LEX IS MORE

barthel:

richaod:

But speaking of revisionism: ’90s Tori Amos. I think you once labelled her lyrics “obviously embarrassing” in passing, and I didn’t respond then - but I consider her a truly visionary artist, as many people evidently did, or still do. Emblematically of her apparent whitewashing from history, Pitchfork originally ranked Little Earthquakes as the eighth-best album of the 1990s, but when they revised the list a few years later, it was left off entirely. So maybe the listmaking process is democratic, and the site’s staff/aesthetic changed, but surely good music is inherent?

I think it’s fair to say that dealing with uncomfortable emotions with brutal, unsentimental honesty, utterly devoid of self-pity, isn’t cheesy. Nor is externalising it exhibitionist if it resonates artistically. But it is difficult. Yet arguably no group of fans in all music have been as broadly, profoundly emotionally affected by an artist’s work as we “Toriphiles”; certain fans’ ongoing willingness to follow her on entire tours attests to that. So I’m not calling anyone out personally, and the quote was hardly intended as definitive, but to call Tori Amos “obviously embarrassing” feels a little insulting when many identify so strongly with her - not because I or anyone else is necessarily a victim in need of therapy, but because to us, she just about represents pure empathy in music. And it’s nowhere near a Celine Dion-esque critically reviled, “for the fans” situation - just where has all that goodwill gone?

If, whether or not it’s embarrassing music, we’re not really embarrassing as people, I’d also like to think musical taste, especially indie/”cool” status, doesn’t exist as a superiority complex. Not over other people, nor the aesthetics with which they may identify.

When helping me revise my pieces, Rachel will often say, “remember, other people don’t know what’s in your head.”  This is one of those times.  I say that about Tori lyrics with the greatest affection, because I used to be a huge Tori fan myself, right up through whatever that double live album thing was.  Live shows, meet-and-greets, the whole bit.  I just threw out my two boxes of cassette bootlegs when I moved to the west coast.  It’s like that.

So while I do think Tori Amos lyrics are obviously embarrassing - they’re overwrought and meaningless and badly in need of editing - I’m not sure quite where that impulse comes from, nor do I intend it to imply that Tori’s music is worthless or embarrassing.  (I did a post some years ago about how to produce a good Tori Amos album, FWIW.)  I still like it, I think.  I mean, my explanation for why she’s lost so much respect is essentially that she kept making music, and that music kinda sucked, but I know others disagree. 

“Lost” respect? I’m not sure she ever had mainstream critical respect; I think her critical presence while she was making good music was buoyed by a minority of critics who were really into her, but the idea that she was a visionary, important artist never took hold. Even throughout the ’90s, most critics saw her and her fans as an object of derision. Now, she’s pretty much totally ignored. When was the last time you even saw her mentioned as a key historical artist with a back catalogue worth delving into - no matter that she’s had an obvious and massive influence on a huge range of mainstream and alternative artists over the past decade, whether you’re talking about the style and mannerisms of Bat For Lashes or the young female confessionalism of Kelly Clarkson or Ashlee Simpson (who tips her hat to Amos twice on Autobiography, including on that album’s best lyric: “My head is spinning, but my heart is in the right place / Sometimes it has to have itself a little earthquake”).

I consider her a prime exhibit in the case for rock criticism’s (continued) institutional misogyny (it’s instructive to compare critical reaction to Amos and Radiohead, especially w/r/t the praise they got for their shitty Warp retreads compared to how Amos’s insanely far-out electronic experiments in the late ’90s were received). I note critics who dismiss her outright, so that I need never pay attention to them ever again (in the ’90s, as I’ve written before, this resulted in my boycotting pretty much every critical organ existence, which I’m tremendously thankful for in retrospect).

FWIW, I also think her “golden era” was 1996-99 (so I disagree with Mike there); I’d call her first five albums Required Listening for anyone with an interest in pop music, and the next two certainly Worthwhile Listening. Not even her most rabid fans need to hear her albums post-Scarlet’s Walk (though, you know, American Doll Posse wasn’t bad at all!). Also, I find very few of her lyrics embarrassing, but that’s probably another discussion for another time (though there’s plenty written on various ILX threads by myself, Tim Finney and others on this subject).