Tori Amos - The Beekeeper

Let me get something out of the way: I am not one of the Tori army. I love her music and own about all of her commercial albums, and I’ve seen her live once. There, with that caveat in place, let me just say… The Beekeeper is not tending very exciting bees. See, that was nice. Oh, and the best aspect about the newest Tori album is its soporific effect, as not one song checks you with the old Amos fire and brimstone, like “Raspberry Swirl” and “Father Lucifer” were able to do. Scarlett’s Walk, Amos’ last studio album, was a masterpiece, but The Beekeeper doesn’t stand up to it. The music on this album ventures from gospel choirs to Jamaican beats, and the playing is solid. It’s just a bit all over the place and always complacent. Best songs? Yes, there are some. Tori’s duet with Damien Rice, “The Power of Orange Knickers,” is quite pretty and bittersweet to listen to, while the title track is magical ("I have come with my mustard seed/ I cannot accept that she will be taken from me/ Do you know who I am?/ She said I am the one who taps you on the shoulder when it's your time") and eerie. “Ribbons Undone” has sweet lyrics, and “Goodbye Pisces” is an excellent and ethereal song, turning the "bull in a china shop" similie into a great relationship metaphor. I also really like the pacing and ominious-peace (Is there such a thing? There is now) of “Parasol.” “Hoochie Woman” is the only song on the album with some sassy ass (“He said she has needs/ I said you’ll find ‘em on Barney’s fourth floor”), but it’s ultimately silly. You might notice that the majority of the songs I like are at the end of the album, which is what I skip to now when I’m listening. Tori’s latest, I hate to say, is just too timid, too languid for my taste. Hopefully next time Ms. Cornflake girl will remember that she wrote the heart-wrenching “Baker,” the super-smackdown “Precious Things,” and the unconventional musing “Muhammad My Friend,” and she could write material of that pizzazz and quality again. I promise I’d buy it. The Beekeeper is a pretty album with plenty of neat, deep lyrics, but it’s ultimately a lackluster album. [www.toriamos.com]