Little Earthquakes

Comment: I consider myself to have a wide range In taste. All that Is relative I'm sure.
But her voice just grates on my nerves and maybe It Is a female thing because I can't relate to the lyrics much.
If anything I like her later work much better because it has more MUSIC In It. I bought a few of her recent songs as MP3's but nothing on this CD Interests me much.
I prefer the newer Tori Amos.

Comment: This is the album that turned me into a huge Tori fan. I enjoy a variety of music genres and I have yet to find an album that is any better than this one. I believe that this is Tori Amos at her finest. There is so much emotion in this music! When I listen to this album I remember my first Tori Amos concert in Orlando Florida during the Little Earthquakes tour. Totally amazing show! In their advertising Atlantic Records used to say that you could "hear a pin drop" at a Tori Amos concert. I have seen her perform over a fifteen times over the years and I can certainly vouch for that type of intimate atmosphere during Tori's early tours. Although all of the tracks are excellent, my favorite tracks on this album are Silent All These Years, Winter, China, Mother, Precious Things and Tear in Your Hand.

Comment: Let me start out by saying that I think Tori is the Goddess Incarnate and that I love her with every fiber of my being. With that being said, Little Earthquakes is not my favourite album. I think the b-sides that were left off of the album (Flying Dutchman, Take to the Sky, Upside Down) should have been left on the record. Girl, Winter, Tear In Your Hand, Little Earthquakes and Mother are amazing. The rest are meh for me, but this is still a really good album, I just wish they had let her keep all of the ones that got kicked off on. One thing that I will say about this album is that it has a certain rawness and darkness to it, as well as truly powerhouse emotional performances.

Comment: I started listening to Tori when i was getting over a very bad breakup from a romantic relationship that couldve been but never was. To really understand how i got to Tori and admired her, let me start by saying i'm a hardcore Beatlesfan (band & solo). I think if it werent for the events that took place in 1990 & 1991, i probely wouldve never appreciated Tori, as i do now. While I was going to the collage to get my diploma (This was a self paced adult high school [part of the collage campus] there where i could finish high school), I met a woman who's name was Anne and was 1 year and a half older than me. we started to hit it off. However i couldnt drive because of my eyes, so i could't really take her out on a date. But we would see each other at the collage and talk on the phone. This was the 1ST (and only)time ANY woman took an interest in me. I called her sometimes but she even called me alot and that NEVER happened before or since. There was even one night she called up crying, cause she was feeling depressed...she called ME of all people. And that NEVER happened before or since, the only time in my entire life anyone ever did that with me. At that time i was her only friend because she couldn't really go out much with no car available. Her mom picked her up 1 day and her mom took 1 look at me and told her NOT ever go out with me. She explained that it was her mom's "intuition", At the same time she wasnt getting on too well with her mom. the only way we could see each other was she would pick me up at the collage. She was a HUGE femimnist. She didnt believe that a woman should take care of the home barefoot & pregnant while the man went out and worked. And I thought "Hey, this could work well for me, with my "problem" or whatever it is, she could earn enough money and I would still have my Social Security. For the 1ST time I felt like i had it made. This girl really liked me and i didnt need no help from NOONE. When the Lubys tragedy happened, she said her & her mom almost went to Lubys that day in fact they were at the door when they changed thier minds and went somewhere else. (A guy drove his truck though the glass doors and shot & killed 23 people including himself.) When it happened she felt very afraid she said she wouldve been in the line at the time he came in. When she came to the collage and we went to the park she acted like she wanted to be more than friends. (Later she just said at the time she just felt "vulnerable" ) HOWEVER.....
When her mom found out, she didnt get mad, she got even. Her parents took her out to a social gathering of some sort and they introduced her to a man. Her and her mom was now gettin along. and her and the man started dating, then after a while she finelly said that our relationship was wrong, though fun, but wanted to end it, and said that she was only "humouring" me, ("give the baby his bottle" was the term she used) even though still shaken about the Lubys thing. I was VERY hurt and panicked, because in the back of my mind, I knew if the relationship did end, I would end up where im at now. living at home with my mom unable to get a job and be independant.. I went totally belistic and strange. when we met up the next time i wouldnt let her go, I sorta wanted to arouse the feeling we had on that day at the park. She sorta allowed it because from what she said later, she knew that this would be the only romantic experience Ill ever have. But she finelly said "no". She also hinted that she was seeing me out of rebelion against her mom. For the next 2 years I would mumble and say to God "Its not fair!!, ITS NOT RIGHT!!!, This wasnt supposed to happen!" I actualy loved this woman! The relationship officialy ended in December, 1991. When i finely got my diploma. (That was a depressing Christmas.)
A few months later, one night, i was crying, channelsurfing, and i ran into a world premier video of Tori Amos: "Silent All These Years". For some reason, still unknown to me to this day, i felt a strange calm, like someone was watching me, understanding me, but at the same time, giving me loving but firm talking to. I'm a Christian, and i believe at that moment God was using Tori. I bought the "Little Earthquakes" CD and it just seemed all came together for me. Whenever i started getting mopy about Anne, i just flip on the disc, and it would go away. It's almost like that line in "Tear In Your Hand"...maybe Tori is just a piece of Anne i've never seen...or was never allowed to see. Thank you, so much, Tori! Even after all these years you're still my musical healer.

Comment: Tori Amos is definitely an acquired taste, and I wouldn't recommend this cd to everyone. But if you were to buy any Tori Amos cd, start with this one. The songs on this cd sound beautiful, and have a mystical quality as with every Tori Amos. However, the song lyrics on this cd are her most accessible and understandable to date, and you will be able to tell what she's singing without looking in the lyric book. She doesn't slur her words or sound as cryptic on this cd as she does on many of her later albums. I personally loved every song on this cd, especially Winter, Mother, and Silent all these Years. The only song I thought was a little cheesy was China, but it still sounds wonderful. Give Tori a chance, you might like her. I ended up buying all her later cds after listening to this one, and am now in love with her, so I'm glad I did.