American Doll Posse - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
In an era of digital downloads and singles, Tori Amos embraces the concept album in a sprawling 23-song oratorio. Firing across the American psychological, social, and political landscape, she takes on the state of the world, war, and feminism. To help her, she adopts five personas--her American Doll Posse--who take their characteristics from Greek gods, but not their names: Clyde, Pip, Isabel, Santa, and Tori. You need a scorecard to keep track, but don't worry. It's still Tori Amos, bending syllables in improbable pretzels with rippling piano themes and choruses that threaten to go Broadway at any moment. Amos vents her political spleen through "Isabel," leaving no doubt as to her targets on tracks like "Yo George," and comments on our impersonal age and computer addiction with "Digital Ghost." That's sung by the character "Tori," who is reputedly based on Demeter and Dionysus, representing the split between Amos's earth-mother side and her wilder, more libertine tendencies. Anti-war and pro-feminist themes are plastered across American Doll Posse like sloganeering posters. "Dark Side of the Sun" laments both sides of the war, including the Islamists who lay down their lives "for some sick promise of heaven." Amos adopts a big '80s rock sound on many tracks, with guitarist Mac Aladdin pealing off Brian May-style guitar licks over an arena-rock beat. It's where Amos details a more personal sound that American Doll Posse leaves a lasting impression. "Girl Disappearing," sung by "Clyde," holds echoes of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," not only because of the string quartet and nostalgic tone, but the updated tale of a woman losing herself. "Smokey Joe" brims with dark atmospheres, Robert Fripp-like guitar sustains, and Amos's most elaborate vocal arrangements, interweaving two sets of lyrics for "Pip." More than a concept album, American Doll Posse is a convergence experience, mixing online blogs from each character, videos, MySpace sites, and more. --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Best album since "Under the Pink" May 4, 2007
33 out of 43 found this review helpful

I really didn't know what to expect from Tori Amos' new album "American Doll Posse." To be perfectly blunt, I didn't really care for her last album "The Beekeeper" (2005). While "The Beekeeper" wasn't a horrible album, I just couldn't get into it. There were some great ideas, and most of the songs had a great deal of potential, but the album just seemed kind of aimless and flat.

While I was hoping Tori Amos would rebound for her new album, I was really surprised by how much I love "American Doll Posse." Although the piano is still front and center, "American Doll Posse" is more guitar, rock oriented than much of her previous work. The album is much, much more cohesive than "The Beekeeper" and the songs are far tighter. It's amazing that an album of this length, nearly 80 minutes, has nearly no filler. While there are some songs like the ultra-catchy "Bouncing off the Clouds" and the dreamy, Beatle-esque "Mr. Bad Man" that stand-out as potential singles, every song really works.

While I enjoyed the equally long "Scarlet's Walk" (2002) as well as her later 90s work, "American Doll Posse" is Amos's first album since "Under the Pink" that I could thoroughly get into, from start to finish. That's not to say every album since "Under the Pink" wasn't good, as I think most of her work is great. Rather, I feel that with "American Doll Posse," Amos has created a great piece of work that lives up to the classic first two albums.

4 out of 5 stars

3.5 Stars... Better than "the Beekeeper" but don't buy it for the DVD May 27, 2007
24 out of 30 found this review helpful

On the heels of 2005's very disappointing (both critically and commercially) overlong concept album "The Beekeeper" came the buzz that Tori was working on... yet another sprawling concept album. I have to admit that I was fearing the worst. Thankfully, things turned out a lot better than I expected.

On "American Doll Posse" (23 tracks; 79 min.), Tori brings a (vinyl) double-album's worth of music, presented by 5 characters (Pip, Isabelle, CLyde, Santa and Tori). Things start off poorly, with "Yo George", a lame and predictable rant (yes, we get it), but then immediately kick into overdrive with "Big Wheel" and "Bouncing Off Clouds", two hard-charging songs (and singles) that are miles better than anything on "The Beekeeper". "Digital Ghosts" and "Your Can Bring Your Own Dog" round out an overall very good Side 1. From there on, though, it becomes a pick-and-choose affair. There's the excellent excellent "Girls Disappearing", followed by a mediocre "Secret Spell" on Side 2, and up and down and up again it goes. The epic "Code Red" is the highlight on Side 3. By the time Side 4 rolls around, I am fighting fatigue due to the lenght of this album, although "Dark Side of the Moon" is another stand-out.

"American Doll Posse" is certainly not a bad album, but once again Tori is victim of her own over-ambitiousness, and there was nobody to rein her in, as Tori serves as her own producer. This could've been an absolute knock-out album, had about 1/3 of the songs been set aside for some other purpose (singles B-sides, fan-friendly downloads, and the like). As on previous Tori albums, Matt Chamerlain (drums) and Jon Evans (bass) provide outstanding musical backup.

As to the bonus DVD, please save your money! The DVD runs a mere 8 min. (and that's not a typo), and for that you get one extra track ("My Posse Can Do", set to still photographs you find in the album's booklet), and a 5 min. behind the scenes look at the photo-shoot of the various "American Doll Posse" characters (from the looks of it, this was done at Tori's house in England). And that's it.

3 out of 5 stars

AMERICAN DOLL POSSSE AKA STRANGE LITTLE GIRLS 2 May 2, 2007
21 out of 43 found this review helpful

For die hard Tori fans the special deluxe edition will be a must have. It contains the bonus dvd and a 36 page booklet all in another digipak. (we hate digipaks because they are so hard to keep in mint condition)Before this cd came out I had imagined it would be a rehash of her Strange Little Girls concept and of course it's exactly that. The DVD is nothing more than what she did for Tales of a Librarian a bonus track along with still photos of her "characters". The bonus track is "my posse can do" think "wednesday + bachlorette".I don't know about you but I would have prefered the bonus track on her audio cd this will only lead people to itunes to shell out more money to have the track on their ipod. The bonus footage is her behind the scenes photo shoot which is only 5 minutes and 20 seconds. The total time is a bit over 8 minutes for the entire dvd. I could have lived without the bonus stuff and would have been just fine with the cd. To me it's just a way for her to make that extra ten bucks out of you. In any event the cd says it has 23 tracks, but 5 of them are under two minutes if not 41 seconds so you are actually getting 18 tracks of material. The cd starts off with yo george in reference to king george. In it she sings "where have we gone wrong america"? It's over charging Tori fans exuberant amount of money for a tori product it seems like lately. Alot of people were upset that Tori has gotten too commercial with her products in that any way she can make money she will do it. I agree with them. Anyone who bought this cd thru amazon were stiffed because when you bought it with i-tunes you got two bonus songs plus a free passcode to purchase presale tickets to her upcoming tour. NOT NICE TORI. I've said it once and i'll say it again, "she's listening to some very bad advice from the Tori camp". Tori herself has stated that she can't be held hostage to what people want to hear...(or what they can afford as well may I add). Well she better because we are the same people who put her where she is and I wish the Tori camp would realize it. I would have liked to have the bonus tracks with what I purchased so I feel rather cheated as well and will not buy anything from now on that is not a new album. Big Wheels is by far my favorite track and quite different for Tori, or rather for one of the four characters she portrays throughout this set. I did not care for bouncing off the clouds but I'm sure it's someone's favorite. Teenage Hustling is reminiscent of "Not David Bowie". Digital Ghost is another good track albeit somewhat slower than the others. I could go on track by track but to sum it up: each of the characters bring something different to each track. Most will love the cd as it does offer diversity a bit. I would sum it up as it sounding like tori "plugged" with alot of "Not David Bowie" sounding to it. I gave it 3 stars because I miss the old Tori who just went out and did it. I'm sick of her characters she comes up with. The concept was cute with "strange little girls" and I know she has lots to say, but i'm not interested in that "cornflake girl" rehash. Rumour has it that she's touring dressed up in a different character in each city. God I hope not. Will people pay more attention to her costumes than the music and her lyrics? Why is it that words are never enough when hard pressed? You know they say that when an artist starts to believe his/her own PR, it's the beginning to the end for them. Tori feels like she can throw anything at us and we will love it no matter what. Because I'm starting to feel cheated with anything asscociated with Tori now.

2 out of 5 stars

Not interesting. Too long! May 2, 2007
18 out of 49 found this review helpful

This CD is just not that interesting. Goes along and doesn't bring me into it. Tori needs to really edit herself. That may be one reason why it's not that interesting.

5 out of 5 stars

Her Posse Can Do May 16, 2007
18 out of 22 found this review helpful

Tori Amos is back to her old tricks on "American Doll Posse," which is sure to please fans of her 90's albums. She has captured the bite and urgency that marked albums like "Boys For Pele" and "From the Choirgirl Hotel" while retaining the poise and sophistication of post-millennium output like 2002's "Scarlet's Walk." As she puts it, the "warrior woman" has returned.

Amos wouldn't be Amos without building her record around an eccentric concept. Throughout the bulky list of twenty-three tracks (including 5 interludes) changes of mood, tempo and subject recur forthrightly, owed to the differing perspectives of 5 characters Amos has concocted for her "posse": Clyde, Isabel, Pip, Santa and of course Tori, all of whom are credited in the liner notes. The categorizing of the tracks in this manner, though much more discernible than the grouping of songs on 2005's "The Beekeeper" into six different "gardens," is unnecessary for the enjoyment of the album.

Beginning with the coolly cryptic "Yo George" ("Is this just the Madness of King George?/Yo George, well you have the whole Nation o all fours."), she then whips into the fast-paced lead single "Big Wheel" which finds her breaking free of a man who hinders her self-expression with its self-assured lyrics. The romantic protestation of "Bouncing off Clous" follows, a gigantic wave of instrumentation geared to sweep listeners off their feet and carry them off. Romance succeeds, however, in the cheeky "You Can Bring Your Dog."

"Girl Disappearing" may be the most culturally relevant track on the disc. Spotlighting the repercussions of tabloid culture, Amos muses on the war women wage against each others. never fumbles her message.

"Envy can spread herself so thin/She slipped it in before I could notice it/In my own war, blood in the cherry zone/When they pit woman against feminist/Riding on backs of palominos/Ditching the blond shell/Working her hell on that red carpet."

This with songs like the bitterly sarcastic "Mr. Bad Man" or the curiously titled "Programmable Soda." The best is "Secret Spell," with its widescreen, epic melody that finds beauty in a clean slate, even if love has abruptly met an end.

Religious commentary comes with "Father's Son" and the anxious, seething "Body and Soul." She also continues to wage criticism on President Bush in the likes of "Code Red" and "Dark Side of the Sun," the latter of which cuts to the heart of the matter: "So how many young men have to lay down/Their life and their love of their woman/For some sick promise of a heaven?" She even manages to send a message to Laura Bush in "Posse Bonus."

Moments of pure wisdom and grace abound in lines like "Sometimes I think, I think I understand/The Fear in the boy/The Fire in the man" in "Roosterspur Bridge" or "My dark twin, the annihilating Feminine, does not need civilizing" in "Smokey Joe."

The most evocative moment is the unflinchingly rapturous "Almost Rosey." Her most gorgeous, mercurial melody to date married with melancholy observations ("Just why do they say "Have a nice day." anyway/We both know they wouldn't mind if I just curled up and died."), it pieces together an intriguing story of the pitfalls of love and life.

She wraps things up with "Dragon," where one woman confronts another about her past while comforting her as well, telling her to "just stay awhile" since "they forgot about the power of a woman's love."

If feminism is in dire straits as of late, Amos gives it a warm embrace with "American Doll Posse" without resorting to undue stereotypes. In such a time as 2007, she is a much-needed breath of fresh air.

The limited edition contains an 8-minute bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes footage and an additional track, "My Posse Can Do."

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