Hometown: Baltimore, MD
First recordings: 1980

Personnel:
Tori Amos -vocals, mallet piano, Kurzweil, Bose, "weird sounds"
Matt Chamberlain -drums
Justin Meldal-Johnsen -bass
Steve Caton -acoustic and electric guitars

Bands In The Family:
Y Kant Tori Read, Carl Craig

Notes:
Born Myra Ellen Amos in Newton, North Carolina, the girl who would be Tori was given her name by a friend's boyfriend, who thought she just looked more like a "Tori." Growing up in a strict Christian household, she found release by playing on the piano at her Cherokee grandparents' house. Her grandparents would sing to her daily and teach her the legends surrounding nature and dreams - themes that reappeared in many of her songs. She released her first single with help from her brother Mike Amos at the age of 17. It was called "Baltimore" and was written for the Baltimore Orioles. At the age of 21, Amos moved to LA where she formed Y Tori Kant Read with Brad Cobb, Matt Sorum and Steve Canton. The band was noticed by a producer from Atlantic Records, who signed them shortly thereafter; Y Kant Tori Read only released a few singles before breaking up in 1989. She continued to play in bars and nightclubs before eventually releasing her first solo album Little Earthquakes in 1992, spawning the hit single "Silent All These Years". Under The Pink followed in 1994, and Boys For Pele saw something of a commercial breakthrough in 1996 (as well as Tori's surprising crossover into the clubs via Armand Van Helden's remix of "Professional Widow"). By the time From The Choirgirl Hotel reached its anxious audience in 1998, Tori had built one of the most fanatical followings in pop music. Her fifth album To Venus and Back features live versions of older songs in addition to 11 new originals.

Links:
Tori Amos Mothership
We Love Tori Amos

Shock Me Sane
Great title, neat design, lotsa streaming stuff...not the most frequently updated site, but definitely one of the best on the Web.

With a single graceful extension, Tori Amos spanned the chasm dividing acoustic and electronic when she produced From The Choirgirl Hotel. While its enchanting predecessor - 1996's Boys For Pele - took us by the hand and led us on a journey painted in watercolors, Choirgirl places us in a giant slingshot and sends us zooming through an eccentric safari of earth, air and water, challenging you to employ all of your senses.

Take, for example, the intrinsically tribal "Hotel" in which seemingly calm lyrics and instrumentals make their underlying passion violently apparent by launching themselves into a whirling array of aural fury -- burning red and wild like a fire ablaze in the middle of the night. By the end of the 5:17 minute track, an exhausted Tori has only the strength enough to sigh "I'm still alive. I'm still alive."

The album is a dizzying sensory rollercoaster, which is exactly what we have come to expect and love. Jump-started by its first single "Spark," Choirgirl pushes onward with the haunting "Black-Dove (January)" followed by an electronic romp through a delicious "Raspberry Swirl" and soothingly coming to a close with unadulterated beauty in "Pandora's Aquarium." Each song has a slightly different flavor that deserves to be swished around over the palate before swallowed, and chances are good that you'll feel compelled to savor a few helpings before feeling completely satisfied.

If you like Tori Amos, check out:
Tori Amos Boys For Pele
Tori Amos To Venus And Back
Tori Amos Under the Pink
Tori Amos Little Earthquakes
Fiona Apple Tidal
Jeff Buckley Grace
Björk Debut

-- Johanna Ravich