spot on :)
What was prevalent in this album, is that energy she used to have before UG, where it sounds like she actually enjoyed making the music. I wish she had used Tash for all the background vocals, she sounds like mid-90s Tori on harmonies. This was so much better than I thought it would be though, I'm actually excited about listening to it repeatedly. She doesn't have anyone challenging her in the studio sadly, but at least working with other musicians again elevated her recordings this time. She must just get a real guitarist again, and also indulge in her love of electronic soundscapes like she did with Choirgirl, Venus, and AATS. Luckily the UG bad habits only messed up a couple of songs this time.
It's a shame that the great songs on Native Invader didn't get this consistent drum arrangements like we finally have again on Ocean to Ocean. Especially Bang. It was a great album, but wasn't the quality a musician of her caliber and her financial resources, should have been.
@@daipearmain Totally agree. I was just about to comment on Native Invader actually. To me, Unrepentant Geraldines actually sounded pretty good even with the programmed drums because all in all it's rather stripped down and it's the piano that truly shines on that one anyway. When Native Invader first came out, I actually kinda liked it. Nowadays though, it's her only album which I can't bear to listen to. The drums either sound terribly fake (especially on tracks like Cloud Riders and Broken Arrow) or the mixing is horrendous and mushy (that last chorus on Up the Creek with the drum machine sunken underneath everything else and the piano awkwardly standing out, or Bang in its entirety). It didn't help that her piano playing was very simplistic there-mostly just block chords. And that darned effect applied to her voice throughout the whole thing! It's like they removed all the high frequencies from it, thus it sounds just as mushy as the rest. I really wish she'd stuck with a more ambient, percussion-less type of production for NI, because I do still like Reindeer King, Mary's Eyes and Russia.
@@coconutnghtmr9931 I agree entirely. That said though I think Native Invader has some killer ballads: Breakaway, Climb, Mary’s Eyes, and of course Reindeer King are gorgeous.
I'm loving these videos - thank you! I hope you go back to include Strange Little Girls then continue in chronological order. But _then_ you have Y Kant Tori Read and all the B-Sides. And her music videos! Would you do those too?!
I didn’t even pick up that 29 years referred to her career. Wow it’s been 29 years I’ve been listening to Tori Amos! Lots of milestones! Today is my 30 year anniversary of my transition coincidentally. The beginning of which was incredibly difficult and it was Tori’s music that helped me through that for sure. Interesting how she didn’t include the y can’t Tori read era, though. So ii guess that 29 years doesn’t just refer to her career in recording music.
Although this interpretation is totally valid, I am quite sure, that she is not refering to her carreer, but her "damage" when beeing raped. I think the song is about freeing yourself, from the hold traumatic experiences (of any kind) can have over you. And not letting these experiences define who you are, or how you act.
Your Flowers Burn to Gold interpretation is really interesting. I'm going to have to study the lyrics and music a bit more to extrapolate so much metaphorical content even though it does remind me of Gold Dust. I take the song as a straightforward gesture of love toward her mother, who died over the past few years (around the same time as mine 🥺). Tori's fear of losing her mother has been a theme in her music since it inspired The Beekeeper, a song about her bargaining with the 'master beekeeper' for more time with her mother. Her 2017 album Native Invader deals further with this in Reindeer King, in which Tori makes a pilgrimage to a shaman to commune with her mother's spirit following a massive stroke that left her uncommunicative except her eyes, and then the song Mary's Eyes. I may only be reading one level into a more complicated song, but I think 'you had the kindest eyes' is clearly about her mother, and my immediate interpretation of Flowers Burn to Gold is that after her mother's death, she sees or gets reports about apparitions of her mother Mary and in the end believes that death is not the end, and her mother, as the flower who has burned (Tori refers to her mother as "a rose in a lily's cloak" in her song "Ribbons Undone," and now her mother has died and Tori has hidden her ashes under a treehouse.) has been transformed after death into something precious, fire being transmuting, etc. (This notion of fire plays a major role on her album Night of Hunters, in which a fire muse and a shapeshifter help her to navigate treacherous life/lives without causing harm to anyone.) The reference to her mother saying "Gardens, yes, they know," probably does have some reference to eden given their family's immersion in Methodism, but I think it's more of a reference to literal gardens in this case and these are probably extrapolations of things her mother said to her. Her album The Beekeeper-again, inspired partly by her mother's near death and her brother's death by car crash-is conceived as a "sonic garden," with songs organized into different hexagonally shaped gardens. Tori has gardens at her homes in Florida and Corwall and she has referenced them often. A song on her album To Venus and Back, Datura, is a response to an argument she had with her father about the plants she chose for her garden. I'm under the impression she and her parents probably spent time together in these gardens, and her mother probably actually told her "death is not the end" and "gardens know." (Tree of Knowledge and all...)
Love the outfit! I certainly had a "Punisher" listen today, alongside this beautiful album! I'm sure a lot of questions are already answered in the comments, the album is largely influenced by the death of her mother. Spies is for her daughter. It's a very personal affair. Great review once again!
I enjoyed your insights. I was a little on the fence in the beginning about this album for whatever reason. after listening a few times it really opened up to me. also now some of what you said has made me think of a few of the songs differently.
Flowers Burn to Gold and Speaking with Trees are directly about her mother's death, one references "Mary's Eyes" from Native Invader (which is heartbreaking), the other refers to her hiding some of her mother's ashes in a tree house at her Florida house. But once again your interpretation fits well too 👍 Tori said she sat in the mud and had to write herself out of it, inviting us to sit in the mud with her. I think she succeeded with this beautiful record. I'm really excited about forthcoming Tori reactions, especially for her 2014 and 2017 albums as well as her B-sides.
I kinda like the idea of that, going in reverse order after OTO, ending with The Beekeeper, whose last track, Toast, is the most beautiful Tori album closer ever.. Would be the perfect song, lyrically, to complete your Tori journey.
As others have mentioned, Tori's mother, Mary, passed away in 2019 (her mother is talked about in quite a lot of her songs). Sadly, her best friend also passed away just a few days later. Her friend was nicknamed Beenie and has been mentioned in several songs over the years (Beauty Queen, Father Lucifer, and Jackie's Strength to name a few). Something that I think will be interesting to keep in mind regarding Tori's relationship with men is that she's been married to her husband since 1998.
I'm begging you to react and analyze Adrianne Lenker's Songs. It's an incredibly lowkey album and that's the reason that it's kinda overlooked. But the lyrics will blow your mind.
Eric, I was interested in hearing Tiro because of you, on your From the Choirgirl Hotel review, thank you very much for that. I saw that you've already listened to some Kate Bush albums, I wanted you, if you could, do a review of "The Sensual World" or "The Kick Inside".
What's your favorite song on Ocean to Ocean? Also, as always, I don't seek out real-life biographical details to guide my analysis, so feel free to add any relevant information in the comments. :)
I think Devil's Bane and 29 years are at the top right now, mostly because of the great production. But honestly, this is the first Tori album in a decade or two where it seems too short.
More songs could have been as long as Spies, which at first I wasn't warmed up to, but in context of the album, it just sparkles! Love Ocean to Ocean track as well.
Only a couple of dud tracks (Flowers Burn to Gold mostly, because of the terrible UG bad habits), but that's only the production and not the songs themselves.
Favorite track: Addition Of Light Divided. Ever since her return to "pop" with Unrepentant Geraldines in 2014, Tori has been increasingly returning to her artistic chops for which she's because famous. With this album, she has now fully realized her potential from days of old.
Just for context, she lost both her mother and best friend in 2019, days apart from one another. Many songs on this album speak to those losses, especially that of her mother, Mary.
PS: I'm in Cloud 9 with this album!
Thank you for your beautiful review! I always look forward to your physical vibing with the albums.
favorite track: metal water wood. i really think it's one of her best songs in a looong time. she's said it was the first song she wrote for the album.
also really dig devil's bane, ocean to ocean, 29 years, and addition of light divided (which totally reminds me of a 90's sarah mclachlan song). this instrumentation and production on this album are outstanding.
PS. you were right about spies being written for her daughter, she wrote swim to new york state and birthday baby for her niece, and speaking with trees and flowers burn to gold were largely inspired by her mother's death.
Metal Water Wood comes at a time when I need to learn to be like water to save myself from my own reactions, and so it takes top position as I take in the mantra.
Imagine listening to Tori’s first 7 albums for the first time and then listening to Ocean to Ocean directly after Scarlet’s Walk? It must have sounded like magick to you. I’m so envious. NO skips were found. (Her post-Scarlet’s Walk albums are quite controversial among Tori Amos fans. Some fans love them, some hate them. Ha. But the first 7 albums are GOLDEN.) I love this reaction/review. Subscribed.
Eric, the underlay here is mainly to do with the death of Mary, her mother. It's her most personal album to date and I think a real accomplishment in so many ways. Great review and you look so good in that skeleton outfit. With the beard the boy doth become a man :)
i find that its hard for me to keep staring at Eric in these reaction videos, he is just toooooo handsome~~
If you like compelling time signature changes, wait till you get to Night of Hunters, particularly Star Whisperer and Your Ghost. Both so unexpected and the layering effect of a ‘song within a song’ is mesmerizing.
Thank you so much for your Tori Amos videos. I’ve been a devoted fan since the 90s and you’ve given me an entirely different appreciation with your articulate analyses. You’re a great talent honoring a legend well. Keep it up!
Eric, when you listen to Abnormally Attracted to Sin, it would be of benefit to listen to it on headphones. It has a lot of textures that are lost over basic speakers. The first time I listened to it on headphones, it was like experiencing the album again for the first time.
I 100% agree with this.
So true! Definitely my favourite among her 00s albums -after Scarlet's Walk of course-. Maybe California is quite offensive, but there are so many songs on it that I love. It's very obvious to me that she was struggling to adapt to the change in her voice, but the songs and production were on point, with a few exceptions.
@@spyrospal1 I see so LITTLE discussion about the change in her voice. Personally I hadn't gone back to pinpoint when it happened. Also no idea why. Can we discuss? Do you know what went on to make that happen?
@@beulahboi Apparently that was ultimately due to surgery she had for her ulcerative colitis around 2008-2009. She did look a bit sickly during that time-definitely lost some range and power there. Combine that with her jawbone deformity and whatever she had done to her front teeth (her consonants sound less sharp ever since) and you get a much different sound. As for the breathiness, that's most likely just her aging.
@@coconutnghtmr9931 Does she have ulcerative colitis?? Oh my God. My mother died from it during the 2016-17 holidays, and I can't listen to 'Reindeer King' to this day because it reminds me of that time.
I really enjoyed this album and your reaction--particularly 29 Years, Devil's Bane, and Swim to New York State. If you liked this, you'd probably also appreciate her great previous album Native Invader, whose lyrics were a bit more complex and imagistic at times, which I always enjoy.
Eric, Tori is touring in the US soon. Would love to hear your review of a live show!
Oh wow Eric, you rock! To have reacted "so soon" to Ocean To Ocean has made me so happy! Plus it has totally peaked my interest in what you'll have to say! You're so intuitive! (I'm a huge Tori fan since the beginning and have watched all of your Tori reactions several times! They really like you in the Tori fan group I'm a part of, by the way!!^^) Haven't even watched this yet but laid here and listened this morning to the whole album, so when this reaction came up on my youtube I just 'had' to say thank you for reacting so soon. Now I gotta go watch what you have to say!
From, ~Cascadia (this is my first comment ever, I think 🤔)
I have really enjoyed these videos Eric!!! It's so refreshing and fun to see a young person like me discover her music, although I knew about her at 17-18, but believe me, it's a blessing to get to know her music at this age.
I would really love to see you react to Y Kant Tori Read, her 80's project, and Strange Little Girls, because it is important to discover her evolution and her full work. I can't wait as well to see the day in which you react to her b-sides for example!!! Your channel is pure gold and fun!!! Thank you very much.
Agree with your 3 recommendations.
Totally agree. Y Kant Tori read was surprisingly good, and surprisingly Tori, as when I first heard about it, the general consensus seemed to be Tori was trying to be someone else to placate what record execs wanted to see, but Tori's unique vibe is still there. Also, totally hold he reviews the b-sides. Tori's b-sides are still some of my faves including upside down, here in my head, sugar, honey, cooling and more. Those are the songs with the deepness that needs Eric's analysis fr.
I love the Bridgers garb to accompany the Amos gab. I loved this album. Working on a cocktail menu for it. I feel like quarantine and drinking goes hand in hand.
“After a Pretty Bad Year” 👏. Great review Eric, others have already pointed out where lyrics refer to the death of her mother, and Spies being a lullaby for her 21yo daughter who was scared of bats flying into her bedroom while staying with T during the pandemic. I think Ocean to Ocean is her most consistently good albums in years, and collaborating (remotely) with her bass player and drummer from the 90s really helped. They’ve been MIA for a long time, and her music suffered for it.
I forgot to say my fav track! At this stage it is Metal Water Wood, it has a very strong Kate Bush vibe. Speaking with Trees also touched me having recently lost a parent too. The direct lyrics just hit you in the heart.
Birthday Baby has roots in Lady In Blue which is in my humble opinion the best track of Abnormally Attracted to Sin. I can't wait for you to review that song.
Just finished my first listen and at this point "Metal Water Wood" "Devil's Bane" and "Speaking with Trees" are my favorites but this is another no skips Tori album. I listened to her entire discography leading up to the release of this album, so fun revisiting all the songs and enjoy watching your analysis of them. Pele still my favorite after all these years...
Spies reminds me a little of Space Dog. I think Ocean to Ocean album features most of the best parts of her post 2000s albums, but with the energy of her 90s albums.
This is a very good reaction. Thank you. A Tori album hasn't resonated with me in a while. I love this release!!!!!
Wow, you look so handsome with the beard!! ^_^ Also, thanks for the review. That first song sounded mesmerizing. I will listen to the album myself soon.
Unlike most of Tori's music, this particular album really is lyrically straight forward, with not much to analyse. With that stated, it's her best album since "Night of Hunters".
Addition of light divided, 29 years, swim to new york state, birthday baby are amazing! One of her best later albums.
Not to be too contrarian, but I just listened to Devil's Bane a few times thinking of your analysis and I don't think it's about alcoholism. I think the devil's poison she drank was "shame!/shame!/on your Jezebel breed"-consistent with songs like Crucify, Take to the Sky and others (especially "Climb," from the album Native Invader), I think this is another reckoning with the shame of being a woman and guilt about all thoughts and actions that she has been trying to exorcise from herself all her adult life. I think she shot of tequila she takes at the beginning is meant to be ironically cleansing of the poisonous Christian ideologies that she was forced to drink throughout all her formative years. She sings that "he" (the patriarchy, I'm sure) has turned her against herself, who she likens to Venus-feminine representative of love-and "Your soul he's seekin'/All the while he's preachin'." In the last verse, she prays for the next wave of this sort of corruption and lies to bypass the world and for the next train seeking "a queen of poison" to also bypass the world. In line with some of the other songs on the album, I read this one as her reckoning with some of her past poisonous behaviors that were the result of having drunken the poison that was fed to her by a culture that robbed her of her ability to be whole through love and sensuality, and in the end she is making a plea to break the cycle, to end the poisoning of women's spirits and the making of poisonous people through this process.
In the very end, she says she barely got out with her life and she keeps running from the poison (which I read as poisoned thought), and so even with the recognition, she's trapped in this cycle. The theme carries through the album as she sings about piecing herself together for 29 years and asks the ocean's tides to take the unwanted pieces away. I imagine the unwanted pieces in great part are the poisoned thoughts of shame and guilt that have haunted her from 'Crucify' to 'Devil's Bane.'
This was an amazing run down of the album. I look forward to watching your other videos :) Great job. Keep it up man. My fav tracks are "Ocean2Ocean", "Metal Water Wood" and "Flowers Burn to Gold". This album is a masterpiece.
Great video! I'm really living for the dynamics on Swim to NY State and the vibe of Birthday Baby. Really a refreshing release and I'm so thankful for some new Tori. 💛
Welcome to the Tori fandom, Eric! That was such an enjoyable review and I can't wait to see you react to the rest of Tori's albums. Her post-Scarlet work tends to much more divisive amongst fans and critics so with your attention to detail I'm sure you will have plenty of interesting insights and analysis of those records :)
PS would love to see you react to Joni Mitchell's discography!
Birthday Baby reminds me of how Radiohead has a cinematic sounding track to end all their albums.
Spies - written as ‘ A lullaby about benevolent beings from Cornwall to England and through the isles that were helping kids get to sleep at night and chase away their nightmares’ . Tori wrote it as a story for Tash who is now in her 20’s . Bats 🦇 were scaring Tash in their home when they were in quarantine. There is an interview on Facebook with her talking about it 💕
Great reaction! I really like it, and like a lot of her output some songs or perspectives/aspects open up after repeated listens.
The "Spies" are bats, by the way. She regards bats as benevolent beings and already did so on her last album (on the songs Bats and Benjamin). She actually wrote it as a lullaby for her 21 year old daughter, who got scared because of bats invading their home in Cornwall. So you were spot on :)
Yep! I just commented pretty much the same thing ! Haha
What was prevalent in this album, is that energy she used to have before UG, where it sounds like she actually enjoyed making the music. I wish she had used Tash for all the background vocals, she sounds like mid-90s Tori on harmonies.
This was so much better than I thought it would be though, I'm actually excited about listening to it repeatedly.
She doesn't have anyone challenging her in the studio sadly, but at least working with other musicians again elevated her recordings this time. She must just get a real guitarist again, and also indulge in her love of electronic soundscapes like she did with Choirgirl, Venus, and AATS. Luckily the UG bad habits only messed up a couple of songs this time.
It's a shame that the great songs on Native Invader didn't get this consistent drum arrangements like we finally have again on Ocean to Ocean. Especially Bang. It was a great album, but wasn't the quality a musician of her caliber and her financial resources, should have been.
@@daipearmain Totally agree. I was just about to comment on Native Invader actually. To me, Unrepentant Geraldines actually sounded pretty good even with the programmed drums because all in all it's rather stripped down and it's the piano that truly shines on that one anyway.
When Native Invader first came out, I actually kinda liked it. Nowadays though, it's her only album which I can't bear to listen to. The drums either sound terribly fake (especially on tracks like Cloud Riders and Broken Arrow) or the mixing is horrendous and mushy (that last chorus on Up the Creek with the drum machine sunken underneath everything else and the piano awkwardly standing out, or Bang in its entirety). It didn't help that her piano playing was very simplistic there-mostly just block chords. And that darned effect applied to her voice throughout the whole thing! It's like they removed all the high frequencies from it, thus it sounds just as mushy as the rest.
I really wish she'd stuck with a more ambient, percussion-less type of production for NI, because I do still like Reindeer King, Mary's Eyes and Russia.
@@coconutnghtmr9931 Russia ? That song ain't it
@@coconutnghtmr9931 I agree entirely. That said though I think Native Invader has some killer ballads: Breakaway, Climb, Mary’s Eyes, and of course Reindeer King are gorgeous.
Ahhh the best reaction always ❤️
I'm loving these videos - thank you! I hope you go back to include Strange Little Girls then continue in chronological order. But _then_ you have Y Kant Tori Read and all the B-Sides. And her music videos! Would you do those too?!
Super excited to see this 😊
Tori Amos is my Goddess from West; UA (from JAPAN) is my goddess from EAST. Her album JAPO is super amazing.
Favourite song definitely Swim to New York State ❤
React to ALL of Tori's albums. Each one is its own universe.
Thank you Eric as always. 👍😀😘
I didn’t even pick up that 29 years referred to her career. Wow it’s been 29 years I’ve been listening to Tori Amos! Lots of milestones! Today is my 30 year anniversary of my transition coincidentally. The beginning of which was incredibly difficult and it was Tori’s music that helped me through that for sure. Interesting how she didn’t include the y can’t Tori read era, though. So ii guess that 29 years doesn’t just refer to her career in recording music.
Although this interpretation is totally valid, I am quite sure, that she is not refering to her carreer, but her "damage" when beeing raped. I think the song is about freeing yourself, from the hold traumatic experiences (of any kind) can have over you. And not letting these experiences define who you are, or how you act.
For something as grim as hiding her mother's ashes, its weirdly upbeat. Such a great album.
Your Flowers Burn to Gold interpretation is really interesting. I'm going to have to study the lyrics and music a bit more to extrapolate so much metaphorical content even though it does remind me of Gold Dust. I take the song as a straightforward gesture of love toward her mother, who died over the past few years (around the same time as mine 🥺).
Tori's fear of losing her mother has been a theme in her music since it inspired The Beekeeper, a song about her bargaining with the 'master beekeeper' for more time with her mother. Her 2017 album Native Invader deals further with this in Reindeer King, in which Tori makes a pilgrimage to a shaman to commune with her mother's spirit following a massive stroke that left her uncommunicative except her eyes, and then the song Mary's Eyes.
I may only be reading one level into a more complicated song, but I think 'you had the kindest eyes' is clearly about her mother, and my immediate interpretation of Flowers Burn to Gold is that after her mother's death, she sees or gets reports about apparitions of her mother Mary and in the end believes that death is not the end, and her mother, as the flower who has burned (Tori refers to her mother as "a rose in a lily's cloak" in her song "Ribbons Undone," and now her mother has died and Tori has hidden her ashes under a treehouse.) has been transformed after death into something precious, fire being transmuting, etc. (This notion of fire plays a major role on her album Night of Hunters, in which a fire muse and a shapeshifter help her to navigate treacherous life/lives without causing harm to anyone.)
The reference to her mother saying "Gardens, yes, they know," probably does have some reference to eden given their family's immersion in Methodism, but I think it's more of a reference to literal gardens in this case and these are probably extrapolations of things her mother said to her. Her album The Beekeeper-again, inspired partly by her mother's near death and her brother's death by car crash-is conceived as a "sonic garden," with songs organized into different hexagonally shaped gardens. Tori has gardens at her homes in Florida and Corwall and she has referenced them often. A song on her album To Venus and Back, Datura, is a response to an argument she had with her father about the plants she chose for her garden. I'm under the impression she and her parents probably spent time together in these gardens, and her mother probably actually told her "death is not the end" and "gardens know." (Tree of Knowledge and all...)
Love the outfit! I certainly had a "Punisher" listen today, alongside this beautiful album! I'm sure a lot of questions are already answered in the comments, the album is largely influenced by the death of her mother. Spies is for her daughter. It's a very personal affair.
Great review once again!
I know that outfit I hope to see his fine self in a dracula costume next year 😍
You’re my new icon !!! I can’t wait for your reactions to The Beekeeper and ADP !!!!!
Wonderful analysis once again Eric, thank you for getting this out so quickly 💗 💫
Thank you for your Tori reactions. They are great! 😎🎹
I enjoyed your insights. I was a little on the fence in the beginning about this album for whatever reason. after listening a few times it really opened up to me. also now some of what you said has made me think of a few of the songs differently.
Really excited for this video.
Great reaction, as always! And as others pointed out, much of it deals with the loss of her mum and her grief…
Ocean to Ocean and Devil's Bane are my top 2. Can't pick just one.
Flowers Burn to Gold and Speaking with Trees are directly about her mother's death, one references "Mary's Eyes" from Native Invader (which is heartbreaking), the other refers to her hiding some of her mother's ashes in a tree house at her Florida house. But once again your interpretation fits well too 👍
Tori said she sat in the mud and had to write herself out of it, inviting us to sit in the mud with her. I think she succeeded with this beautiful record.
I'm really excited about forthcoming Tori reactions, especially for her 2014 and 2017 albums as well as her B-sides.
Eric, try The Beekeeper next. It is a great album too from an amazing era!
Love some Beekeeper appreciation
ERIC THE FACIAL HAIR. ABSOLUTELY YESSS 😍😍😍😍😍
You need to listen to other non-album Tori Songs, such as ‘Siren’ and ‘Butterfly’ those two are amazinh
Great reaction! You should keep going backwards now and meet her at The Beekeeper.
I kinda like the idea of that, going in reverse order after OTO, ending with The Beekeeper, whose last track, Toast, is the most beautiful Tori album closer ever.. Would be the perfect song, lyrically, to complete your Tori journey.
The new Abba album comes out next week! Hop to it.. :)
I clicked so fast !!!!
As others have mentioned, Tori's mother, Mary, passed away in 2019 (her mother is talked about in quite a lot of her songs). Sadly, her best friend also passed away just a few days later. Her friend was nicknamed Beenie and has been mentioned in several songs over the years (Beauty Queen, Father Lucifer, and Jackie's Strength to name a few).
Something that I think will be interesting to keep in mind regarding Tori's relationship with men is that she's been married to her husband since 1998.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Definitely give this a listen with some really good headphones.
Another great reaction! You should check out Mylene Farmer. She mostly sings in French but it’s very poetic. Love the Halloween costume!
Idk if anyone touched on this but my understanding is that Metal Water Wood comes from the Bruce Lee quote "Be like water."
I'm begging you to react and analyze Adrianne Lenker's Songs. It's an incredibly lowkey album and that's the reason that it's kinda overlooked. But the lyrics will blow your mind.
I love your No-Face doll in the background!
Spies! Fav one!
Devil's Bane!
Hey Eric! Please react to Eartheater's "Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin"… you won't regret it.
Eric, I was interested in hearing Tiro because of you, on your From the Choirgirl Hotel review, thank you very much for that. I saw that you've already listened to some Kate Bush albums, I wanted you, if you could, do a review of "The Sensual World" or "The Kick Inside".
Omg when he listens to Aerial and 50 Words For Snow it's gonna be a cultural reset
Eric I have to know - did you get tickets to any of her shows this summer ????
I didn't, sadly, but I'd love to see her live someday!
@@ericmason6540 where do you live ? You have GOT to go see her !!!!! We have to make that happen
Is that an aimee mann cD behind you? ❤️
It is! :)
do you have any other social media?
LoL skeleton suit from the Karate Kid.
I think the black dress resembles (sp?) a bat as a reference to the early rona troubles.
the best thing of the new album is that her drummer and base player are back on.
the music sounds more lively and dynamic because of them than her earlier 3 or so albums.
Please react to Aurora’s entire discography, you’re in for a surprise