Boys for Pele (Tori Amos)

Boys for Pele is not my favourite Tori album, although I think it has some of my favourite songs. People complain about her albums being too long these days, well I always thought that this one was too long! :P I love the harpsichord, the brass band, and the general spookiness of the album, but really, I think it's too long. Horses(without Beauty Queen), Blood Roses, Father Lucifer, Mr. Zebra, Marianne, In the Springtime of His Voodoo and Putting the Damage on are just incredible tracks. The extended version of Way Down from Tales of a Librarian should have been on there. I can do without Little Amsterdam, Professional Widow and Agent Orange. All in all, it is a very experimental album, and I am glad it exists because my life would be incomplete without Father Lucifer and Horses, but Christ, it is just too long. :<

I was in love with Boys for Pele from the moment I listened to it. Reviewers have complained that it's all over the place, but that's one of the things I love about it. You can be in almost any mood and enjoy at least a couple songs here at any given time. Beauty Queen/Horses - A fairly mellow, relaxing song. Great way to start off an album that packs as big a punch as Pele. You catch more bees with honey . . . Blood Roses - . . . than with vinegar. Which is what track two is. There's a lot of anger in Blood Roses. It's a good one for when you're in a dark place or in the mood to vent poetically. And the harpsichord is just beautiful here. Father Lucifer - This is a weird one. But what else can we expect from a song inspired by Tori's hallucinogen-fueled spiritual love affairs? Professional Widow - Widow is another angry, fast song. The sheer passion of Tori's vocals here is something that should be heard at least once. Mr. Zebra - Kind of a wind down from Widow. Airy... Read more

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Boys for Pele being Amos 3rd studio album and her 1996 release peaked at #2 in the Billboard Top 200 and also did quite well in Europe peaking at #2 in the UK Album chart. 5 singles were release from the album, these being "Caught a Little Sneeze", "Talua", "Professional Widow", "Hey Jupiter" and "In the Springtime of His Voodoo". The booklet has many odd photographs with Amos in different poses. All the lyrics are included and for each track we get a list of whom plays on it and what they play. 4/5.

I love this album and I was curious why some people gave it only one star, so I read all of their reviews. Over and over again, these "Tori Amos fans" mentioned how muched they loved "Little Earthquakes" [manying stating that they felt it was one of (if not the best!) albums ever made] and liked "Under the Pink", but absolutely hated "Boys for Pele". Well, then doesn't that make you a fan of "Little Earthquakes", not necessarily of Tori Amos'? Just a question...

Not her best, but it's still good.

Boys for Pele is different from any other albums I've ever heard. Tori Amos can pull of a whiny voice, without coming of as whiny. The songs are all very low key and most are accompanied by the piano. The real break out in this album has to be Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix) which is a very energetic and emotional song. Other good songs are Mr Zebra, Hey Jupiter, Talula, Not the Red Baron (based loosely on Snoopy) and Father Lucifer. IF you're looking for an album with a lot of beats and energy, look somewhere else. But if you want an album with soothing, weird and beautiful music, look here.