 Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk [Sony - 2002]The dawn of the new millennium beckoned a return-to-forum and an embrace by the mainstream, once again, for emotionally charged, multi-talented performer, Tori Amos. In 2001, she released an album consisting of covers entitled Strange Little Girls, but instead of just merely paying homage to the original artists and keeping the songs in their original format, she gave each song her own personal touch and ultimately made them her own personal creation. This showed the world that after a decade, Tori Amos was still a vital musical force to be beckoned with. Nearly 2 years later, she released what I consider to be her most mature and ambitious album to date, Scarlet's Walk. Scarlet's Walk is essentially a concept album that draws it's inspiration from events surrounding a trip across the United States. According to Tori, each song was written at a unique location while on this roadtrip, and then later they were compiled and sequenced to tell a tale. There really isn't a cohesive "theme" to the album, per se, but the album does evoke a sense of spiritual and personal renewal, and the yearning for love and companionship. Scarlet's Walk, unlike Tori's last few albums (i.e. To Jupiter and Back, From the Choirgirl Hotel and Boys for Pele,) is a more streamlined affair, and instead of going off on oddly quirky and abstract musical tangets full of unconventional vocal and musical stylings, the album has a more "rock-oriented" vibe to it, instead of being experimental and sometimes a little self-indulgent. It seems like she's found a new sense of purpose, and it really shows through her latest opus. It's payed off though, because Scarlet's Walk has more than a abundance of outstanding tracks that will eventually be heralded as classics. The album may have a ton of tracks (18 to be exact,) but there isn't any filler. Each song is appropriate placed, and keeps the flow of the album going at an extremely enjoyable pace. The instrumentation is a little more delicate and sparse this time around, but she still packs one hell of a punch with her emotionally wrought vocal delivery (and her piano chops are as in-tact as ever.) Sure, people have often compared her to Kate Bush, but she's really developed a distinct style that is all her over the years, and it's come to fruition on Scarlet's Walk. So, if you're just now discovering the creative musicial universe of one of the most talented and interesting female musicians of the last decade or you've been a devout fan (such as myself) since the beginning, I cannot recommend Scarlet's Walk more heartily. My favorite album of 2002, and I'm sure it'll please anyone who is into emotionally-driven rock music that is not only challenging to listen to, musically, but also very thought-provoking, lyrically.   Jeff Jacobus
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