American Doll Posse
| Tori Amos
American Doll Posse
American Doll Posse is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released in 2007 by Epic records. A concept album, American Doll Posse sees Amos assuming the identity of five different female personalities inspired by Greek mythology in order to narrate stories of life in modern America. Themes include opposition to the Iraq War, recording industry misogyny, disillusion, sexuality, personal loss and female empowerment in general. Musically, the album is more rock-oriented than other studio albums by Amos, notably featuring more guitar and drums than previous albums The Beekeeper (2005) and Scarlet's Walk (2002).-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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AllMusic
Whatever the reason, American Doll Posse is exhaustive and exhausting, and contains some of the finest material Amos has offered on record. . . . Whatever the reason, American Doll Posse is exhaustive and exhausting, and contains some of the finest material Amos has offered on record.
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SLANT Magazine
. . . what’s encouraging about American Doll Posse is that, for the first time this decade, it sounds like Amos was as inspired in creating the music for an album as she was in creating the story behind it. The album works about as well as pop music as it does as a concept piece, and in both cases in works pretty well.
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Prefix
American Doll Posse is an achievement, an album that Amos fanatics can obsess over and the casual listener can easily enjoy.
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Ultimate Guitar
After a short period of initial disappointment, this album really started to grow on me. There are some really great songs here and Smokey Joe is particularly wonderful. . . . Tori Amos is continuing to prove that she's the real deal; a genuine artist and not just a celebrity.
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BBC
. . . it's undeniable that American Doll Posse returns Amos to the forefront of a genre which, along with Kate Bush, she defined. . . . And she's still pushing her own boundaries.
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Rolling Stone
In typical Tori fashion, there’s way too much conceptual malarkey surrounding the songs, but if you can ignore her fake posse, you’ll find this is Amos’ best album in many years.
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Sputnik Music
It feels, now, like Tori Amos has finally moved into a latter-day phase of her career that will work for her. If this is the Tori that's going to be writing her records from now on, then we should be celebrating.
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Reuters Billboard album reviews
Despite its being more rock oriented than 2005’s “The Beekeeper,” this album isn’t much of a sonic progression, and it takes a while for “Posse” to find its voice.
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The Austin Chronicle
The touches of old Tori ("Girl Disappearing," "Body and Soul") are fairly solid, but most often she gets lost in her mental "posse." At 23 songs, ADP could have benefited from some integration.
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Sound & Vision
The real news is that this is her first album with a majority of uptempo songs, with as much lead guitar as piano, and with some real grit. In other words, it's her rock album.
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The Coast
Tori Amos had too many songs, too many styles, too much to say for her ninth record, and only two options: either leave some of the material behind for later, or find a way to include it all. . . . Of course it's too long. But it's a thrilling experiment.
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Riverfront Times
Saddle up for a rough ride, and it'll be your most engaging Tori time since Scarlet's Walk. She is mother; hear her roar.
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Pon De Way Way Way
In its existing form it is another flawed LP. Certainly not bad but, as an album, it is far less than the sum of its parts and it is an album that is quite hard to enjoy.
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PopMatters
There is a myriad of theoretical hoo-ha and mystical bullshit that comes along with every Amos release, but if you can disregard the ephemera and get past "the pantheon of goddesses". . . , there is an album of excellent pop, astute industry commentary, and flirty intentions begging to be discovered.
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The Guardian
It's ninth-album time and Amos is about as fashionable as carbohydrates these days, but she remains one of the most ambitious conceptual songwriters on a major label. . . . There's far too much, though; cut to 10 tracks it would have been her one of her most significant records.
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Mother Jones
The chanteuse offers up a range of musical personalities in her newest release, from rocker to Bush-basher.
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Record Collector Magazine
This is an album of many strengths: eclectic, insistent and accessible. It wears its influences with pride but deftly avoids being derivative. Despite a political emphasis which would fall flat on its face in lesser hands, the mood is, fortunately, far from sombre.
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WYEP
At 23 tracks, American Doll Posse has the depth of character to warrant repeated listening.
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The Japan Times
There isn’t a dull cut on the album, which should make her larger expressive purposes easier to fulfill, but beware: Each persona has her own blog.
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Newsweek
Tori Amos remains one of the most authentic and creative artists around, and she doesn't disappoint with her new CD, "American Doll Posse."
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Music OMH
She’s one of the most original and intriguing artists out there at the moment, and if American Doll Posse sees her remain an acquired taste, those who have already been converted are in for a treat.
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EW.com
Too bad Posse is a conceptual wreck, because it benefits from some of the beefiest, most borderline-glam-rock moments Amos has put on record.
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Boston.com
Amos puts it all together on brilliant 'Posse'
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Apple Music
This adventurous modern-day progressive rock makes for involved listening. Amos can deliver the moody piano ballad . . . or the indelible pop song . . . with ease. But it’s the way she paces these efforts that makes the drama so effective.
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SPIN
Not merely the most confrontational, catchy, and guitar-heavy music of Tori Amos’ career, this abrupt about-face from 2005’s sedate The Beekeeper is arguably the singer/pianist’s greatest, and undeniably sexiest, album.
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Treble Zine
There is so much in American Girl Posse that it can be exhausting, but the journey inside the many personas of Tori Amos is well worth it.
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Stylus
As with previous releases, Posse suffers from a bottomed-out sound, its overly quiet production obscuring any atmospheric potency.
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McNally Robinson Booksellers
The distinctiveness between the tracks results in an album that is as rich as it is unpredictable. It's safe to say that American Doll Posse is Tori Amos' most ambitious album to date. It is also quite possibly her best.
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WYCE
American Doll Posse is Tori's most ambitious album to date. Amos's ninth album, packs more contradictory personal reflections into one album than any of her previous recordings.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
Most of the instrumentation is piano-guitar-bass-drums, with nice use of slide ("Code Red") and occasional orchestration. The 23-track disc is quite long, with some tunes that might have been better saved for B-sides (the oompa "Programmable Soda"; "Posse Bonus") but since it's also her best record in ten years I'm in no mood to nitpick. (DBW)
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Boulder Weekly
Where previous Amos albums (such as 2005’s The Beekeeper and 2002’s Scarlet’s Walk) have been known for their baroque and often delicate piano-centered pop, American Doll Posse quickly establishes itself as a rock album that’s distinctly different from much of Amos’ past work. It’s also an album that is melodic, musically smart and one of her most accessible CDs.
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The Mixed-Up Files
The album’s biggest failing is it’s length. 23 tracks, even with a couple of very short ones, is far too long for even the most die-hard Toriphile. The sequencing seems a little off, too . . . .
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The Christian Science Monitor
Ten of the songs on "Posse" could make a good, even great album. . . . The other 10 tracks, however, range from the self-indulgent to the unlistenable.
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Musical Discoveries
Tori has managed to do what she hasn't done in a long time: create a solid and musically satisfying album--even if it's 23-tracks long--that she's passionate about while continuously evolving musically and clearly re-creating herself.
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The Los Angeles Times
“ADP” is often fun but sometimes overwrought, and non-fans may find it too much. But, as always, Amos addresses heavy themes with a combination of sweeping mythology and sometimes savage humor.
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Out in Perth
From weeping ballads to raging discordant rock, American Doll Posse is a schizophrenic look into the internal landscape of an inimitable songwriter.
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NZ Herald
At 20 tracks, it suffers from plenty of filler, and occasionally her trademark anger sounds forced. . . . A few DIY tweaks and edits in the iPod however and Amos has a winner. Verdict: Sprawling return to form for self-confessed MILF of pop
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HiFi.nl
Tori doesn't let go in 70 minutes. Less is more, but Tori always gives you value for money. In summary, this is a powerful album. Raw and tender. Smooth and unruly. Sweet and angry.
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Metro Weekly
There is much to like about “American Doll Posse,” but one problem is the generally murky sound; perhaps for some future reissue it will be remixed. But minor quibbles aside, there are some classic Tori Amos tracks on this album, and it’s certainly worth diving into.
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Rock Hard
Studio album number nine is definitely relevant, debatable and uncomfortable - and that is much more than the majority of the music scene has to offer.
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Hot Press
American Doll Posse is Tori Amos's most ambitious role-playing exercise to date. She’s stepped outside the comfort zone of her Bösendorfer piano and seen to it that the boys and girls in the band earn their pay. Tori Amos is a very interesting bunch of women, and American Doll Posse a heavyweight piece of work.
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Lincoln Journal Star
Imagine if you will the Pussycat Dolls singing lyrics of personal political empowerment. That is, if they couldn't dance, the words all had a tortured, biting weariness to them, and they all sounded like Tori Amos.
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The Oklahoman
Amos' ninth disc, "American Doll Posse,” delivers five distinct viewpoints on female empowerment as the singer-songwriter tries on guises and delivers her best work in a dozen years.
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Adrian Denning Album Reviews
A generally strong album is 'American Doll Posse' but it lacks surprises. . . . I don't rank it up their with her absolute best. I'd like to see her experiment with more than just rock instrumentation next time, or perhaps not experiment at all and just strip everything right back?
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