Amazon.co.uk Review
In an era of digital downloads and singles, Tori Amos embraces the concept album in a sprawling 23-song oratorio. Firing across the American psychological, social, and political landscape, she takes on the state of the world, war, and feminism. To help her, she adopts five personas--her American Doll Posse--who take their characteristics from Greek gods, but not their names: Clyde, Pip, Isabel, Santa, and Tori. You need a scorecard to keep track, but don't worry. It's still Tori Amos, bending syllables in improbable pretzels with rippling piano themes and choruses that threaten to go Broadway at any moment. Amos vents her political spleen through "Isabel," leaving no doubt as to her targets on tracks like "Yo George," and comments on our impersonal age and computer addiction with "Digital Ghost." That's sung by the character "Tori," who is reputedly based on Demeter and Dionysus, representing the split between Amos's earth-mother side and her wilder, more libertine tendencies. Anti-war and pro-feminist themes are plastered across
American Doll Posse like sloganeering posters. "Dark Side of the Sun" laments both sides of the war, including the Islamic extremists who lay down their lives "for some sick promise of heaven." Amos adopts a big '80s rock sound on many tracks, with guitarist Mac Aladdin pealing off Brian May-style guitar licks over an arena-rock beat. It's where Amos details a more personal sound that
American Doll Posse leaves a lasting impression. "Girl Disappearing," sung by "Clyde," holds echoes of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," not only because of the string quartet and nostalgic tone, but the updated tale of a woman losing herself. "Smokey Joe" brims with dark atmospheres, Robert Fripp-like guitar sustains, and Amos's most elaborate vocal arrangements, interweaving two sets of lyrics for "Pip." More than a concept album,
American Doll Posse is a convergence experience, mixing online blogs from each character, videos, MySpace sites, and more.
--John Diliberto
CD Description
America's idiosyncratic queen of grown-up pop follows up 2005's 'The Beekeeper' with an album that is being hailed as areturn to the dark, harrowing feel of her early 90s work. Performed by a "posse" of five unique characters, all played by Amos and representing different facets of her personality, the album's subject matter flits from the outspokenly political to the deeply personal. Produced by Amos herself and recorded at Martian Engineering in Cornwall, it includes the single 'Big Wheel'.
![Abnormally Attracted To Sin [Deluxe Edition]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61t6DIajV6L._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![Abnormally Attracted To Sin [Deluxe Edition]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61t6DIajV6L._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
