Overrated, part 10 of 10(see: parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9)
Finally, we are at #1. First, Steven Page. I am not a fan of BNL (they don't make this list, but I am not that interested in their music, tho I once was). I guess that kills my plans to be a rock star. If such a straight-laced and nice guy can fall for the temptations of cocaine, what hope is there for me? I would be doomed. I have met Steven. In fact, I once had a chat when they were busking on the streets. I sat at the next table at the CASBY Awards one year. He seems like a genuine guy, which makes this all the more sad. Anyway, onto something sinister...
1) Tori Amos - Apologies to the Toriphiles out there for what I am about to write. I loved the first Tori Amos song I ever heard, because I thought it was a joke. I even laughed. I thought she was some sort of satirical act, a female Weird Al Yankovic. Oh yes, there was that breathy self-important voice, a kind of small Kate Bush singing Nirvana's Smell Like Teen Spirit with so much faux emotional intensity. Who wouldn't laugh at that? It was a classic case of recasting a song in an opposing style. Strip out the furious guitar riff, the plaintive voice, and make it all soft and warm - I mean weak and pathetic.
And then, I found out that she was serious. I'd been had. The song had been chased up the charts because some listeners, like me, liked her funny one-hit Nirvana rip off. Later, she destroyed a perfectly good Cure Song. Take the time to go to that link and tell me honestly if you think that it is good music. It's a textbook case of a complete annihilation of a good song. Death by Tori. It is waffling, airy garbage. I am embarrassed for her for releasing such a pile of junk. But, the fans adore it. They love her messages delivered in pseudo-whispers, but I find all of her songs to be emotionally vacant and corny.
On close listen, what one discovers is that she cannot sing, not even close. She covers up her limited vocal range with bizarre and quirky vocalizations that sound halting and dumb. And then there's the breathing. I can't think of another singer whose breathing interferes so much with the lyrics. She hasn't the power of someone like Kate Bush. Earlier, I said she was "a kind of small Kate Bush." Kim Hughes might have said it better when she referred to Tori as a "poor man's Kate Bush." I find nothing original in her music, just a weak attempt at imitation.
Some fans are turning on her too. I think this is a reflection of her decision to self-produce, which either means that one has completely lost perspective or one is a musical genius. The latter is certainly not true in her case. Judging by her lyrics, I'd wager it's a loss of perspective. Here a rather bizarre piece of writing from Ms. Amos:
Father, I killed my monkeyI rest my case.
I let it out to
Taste the sweet of spring
Wonder if I will wander out
Test my tether to
See if I'm still free
From you
...but, if you want a good laugh at the pre-Tori Tori, and by that I mean Y Kant Tori Read, try this. If you have a thing for women who can play the piano with one of their legs resting on the keyboard, this is for you. Yes, yes, if you want to leave abusive comments, please go ahead.
I am off to the dentist and then to the optician to figure out why my new glasses don't work properly. The right eye is blurry :-(
31 comments:
You were right, I would have never guessed that. I agree with your opinion about Tori Amos, however, I never had the impression that she was highly rated enough to be considered over-rated. I was expecting someone else in number one but I'm not as brave as you so I can't name them.
Casby awards, wow I haven't heard about them for a while.
Oh man, again, Fish. I like her.
I think that a majority of the musical loves though, are based less on merit, and more on the connotation I have with their music. It's an emotional thing, rather than a tangible thing.
I don't see Fleetwood Mac anywhere on the list?
Dude! This is such a friggin' amazing series! Every time I get ready to comment, I just start laughing too hard (particularly the Bon Jovi segment) to figure out what to say.
toryssa: so sorry about that, but I agree with the intangible thing.
Mister Anchovy: Fleetwood Mac is Number 11.
zenfo pro: I'm glad you enjoyed it, but now I am out of material for a while :-(
I'm with you on this one. And her voice, her lyrics, all of that drive me nuts. Add to that being a severely depressed female college student in the 90s and this reminds me too much of that time. I hear her voice and I want to RUN.
kate & lorna: I am so happy that you agree with me.
Wow, maybe it's your ears--not your eyes--that you should get checked.
:-)
I like Tori Amos.
I predicted that :-)
You know that old saying, "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all?"
So, yea.
Ta, ta!
While you are, of course, more than entitled to your opinion, Tori Amos is an exceedingly important musician. She's opened doors for a lot of fantastic female singer songwriters and there's a lot more to her than people think. Love her or hate her - she's been around for nearly 15 years and still puts on one of the best live shows around. But she's definitely not OVERrated. By any stretch. Critics hate her, she doesn't get any radio play at all, and has never won a Grammy.
"limited vocal range"? HAHAHAHAHA, i'm a fan who's completely open to hearing criticism but that is the dumbest thing i've ever heard.
I think it's great for people to have opinions, but the problem with yours is that you've used basically no concrete details to back it up, and any vague references you've made are to parts of her career that are at least a decade old (and since "Bliss" was written in 1997, that's entirely true).
The simple fact is that Tori doesn't sing in a breathy voice anymore. The opening lines of "Bliss" are maligned even by people who love her. As the previous commenter said, she is consistently mocked and degraded by the media, while her inferior contemporaries Bjork and Polly Harvey are treated as if they are incapable of doing wrong, and given spots at the Olympics and constant A+ reviews. Though she's sold 12-15 million albums worldwide, she's never had anything resembling a universal hit single, and her piano playing is second to none--and far superior to that of Kate Bush--as is her live performance.
I think the problem with dismissals like these is that, for the dismisser, they suffice as a conclusion, as truth. The problem is that one cannot truly reach any sort of conclusion without research. My thought is that you may, in fact, be afraid that you might like some of Tori's stuff (and with more than 200 songs it's almost impossible that you won't like at least one), and that your unfounded hatred of her will expose itself to be, well, unfounded.
Overrate
[verb] Overestimate, Glorify, Overvalue, Oversell, Make too much of, Rate too highly, Assess too highly, Overpraise, Exaggerate the worth of, Overprize, Think or expect too much of, Think too highly of, Attach to much importance to.
Just think this blogger might not have actually looked this word up.
As for Tori not having a good range, perhaps you would like to point me towards some Kate Bush songs that highlight all of her vocal styles? Presumably you're saying she has more than Tori?
I love Kate Bush as much as the next person, but in my opinion Tori is a better singer and a lyricist. What you cannot dispute is that Tori also tours extensively for every album, which Kate Bush doesn't do. Tori can outplay Kate Bush on piano any day of the week.
And as for her lyrics, well why don't you post your favourite lyrics, mr Blogger?
Wow, such a flurry of posts. Of course, it is hard to quantify or even qualify musical choices. I am truly happy that you like her. I don't like her ... and I don't think I used the term "hatred" in my post (but I could be wrong).
Keep listening to Tori if you like her. I am sure I like artists that many people hate.
Thanks for stopping by and having your say.
LOL limited vocal range. I guess that shows your limited intelligence.
Whether you like her or not, I think the major debate here is your use of "overrated". Since she's not held in high regard by...well...anyone but her fanbase and a few others, she doesn't really fit the criteria of the other artists you selected (all of whom are MASSIVELY successful and revered as some of the best bands/musicians by critics, or they just make a fuckton of money like Bon Jovi).
What a bizarre choice for #1, given the rest of the list. You could easily find many people who had heard of everyone on your list except for Amos.
so let me get this straight. in your opinion, a woman who has never received a grammy and is constantly dismissed by the music press as 'airy fairy' and bizarre is overrated? by your standards i guess Coldplay could be considered underrated.
also, is your argument against her really "she sings funny & writes weird lyrics" while implicitly lauding the lyrics and vocals of Kurt Cobain and Robert Smith??? you've got to be kidding! Cobain is the man who wrote such lyrical gems as 'a mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido" and sang them in a barely intelligible slur. has it escaped your notice that Robert Smith is one of the most plaintive singers EVER and has cultivated a bizarre persona that involves untied sneakers and broken watches???
frankly, i never understood 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' until Tori Amos sang it. it's a beautiful cover and i think you're blowing smoke up our collective asses when you pretend you thought the cover was a joke.
Oh what a surprise, a blogger that makes ridiculous statements but doesn't back them up when challenged.
brendan: you wouldn't be the first person to say that I have limited intelligence :-)
anon (the last anon): there is nothing I can say that would ever have a chance of backing up what I said. There is simply no way that anyone can convince someone else to change their opinion of who they like. It would be a pointless exercise. These posts were an attempt to have fun and maybe make a few people laugh or scream in frustration. I don't want to change your opinion because it is impossible and dumb. As I said before, you should keep listening to the people you like and want to listen to. Believe it or not, I appreciate the comments.
Mister Man: Coldplay are OK, but I am not sure if they are underrated or overrated. I honestly think it's great that Amos helped you to understand that Nivana song. That's really very cool.
I like Tori, but wow. Tough room you're working here, zf.
Liz: It's not unexpected. I expect people to defend the music they like.
I love how the example of her "fans turning on her" is 3 years old and doesn't take into account that last year she released one of her best albums and followed it up with a huge world tour.
I just don't understand how someone that isn't accepted by mainstream music and it criticized by the media could be your #1 overrated artist. If anything I'd say Tori is extremely UNDERrated. The comparisons to Kate Bush are so old and tired. Please stop regurgitating stuff we've all been hearing about Tori for the last 15 years.
I am a little surprised that more G 'n R and Bon Jovi fans didn't come out of the woodwork. I am a little disappointed.
You're saying you can't back up your post with evidence since no one can "prove" an opinion, but you most certainly can "prove" if a singer has limited range or not. Which Ms. Amos certainly does not have. Take a listen to her song "Professional Widow" - the original version, not the remix.
Also, you haven't responded to the points made that Tori Amos is not at all overrated by the general music industry - she is dismissed, like you have done, as a Kate Bush rip-off. She has also never won any type of major music award or recieved much airplay.
I'm also wondering if you have heard her two albums Boys For Pele and From the Choirgirl Hotel. If you have, I don't see how you can still view her as a poor man's Kate Bush...
Cheers.
"anon (the last anon): there is nothing I can say that would ever have a chance of backing up what I said."
And this is why you are a blogger on the internet, and not a journalist.
Come on, respond properly. Type out some lyrics YOU consider good. Maybe even tell us which Tori Amos songs you've heard?
You can like who you want, but if you are going to throw around such bullshit comments as 'she has one vocal style' then you will get challenged on it, and thus far you haven't really answered anyone.
Well, I agree with this post. i think she sucks.
last anon: I am not a journalist and have no desire to be one. I have never said that I was. If you read parts of this blog, you will see that I make no claims to being a journalist. You are 100% correct in saying that I am a blogger on the internet, just like thousands of others.
Off the top of my head, if you want to know what lyrics I consider to be good, have a look at Leonard Cohen's lyrics, or Tom Waits, or Neil Young. There is a long list of good lyricists out there, too long to list here.
You can challenge me all you want, but you have as little hope of changing my opinion as I have of changing yours. It's futile. If someone wrote a post dissing my favourite artist, I would think that they have no idea what they are talking about, just like you do of me. That's fine and perfectly understandable.
People's musical choices are so personal, there is nothing I could say to change your mind and I can't really "answer" you because anything I could say would be dismissed as inadequate by you, as it should be.
To the other anon:
"You're saying you can't back up your post with evidence since no one can "prove" an opinion, but you most certainly can "prove" if a singer has limited range or not."
I can't prove if anyone can sing or not and I never said that I could prove that, or anything else, in my post. It's just an opinion. If you read the other nine parts, you will see that the overriding characteristic of these posts is humour. I mean, do you really think that I believe Bon Jovi's videos look like ads for a Satanic Hair Salon? It's a funny line and the only hit on Google, so I am proud of that one, just as I am proud of the line: "[Meatloaf is] like a one man quasi-opera for poor folk, peons, plebeians, and the proletariat." That's pretty funny, if you ask me.
If you say that she is not overrated by the music industry, then fine, she is not overrated by the music industry. Yes, I have heard Boys For Pele and From the Choirgirl Hotel.
Wow... I wasn't aware that anyone actually liked Tori Amos.
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