News: SPIN's ADP Review

Jamee transcribed SPIN Magazine’s American Doll Posse review for us since it is not yet on their website. It appeared in the June 2007 issue of the magazine.

Update: The review is now on SPIN’s website — thanks Davey!

No Fairy Tale

Alt rock’s fiery earth mother bares her teeth

4.5/5 stars

Not merely the most confrontational, catchy, and guitar-heavy music of Tori Amos’ career, this abrupt about-face from 2005’s sedate “The Beekeeper” is arguably the singer/pianist’s greatest, and undeniably sexiest, album. Now reserving her motherly side for family time, Amos shifts into warrior mode, with anthems so ballsy that her rep as the remote princess of airy-fairy twinkle begs for serious revision.

Start with “Teenage Hustling,” where Amos warns a sneaky young contender not to go “skankin’ around” her man. Then check out the feral “You Can Bring Your Dog,” in which she entreats a “pretty boy” to “play the wolf for the evening.” Her songs had become long and loose over the years; here they’re tight and sharp and snarling.

No longer just singing to the converted, the consummate cult icon now sounds committed to taking on the world. From the softly seething opener, “Yo George,” to the climactic lament, “Dark Side of the Sun,” this 23-track, but atypically succinct, statement deals with life during “the madness of King George” and calls on women to stop disappearing beyond fragmented feminine roles and reach out to their religion-polarized brothers. Trading obscure metaphors for assertive personae, Amos sings with a remarkably forceful focus. Amos has made her accessible and songs instantly memorable.

—Barry Walters