I can't forget the things you never said

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

28/01/96 : Boys For Pele - Tori Amos

Ah - the pig album.  Which I've always been too scared to listen to - but I enjoyed our last visit with Tori so I'm hopeful for more of the same here.

And it's more like "MORE of the same" - she's definitely kept the stunning piano and vocals but dialled up the quirk, with her making some very odd noises at times.  It often feels more like a "performance" than a mere album, but it's an interesting and mostly enjoyable performance nonetheless.  It's also interesting to hear the original version of "Professional Widow" - Armand van Helden definitely makes it more accessible with his remix.  And, unsurprisingly, we never owned it - 12/49.

We're at #2 with a new entry in the charts this week at the start of a seven week run - which feels better than I would have expected.  I know those that love this album love it big time, but I suspect there are a lot of copies out there gathering dust on the shelf after a first listen.  The rest of the top five were Oasis (of course!), Alanis (ditto), Pulp and R&J.  There are no other new entries, Gene just fail to make it in at #11.

Wikipedia has considerably more on the album than I was expecting (204 milliPeppers) - most of which is, unsurprisingly, pretentious guff.  On the album title, she says "First I wanted to sacrifice all these guys to the volcano goddess (Pele) and roast them like marshmallows" - you get the general idea.  Apparently she planned to record the album in the US deep South - so obviously most of it got recorded in a church in Ireland.  The critical reception was interesting - there was a lot of criticism around the vocals and lyrics as being impenetrable, which seems odd to me.  This is Tori - what were you expecting?!?  It did well commercially though - #2 here and in the US and top ten in quite a few European countries.  Interestingly, Wikipedia doesn't mention the pig which seems odd because it did create a bit of a stir at the time.

"Customers also listened to" Ani DiFranco, Edie Brickell and Milla Jovovich - yes, the actress/model which has got me somewhat intrigued.  I can't say I'll be rushing back to this - Little Earthquakes is much more accessible and I've yet to revisit that.  But it's certainly an interesting listen and parts of it have a beautifully pure sound to it - so I'm glad I checked it out.

21/01/96 - Awww, he's so young!
04/02/96 - An enjoyable half album