Tori Amos
A Piano: The Collection

THE REVIEW

I will start with the conclusions...

Who might be interested in this collection? Fans? Naaa! A true EWF has already acquired all the material this (substantial) box set offers.

A non-Fan? Naa! Apart from the prohibitive price, even though the packaging is truly beautiful, I would honestly recommend a non-enthusiast to gradually acquire the various albums created by the Cornflake Girl in the '90s (including the controversial "To Venus and Back" from '99) to gradually enter the wonderful yet often cryptic world of the red-haired American singer-songwriter whom her fans even call the "Rock Goddess"!

So why 5 stars?

Let’s go back to the beginning: when this box set was released some time ago, I promised myself, "No! You won’t buy it! I said no!" and indeed for some time I found the inner strength to resist the temptation... then the inevitable happened, a forced listen to "Flying Dutchman" in the car of a friend of mine, a track present on the first of the 5 CDs of the set in a pirated version; I couldn't bear the thought that even Myra Ellen had to suffer the indignity of piracy and the next day I found myself 60 Euros lighter. The following days were spent trying to calm my fanaticism!

Five days for the first CD, a "Director's cut" version (I know it's a cinematic term but I haven't found a better one) of the first album "Little Earthquakes," with many songs presented in an alternative mix from the era (1992) and the addition of four songs excluded from the original and put as B-sides in various singles, including the beautiful "Upside Down" and "Take to the Sky". Three days for the second, an anthology of alternative mixes (always from the era) and other B-sides (highlighted by the moving "Honey") from the two subsequent albums: "Under the Pink" from '94 and "Boys for Pele" from '96. A week for the challenging third disc: a selection, according to the standards of the first two CDs, still of the second and third album but also the fifth "To Venus and Back", and here, unfortunately, the ugly dance remix of "Professional Widow" was included, though compensated by the live version of "Waitress".

I dedicated about five days to the fourth disc, mainly for the songs taken from "From the Choirgirl Hotel" from '98 rather than those from "Scarlet's Walk" (2002) and "The Beekeeper" (2005), which are her weakest albums. Here, one can be enchanted by the beautiful alternative version of "Playboy Mommy", truly delightful... The fifth, being a collection of only various B-sides, didn’t take me more than a day, though notable was the presence of "Sister Janet".

After three weeks, therefore, I was able to give a calm judgment on the product, and honestly, my impression was that on the whole, the box set did not significantly impact the Amos story, that as an ardent fan I would have expected something more, that I already had all the B-sides, and that very few of the alternative versions (all from the era) added anything new compared to the originals (such as those of "Crucify" and "Mother").

So why the highest rating? Simple, because even when she is not at her best, this splendid creature, who, to quote "Il Mucchio Selvaggio," was to the Lollapalooza generation what Mitchell was to the Woodstock generation, always manages to "corrupt me", her versatile and never predictable voice, her way of arranging music which is never banal and often minimalist, the incredible variety of styles she has offered (from authorial Pop to electronic songwriting, passing through baroque citations and furious piano ballads) lead me to not always be objective and evaluate this product, which nevertheless goes far beyond mere commercial speculation, with the naivety of a child who never tires of the same nursery rhyme...

She is the woman who searched for a Savior under dirty sheets, who masturbated listening to Robert Plant's voice, she is the woman who told me about girls who throw you to the sharks and others who are quick from the frying pan to the fire, she was not afraid to mourn her songs without making them appear grotesque, she spoke to me about God in the feminine form before it became a cliché and about spring breezes...

Every day I would like something new from her, for now, I will settle for her memories even if second-hand.