By now, the story of Tori Amos’ 1992 solo debut is familiar: Child prodigy starts band; band gets signed; band makes album that falls prey to the stylistic trappings of its day (1988’s self-titled Y Kant Tori Read); album flops, and child prodigy—now in her late twenties—faces the rare opportunity to be honest with herself and start over.
Even in the midst of landmark records by Tracy Chapman and Sinéad O’Connor, Amos stood out, a confessional female singer-songwriter who chose piano instead of guitar, who forsook conversational directness for a musical vocabulary as dense as art rock. The comparisons to Kate Bush made sense: Both seemed like they’d fallen out of the sky, wailing in a language more readily felt than understood. But Amos’ closest comparison was Joni Mitchell, not for her warmth or the rawness of her soul, but for the way she balanced the gut-punch of her subject matter—rape (“Me and a Gun”) the eroticism of power (“Silent All These Years”)—with music that was circuitous and complex, but still catchy, even funny. “You’ve found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts,” she sings on “Silent All These Years”. “What’s so amazing about really deep thoughts?”
Her label famously wanted to replace the album’s piano with guitars—a response in part to the predominance of bands like Nirvana. But the grace of Little Earthquakes is that no matter how abstract Amos is in presentation, she never leaves any doubt of where she’s coming from. And for as delicate as the music sounds at first glance, the lingering impression is one of confidence and power. Like Alanis Morissette and Fiona Apple, Amos brought you into her head without sparing you the ugliness and complexity that lived there.
Tracklisting
- Upside Down (4:22)
- Thoughts (2:36)
- Song For Eric (1:50)
- The Pool (2:51)
- Humpty Dumpty (2:50)
- Flying Dutchman (6:31)
- Take To The Sky (4:20)
- Sweet Dreams (3:26)
- Mary (4:27)
- Sugar (5:00)
- Ode To The Banana King (Part One) (4:06)
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Release Images
Release Information
| Key | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | Vinyl LP Record Store Day Compilation Limited Edition Remastered Stereo |
| Label | Rhino Records (2) |
| Catalog Number | R1 695082 |
| Notes | From RSD website: RSD 2023 Exclusive Release. Quantity: 10 000 copies. A single LP collection of the B-sides and rarities featured alongside the singles from Tori’s seminal release (and solo debut), Little Earthquakes. The first time these songs have been collected on a single release. On back cover: All songs by Tori Amos except “Humpty Dumpty” (based on the nursery rhyme). All track remastered in 2022 by Jon Astley for Close To The Edge. Disc comes in a black poly-lined inner sleeve. This compilation ℗ & © 2023 Atlantic Recording Corporation, a Warner Music Group Company. Made in Czech Republic. Tracks A1 & A2 from [m=64681] (1991) Tracks A3 & B5 from [r=839973] (1992) Tracks A4, B1 & B2 from [m=64719] (1992) Tracks A5, A6 & B4 from [r=479306] (1992) Track B3 from [r=1185303] (1992) Runouts are laser etched except for the hand etched ‘MILES. ABBEY ROAD. ROOM 30’. |
| Discogs URL | Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes - The B-Sides |