![Tori Amos - Midwinter Graces [CD/DVD Combo]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51cnX%2BWXwLL.jpg) | | |
| | Midwinter Graces [CD/DVD Combo] | | | Music Artist : | | Tori Amos | | Music Style : | | Singer-Songwriters | | Record Label : | | Universal Republic | | Release Date : | | 2009-11-10 | | Discs : | | 2 | | Store Price : | | $19.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $12.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. What Child, Nowell
2. Star of Wonder
3. A Silent Night with You
4. Candle: Coventry Carol
5. Holly, Ivy, and Rose
6. Harps of Gold
7. Snow Angel
8. Jeanette, Isabella
9. Pink and Glitter
10. Emmanuel
11. Winter's Carol
12. Our New Year
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 excellent...simply Tori all the way through
Submitted on: 2009-11-22 |
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| I was hesitant at first, Christmas Carols and Tori's style? But alas, she is a true artist and transforms these old time carols into fourteen beautiful melodies. Listening to Star of Wonder first, made me realize I wanted more..so the entire album is worth it. My favorite tracks are 2, 4, 6, 7 and 11. |
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 Do you hear what I hear?
Submitted on: 2009-11-21 |
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As a long time Amos fan since 1992's "Little Earthquakes", I have been disappointed with everything she has done post 1999's "To Venus And Back". I was apprehensive about buying a seasonal/holiday album from Amos thinking that she would shred the classics. I had no need to be so concerned as she did a really good job, better than Sting's "If On A Winters Night..." to be sure. In fact, Amos managed to add her own take on these songs making them her own. She even found songs that I was not that familiar with like "Star Of Wonder", "Holly, Ivy & Rose", "Harps Of Gold" and "Jeanette, Isabella".
The album starts of with the engaging mash up of "What Child, Nowell", but this is followed by one of the best tracks on the disc, "Star Of Wonder", where she hits dizzying heights with the combination of orchestration and vocals. Here first single, "A Silent Night With You" is also very good, perfect for a time of reflection and taking stock. "Candle: Coventry Carol" is okay, one of the weaker tracks on the album. "Holly, Ivy & Rose" is a great duet with Amos's daughter--one of the best tracks here. "Harps Of Gold" and "Snow Angel" are great. "Jeanette, Isabella" is good.
Original song "Pink And Glitter" sticks out as the perfect New Year's Eve track, something we haven't really heard from Amos musically. "Our New Year" is also good. "Emmanuel" is by far the weakest track on this disc. "Winter's Carol" is good. Now, although it's not yet listed on Amazon here, this disc comes with two bonus tracks: "Comfort And Joy" and "Still Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night)" which are both good as well.
The dvd is a rather boring rambling from Amos about the origins of holiday music and the transformation of holiday songs throughout the centuries.
So here's how "Midwinter Graces" compares to Amos's other works:
1992 Little Earthquakes: Five Stars
1994 Under The Pink: Five Stars
1996 Boys For Pele: Five Stars
1998 From The Choirgirl Hotel: Five Stars
1999 To Venus And Back: Four Stars
2001 Strange Little Girls: Two Stars
2002 Scarlet's Walk: Three Stars
2005 The Beekeeper: Three and a Half Stars
2007 American Doll Posse: Three and a Half Stars
2009 Abnormally Attracted To Sin: Three Stars
2009 Midwinter Graces: Four Stars |
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Midwinter graces our ears in a new way.
Submitted on: 2009-11-21 |
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First off, as far as Amazon is concerned, this is the first review of ANY product. EVER. I felt compelled to "review" this album because a lot of Tori Amos fans who recall the trilogy of "Little Earthquakes", "Under The Pink", and "Boys For Pele" as her *only* heyday or prolific material. NOT TRUE.
As a fan of 17 years, I've managed to brave the tides of Tori's ups-n-downs. She's had hits and misses, according to the masses. She's done this/done that/done it all/done nothing. I am an impartial to that, though, because I have managed to make it all the way from the first song I ever heard, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the melancholy Nirvana cover, up through "Oscar's Theme," the sole B-side to her recent release, "Abnormally Attracted To Sin." I've braved my way through the likes of "Sister Names Desire," "Ribbons Undone," and "Secret Spell." I thought AAtS (Tori fans make acronyms of EVERYTHING!) was a brilliant album; yet, when I first listened to this new Midwinter Graces collection, I thought I had heard it all...
... I was so wrong.
Every single song holds its place so "grace"fully. From the warm-welcome return of the harpsichord of the first track "What Childs, Nowell?" to the orchestral anthem of longing and loss of "Our New Year," I was gripped in a mesmerizer-bind. I ws whisked away, musically, to the "Under The Pink" album. This is the most vivid and lush album Tori has produced since that 1994 gem. How could this occur, 15 years later? Simple: it. just. had. to.
"Winter's Carol" is non-arguably the most triumphant and climactic composition she has created since "Yes, Anastasia." And kudos to Ms. Amos for pulling God, Christmas, Church, and Christ aside to give homage to the pagan origins of the Winter Solstice.
Others here have rightfully and tactfully give song-by-song reviews; I won't do that. All I *will* do at this point, is tell you that if you're still flashbacking the catalogue, expecting another trilogy like the 1992 - 1996 era, this will help you pick up in your memories where you left off. |
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God but not the Tori of old
Submitted on: 2009-11-19 |
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| The reason I began to love Tori's music is because she sings with such emotion, her music is either melancholy, hard rockish, or complex, but never boring. With each new release, I find more and more of the songs to be pop-ish, and a few have had really lame lyrics. Some that come to mind are "Programmable Soda", "Not Dyin' today", "Yo George", etx. This album is similar. There are a few beauties, and a few duds. For some reason, I am having a very hard time getting past the plastic surgery she had and the orange wig. I went to see her in concert this year, and as usual, it was UNREAL. I wish she could still translate that power into her new material. She has been so authentic throughout her career, I wish she just would have aged normally and given a middle finger to the plastic surgery culture we have become. I miss the power of the old music, but she's still all I listen to. Let's go back and away from these Pop songs and into our souls. And please lose the wig, you are more beautiful without it. |
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 A twist to the genre
Submitted on: 2009-11-19 |
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Like Tori mentioned before the album was released, the real shocker in this album is that there is no real shocker. Overall it is a very pleasant listen with Tori doing songs across a wide range of sounds. There is big band (Pink and Glitter), medieval (Candle: Coventry Carol), Persian-tinged folk-rock (Star of Wonder) and music from the Dark Ages (Emmanuel). There is also a song, Winter's Carol, that is from the musical Tori is working on (The Light Princess). Tori also wrote a song in memory of her brother Michael, Our New Year, which is a very beautiful, true-to-Tori-form song with some nice strings.
Some highlights of the album are that the piano is now back to the center, an element that has been missing in the last few Tori albums. I must say I enjoyed watching the interview, it shows a side of Tori that is not usually brought out in past interviews - and you see that she really does know quite a fair bit about church history. Even though this album is very much your unconventional Tori, I really think Tori could have done a little better with this album. For one, songs like Harps of Gold and Candle: Coventry Carol were not very suited to Tori's voice. And the album cover (I know this should not be a point of contention, but it is not something easily ignored) looks very obviously photoshopped - as a Tori fan put it: "she looks more and more like an android with each album cover." I don't mean to speak this way about Tori but there is something to the raw Tori we all find magical.
My favorites on this album are:
Star of Wonder - reminds me of Strong Black Vine.
Pink and Glitter - a wonderful nod to the big band era, reminiscent of the songs Tori sang on Mona Lisa Smile.
Jeanette, Isabella
Comfort and Joy (Bonus Track on Deluxe Edition) |
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