Tori Amos
Strange Little Girls
3 1/2 stars
In this dozen-tune collection, Tori Amos takes songs written by men
about women and reinterprets them from a female perspective.
For example, Amos explores Eminem's "97' Bonnie & Clyde," a chilling
song about a man who is murdering his wife. Amos gives the song personality
beyond the beat and makes the listener feel the horror that's not totally
apparent in the original.
She also covers Neil Young, Lou Reed, and the Stranglers, to name a
few.
Those expecting a typical cover album with renditions completely
true to the originals will be disappointed. Although some of the versions
are familiar - like Lennon/McCartney's "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" - Amos
reconstructs the material to make her points.
Is she successful in exploring how men see women and how they see
themselves? Not always, but she hits the mark often enough to make this one
of the more important albums of the year.
