THE BEEKEEPER

Here we find Tori Amos moving to more pop driven songs. Still maintaining her adept usage of the piano and keyboards, yet her voice is less erratic and can be more easy listening for the casual listener. It is a conceptual work based around a gardening theme where the songs are compartmentalized under chapters like " Desert Garden", " The Greenhouse", " The Orchard" etc but ignoring these themes it has more success in just allowing the songs to individually play their part.

The opener " Parasol" gets the album off to a great start before the commercial " Sweet The Sting" sets off. Nice pop tune but not really venturing out. " The Power Of Orange Knickers" featuring Damien Rice is a much praised song off this album although to this listener, the less involvement from Rice would have been better. A large part of this album is influenced by Tori Amos's touring/travelling Ireland at the time, hence the Damien Rice collaboration. Other notable songs are the excellent " General Joy" " Original Sinsuality" and the syrupy and commercial " Sleeps With Butterflies". An album full of bees, pollen, procreation, commercialism and great musicianship. I guess Amos is really enjoying herself here.A good album.

Domestic tranquility, part 2

Tori's follow-up to the adult-contemporary "Scarlet's Walk" was a similar project, miles away from the Tori of the 1990s, filled with safe and pleasant tunes. "The Beekeeper" is another massive 80-minute behemoth filled with some mediocrity, some really good songs, and a few aural bacon strips.

The album is very similar in feel to "Scarlet's Walk" with safe and simple Tori to the forefront. There is nothing offensive, nothing weird, nothing bombastic. The songs are pleasant and melodic, they are laid back with minimal eccentricity. Most songs feature Tori over her piano with low key but tasteful drumming and bass courtesy of her old friends Evans and Chamberlain. As with Scarlet she has put extra effort into the beauty and fluidity of her own vocal, making it often very delicate and then expressing it by carefully laying her own harmonies over it. Quite beautiful vocally. Whereas Scarlet was her road album, here Tori returns to her garden and the songs feel more personal and more engaging. They work better for me than Scarlet and there are many good tracks, but let's be honest, there is little on The Beekeeper with the power and memorable dynamics of her strongest work.

While Tori is a musical original her artwork is often contrived and that is the case again here, with the photographs giving us the video shoot dress-up version of Tori as opposed to some true intimacy. The garden concept here is really a great one, but how refreshing and cool it would have been to have shown some authentic snapshots of the real Amos in weekend clothes working her garden. Admittedly, that's a minor issue.

My main problem with Beekeeper is the excessive length as well as being somewhat unnerved by this defanged, tranquil Tori. You cut 30 minutes from this 80 minute monster and you'd have a better album. And while some may enjoy or prefer the tranquil Tori, I miss the turbulent, stormy personality of her earlier work. But we take what we get. There are songs here like the title track that makes Beekeeper pretty attractive to her fans, but the album is another one mostly for her fans. Adventurous music fans or those seeking her most dynamic work would not want to start their Tori exploration in this period. This one is the perfect title for taking tea in the garden on a Sunday morning. 2 ½ stars but rounding up since this is better than Scarlet.