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STRANGE LITTLE GIRLS
Tori Amos
(Atlantic-Warner)
On her latest collection, in stores Tuesday, Amos takes on the guise of 13 different women -- including one set of twins -- to sing a dozen songs written by men ranging from Neil Young to Eminem.
The results, while mixed, are intriguing to be sure.
If nothing else, Amos has great taste, choosing to cover tunes by acclaimed songsmiths ranging from Lou Reed in his Velvet Underground days (New Age) to Tom Waits (Time), while bringing along guitar great Adrian Belew (King Crimson) to play on several songs.
Standouts include her eerie spoken-word-meets-classical rendition of Eminem's 97' Bonnie & Clyde, the piano-strings-and-synth version of Depeche Mode's Enjoy The Silence, her atmospheric take on Lloyd Cole & The Commotions' Rattlesnakes, and her straight-ahead piano-and-vocal versions of Waits' Time and Joe Jackson's Real Men.
Elsewhere, Amos saps the life out of 10CC's I'm Not In Love by stripping down the song too much and disastrously beefs up Young's Heart Of Gold by turning it into a full-blown rocker.
But the most experimental of the bunch is her rendition of The Beatles' Happiness Is A Warm Gun featuring voice samples of both George Bush and George W. Bush, not to mention a British announcer reporting on John Lennon's death.
Amos' stop at Massey Hall on Oct. 19, with fellow pianist Rufus Wainwright as the opening act, has already sold out.
Wonder how many costume changes there'll be. (More on: Tori Amos)
Track Listing