As usual things have been pretty busy and it has kept me from updating. I am really looking forward to having a few days off work around easter. Level 34 in World of Warcraft in case you were interested but I’ve not been playing it that heavily. I have had a few games of “The Seafarers of Katan” and “Risk” with family and friends over the past few days. Quite a bit of fun and it’s nice to actually see the people you are playing against.

I’ve been listening to Tori Amos’ new album, “The Beekeeper” over a few days. At this point I’m not entirely sure what I think of it. It’s release surprised me a bit since I had not heard any talk of a new album and it didn’t feel that long since “Scarlet’s Walk” came out to me anyway. I read some reviews and listener impressions and all were very positive. I saw many 4/5 and 5/5 ratings and a number of people talked of it being her best album since “Little Earthquakes”. I took some of this with a grain of salt since I’ve liked all of her albums and in my opinion she has released masses of great stuff since “Little Earthquakes” but it still lead me to believe this was something different or that she was somehow going back to her roots. Now if you were maybe expecting me to say how much I hate the album, that isn’t going to happen, I do think it is a very good album, but I am getting ahead of myself here.

Just to clarify my position a bit…When I say I have liked all her albums, I own all of them on CD and where special editions were available, I own them, even the rare Australasian tour edition of “Under the Pink” that many more recent fans of Tori would kill for. I also have imported quite a few EPs and other rare-ish stuff so I feel I’m in quite a good position to make a somewhat accurate assessment of this new album from the perspective of a genuine fan. While I do like all of her albums, I probably like “Strange Little Girls” least but Tori didn’t write these songs. “Boys for Pele” and CD1 of “To Venus & Back” didn’t immediately grab me, but over time I have grown to like these albums a lot. “Little Earthquakes”, “Under The Pink”, “From The Choirgirl Hotel” and “Scarlet’s Walk” I liked right from the outset on the first listen. I’m not going to go into EPs here but this should give anyone familiar with her albums an idea where I’m coming from.

To me “The Beekeeper” feels like a natural progression from her previous work with elements composited from most of her recent albums. A touch of “Scarlet’s Walk” here, a dab of “Strange Little Girls” there and some growth in new directions. In some ways it feels a lot like a concept album, a theme of spirituality seems to purvade through all tracks. Not to say that the tracks sound similar musically, there is a lot of variety in there but they feel like they belong together. On my first listen through I felt there were some standout tracks, but on later listenings it feels more consistent overall. “Sweet The Sting”, “The Beekeeper” and “Hoochie Woman” though are probably my favourites but that will always come down to personal taste. On the other hand, I am not fond of gospel chiors in general and their use on some tracks is a bit much for me personally although I don’t feel it detracts from the album really. I have been listening to the album while writing this and I already think it is starting to grow on me quite a bit. Maybe it will just be another one I grow to appreciate more as I get to know it better.