Night of Hunters
| Tori Amos
Night of Hunters
Night of Hunters is the twelfth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released on September 20, 2011, in the United States through Deutsche Grammophon. It is a concept album that Amos has described as "a 21st century song cycle inspired by classical music themes spanning over 400 years."She pays tribute to classical composers such as Alkan, Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Granados, Satie and Schubert,taking inspiration from their original compositions to create new, independent songs. Regarding the album's concept, she has described it as the exploration of "the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us" through the story of "a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship."-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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The Guardian
September 15, 2011. Another Tori Amos album, another overarching concept – which elicits trepidation these days, given that, for the last decade, her material has creaked beneath laboured over-explanations in lieu of the thrillingly cryptic bewilderment she had the confidence to trade on in her artistic prime. - Alex Macpherson
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Rolling Stone
. . . often it feels like musical theater in need of a stage production.
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Drowned In Sound
The album as a whole is amongst the best showcases of her piano work because she allows herself to meander about the keyboard and never lets production to drown it out.
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Music OMH
Night Of Hunters is her most ambitious record yet. . . . The overall concept of the album explores “the hunter, the hunted and how both exist within us” through the story of a “woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship”.
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BBC
Hard work, but this is an album which reveals rewards.
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The Guardian
Setember 17, 2011. . . . Amos's 12th album feels like a companion project. Arranged for piano, brass, strings and woodwind, and billed by the singer as "an ongoing, modern love story", it plays out like an intermittently absorbing, if overly demanding, night at the theatre. - Ally Carnwath
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Bust
While her voice has probably never sounded prettier than it does now, I can’t help but feel that the classical genre holds Amos back from vocally exhibiting any real emotions in regards to her voice. . . . I just wish this latest album did more than make me nostalgic for the Little Earthquakes days.
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Atlanta Music Guide
Full of muses, allusions to Pagan history, fantasy, and the same themes of love, lost, disillusionment, and understanding, Night of Hunters may just be the most endearing Amos album.
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Los Angeles Times
“Hunters” stands as Amos’ most serious exploration of memory and lost love, so it’s ironic that it’s also the album that treads closest to full-on Bush-style fantasy.
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The Denver Post The Know
. . . Amos, who has created her most skillful (and perhaps most complex) concept album to date. A commission from Deutsche Grammophon, “Night of Hunters” is a modern work that is inspired by classical music going back to the days of Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn and others.
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Entertainment
Bach. Schubert. Amos? Tori goes all classical master, playing lovely piano variations on Debussy, Satie, and more, with a full orchestra . . . .
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The Arts Desk
A complex but rewarding classically inclined song cycle from the restlessly inventive singer and songwriter.
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Stereoboard
. . . really its Tori's voice that is the highlight on the album. She has a very light, sweet voice with which to sing some rather dark and gothic lyrics. What I love about 'Night of Hunters' is that the songs are very much in an English folk style. Each song telling a story, usually of love, loss, ghosts, coffins and other fantastical things.
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METRO
Tori Amos’ latest effort Night Of Hunters is at times fraught with pretension and overwrought arrangements, but some songs find their magic.
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StarTribune
. . . the bulk of the album's melodies and arrangements are too busily discursive to hum after the fact, making it tough for "Night of Hunters'' to do what Amos set out to do: haunt the listener.
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Express
Featuring her 10-year-old daughter on vocals it is, as you might expect from Ms Amos, complex, accomplished and according to many critics her finest work in a decade. You won’t find any disagreement with that here.
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NJ.com
I would have liked a few more upbeat numbers, but in 2011 I know that Tori Amos doesn't cook to order. "Hunters" may not end up being my favorite Tori Amos album, but after this, I'm never going to doubt her again.
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No Ripcord
For all its faults, give Night of Hunters more than a little patience, and perhaps don't pay too close attention to the plot, and it reveals itself to be Amos' most consistent, interesting album since her mid-90s heyday.
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AllMusic
Night of Hunters is not a pop record and therefore claims a different place in her oeuvre. It contains the power and dynamics and splendor of her very best material, but because it is a work of classical crossover, any expectation of pop hooks or singalong choruses will be met with disappointment; consequently, its sophistication, elegance, and poetry will reward anyone who takes the proper time to absorb it.
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Sputnik Music
. . . Night of Hunters feels refreshing, unique, and utterly lovely; it's another great success in a career that has quite a few of them.
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PopMatters
Night of Hunters contains moments of gripping drama, undeniable poignancy, and iridescent beauty.
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Slant Magazine
Night of Hunters is a beautiful, smart record, but it’s also, by design, an obtuse and insular album by an artist who already skews pretty far in those directions.
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PowerMetal.de
Overall, TORI AMOS has succeeded in "Night Of Hunters", a varied, sophisticated album that excellently combines classic and alternative noble pop and puts the songwriter, singer and pianist in the best light.
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Thke Harvard Crimson
Though her adventurous incorporation of classical motifs comes at the expense of a more traditional songwriting prowess, Amos makes a significant achievement in composing an album that effectively uses chamber music as a tool relevant to the times.
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AV Club
. . . Hunters is actually her most enjoyable album in years.
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Record Collector Magazine
Night Of Hunters needs a little more bite and, as her older sister could have told her, sometimes less is more.
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The Christian Century
Night of Hunters strains under its conceptual weight. The composition takes a largely theme-and-variations approach, forgoing verse-chorus pop form—something Amos has always held loosely—in favor of developing ideas a movement at a time.
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Polari Magazine
Night of Hunters is the extraordinary work of a master architect. Its beauty lies in the very intricacy of its design; and it is a beauty equal to that which you would find in any cathedral, whether it be built of stone or sound.
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Limelight Magazine
Treading the path of many revered rockers who have dared to dabble in classical music late in their careers, Tori Amos makes her Deutsche Grammophon debut with a contemporary song cycle drawing on the music of Bach, Schubert, Debussy et al. as a harmonic framework. Luckily, the patron saint of female singer-songwriters has the right mix of indie cred and training as a classical pianist (ending in rebellion) to pull it off in style.
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uDIscovermusic
No matter where your musical tastes lie, Night Of Hunters shows Amos at her vocal and musical peak, a grand recital that everyone was waiting for all these years.
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NPR
Reinterpreting the classics in ways that explore how they connect to the popular forms from which their composers borrowed and which they inspired, Amos never sounds stiff or somber. Leave it to Amos to find a way to challenge the classical tradition of masculine mentorship by working a little matrilineal magic. It's just her style to reinvent tradition, even as she honors it.
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PopBytes
To be 100% honest, I wasn’t all that crazy about the album when I first listened to it, but now I can’t seem to stop playing it, it’s a sonic masterpiece that requires multiple listenings to fully grasp.
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US.Napster
Tori Amos' debut for the classical Deutsche Grammophon label ranks among the singer's most highly conceptual and ambitious recordings
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The Skinny
Night of Hunters marks a return to the stark and candid nature of Under The Pink, yet Amos retains her latter-day love of narrative concepts and confidently intertwines the two disciplines, delivering her strongest album in over a decade.
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Boycotting Trends
Bracingly unfashionable, it’s an album that finds Amos operating on instinct once more, and building on the work of past masters to develop an utterly distinctive vision of her own. The result is a rich, immersive, timeless record of beauty, danger and grace, and one that ranks as one of Amos’s finest achievements to date.
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I Heart Berling
I think it’s the most impressive album she has done in a long time. Not that her other records are bad. I have love for every single one of them.
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DallasVoice
Amos created an almost-masterpiece here in Hunters. She succeeds in bringing listeners in to her otherworldly journey, but if only she hadn’t made it such a long one.
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Undented
It’s a beautifully composed album that highlights Amos’ classical training and her fierce intensity as a musician and songwriter.
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The Wild Hunt
In any event, “Night of Hunters” is a triumph of an album, one that should interest old fans who’ve drifted away, and attract new fans who see the connections between the mundane and the mythic.
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HDMUSIC
Night of Hunters is not a pop record and therefore claims a different place in her oeuvre. It contains the power and dynamics and splendor of her very best material, but because it is a work of classical crossover, any expectation of pop hooks or singalong choruses will be met with disappointment; consequently, its sophistication, elegance, and poetry will reward anyone who takes the proper time to absorb it.
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Vinyl Me, Please
At times soaring, at others tear-inducing—Amos once more proves that no matter the guise, her ability for an emotional connection with her audience is rarely matched.
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Male Express
The music really is just head-and-shoulders above the rest outstanding. It’s great bubble-bath music! You definitely have to be in the right mood for it, but when it strikes, this is a great walnut to try and crack open.. with your ears.
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Porky Prime Cuts
You cannot but admire Amos’ ambition, bringing classical music into the 21st century in a concept album that lasts well over an hour. There is drama and beauty and Amos’ voice is always enthralling. But the lyrics are sometimes too cringeworthy to bear and it’s impossible to consume this in one setting, which is apparently the objective.
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Lord Hereford's Knob
This is undoubtedly a major talent at work and it makes for a relaxing, if not exactly “easy”, listen but, for me, Night of the Hunters is generally one to admire rather than love.
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GOD Is In The TV
While the guest vocals on Night of Hunters are a departure from Tori’s previous work, it does not benefit from them so much as detract. However, overall the album promises to be an adventure for the ears on a journey of “an ongoing, modern love story.”
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Adrian Denning Album Reviews
I know I'm probably being harsh of 'Night Of Hunters' the album, it's certainly an impressive and laudable achievement, yet not something I feel like listening to again and again, or in fact, ever at all again bar the odd track or three.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
In a similar vein to the holiday disc, Amos goes full-on classical, with borrowed tunes, an orchestra, and clarinet-heavy arrangements. So far, so good: only a few sources are megafamiliar . . ., and they're capably suffused with murky Amos style . . . .
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RevelationZ
One Word Review: Exquisite Night of Hunters is not easy listening and I am so happy that there is still challenging music like this being made in this day and age. It is one to discover and treasure.
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The Line Of Best Fit
Essentially Night of Hunters confirms Tori Amos has departed from the land of vulgar for pastures maternal and retained. . . . Long term fans will be disappointed that the album doesn’t at least err towards her former glory, and new listeners will find few memorable moments from the recording artist herself.
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2020k
. . . Night Of Hunters, her 12th album finds the songstress going back to basics. . . . It’s a completely organically recorded record, completely acoustic and ambitiously put together with an extreme focus on translating the musical themes found within the album in the most respectful and authentic manner possible.
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Contactmusic.com
Night Of Hunters is complex and interesting, beautifully composed and constructed and certainly more than just another Tori Amos album. . . . There are some great tracks, but it is not one of her greatest albums.
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AssignmentX
An uneven collection of dark, Gothic songs inspired by classical music that doesn’t quite soar to Amos’ previous heights.
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Readings.com.au
Tori’s brilliant vocal range and whimsical lyrics pull on the heart strings, but rather than it being an album to listen to while drowning your sorrows after a break-up, she transports you into feeling intrinsically elated and invigorated. This is an absolute must for all those Tori fans!
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OutSmart Magazine
Tribal in places, pristine in others, Amos’s piano work, and more, continues to amaze, . . . .
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SPIN
. . . Amos’ classical-label debut is a wildly imaginative ride full of orchestral fireworks and fairy-tale melodrama, though anyone with a Ren Faire aversion should stick to more straight-ahead songs like “Edge of the Moon” and “Job’s Coffin.”
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Higher Plain Music
All vocals are stripped away and the arrangements are pulled to the fore. Here suddenly you can hear the stunning detail of all the strings, woodwind and piano working in perfect harmony together.
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MVRemix Rock
Classical music has forever been tailored for showcasing natural talent – both for composer and performer – and for that reason this album provides an exquisite platform to adequately showcase Amos as both an unmatched vocalist and as a tastefully talented pianist. Overall a stunning effort, I would encourage anyone to delve into this valiant musical saga.
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ArkivMusic
The iconic, platinum-selling singer-songwriter continues her legacy of ground-breaking recordings with this 21st century song cycle inspired by select classical pieces spanning the last 400 years.
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The National
Tori Amos is back with a classical flourish From intriguing variations to musical theatre, Amos offers another interesting mix.
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The Cascade
Though it seems like classical music on paper, it’s very accessible for the average listener. The melodies and chord progressions are interesting – a tribute to the composer’s classical education (however brief).
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Open 'Til Midnight
This album isn’t restoring my love and faith in Tori Amos’ work. While there are strong tracks, much of the material is repetitive and generic lyrically – or so obscure as to be pretentious or intentionally confusing for the sake of it. The album – dialogue songs aside – is cohesive, but almost too cohesive.
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On a Higher Note
Inspiration runs the gamut from Bach to Satie; nicely done – the double LP is probably her finest sounding album to date.
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Shark On Arts
Indeed, Amos mined the classics – Bach, Schubert, Satie, Alkan, Schumann, et al. but the great masters are not merely quoted (most of the time anyway) but rather integrated as part of a whole package. It works brilliantly and beautifully.
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silive.com
It’s a beautifully composed album that highlights Amos’ classical training and her fierce intensity as a musician and songwriter. But long gone are the pointedly poignant, and accessible, lyrics of her earlier work.
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Michael Veloso
But overall Night of Hunters seems like a wasted opportunity: nearly every song has something luscious about it and something grating about it. It’s tragic, really: it’s Tori Amos’s star power and ambition that made an unusual and valiant project like this possible, and it’s her excess that keeps it from greatness.
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Musical Discoveries
The orchestral arrangements deliver additional dimensions and provide a new texture to Tori Amos' music.
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The Digital Fix
Where 2010's festive album was one of her most approachable to date, Night Of Hunters has reversed that trend. The unconverted will likely remain that way, yet study and consideration will unravel this album's own rewards for those prepared to do the work.
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Music & Musicians
Night of Hunters is complex, bold and rewarding.
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MetroWeekly
“Night of Hunters” is a fairy tale – complex, beautiful, hard to penetrate at first, but often magical. It holds a unique place in Tori’s catalog.
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laut.de
But as always, the exceptional artist, who is in love with detail and focused, proves to be a master of musical metamorphosis and leaves open mouths again.
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Shakenstir
In addition to the lady’s wonderful performances one has to acknowledge the work of classical instrumental musicians who have provided the most sensative and inspiring work. And that is the story of this album - a potential classic that entertains on several levels. It is essential but like good wine needs a little time…
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Sounds & Books
Amos has arrived with "Night of Hunters" where she probably always wanted to go.
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Babyblaue-Seiten
If you like calm, carried music and like Tori Amos at the beginning of your career, you will like this album. I also like it - also because I've never heard anything like it.
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Mark's Record Reviews
BORING CLASSICAL ERGH!
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musikexpress
In the style of romantic song cycles with which Franz Schubert once told intimate heart-pain stories, Amos created her wonderfully gentle 14 songs and also used melodies by Johann Sebastian Bach and Claude Debussy. And together with a string quartet and brass instruments from the Berliner Philharmoniker (!), It turns into a classic pop ballad siren, in which even nightmares inevitably have a happy ending.
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SSG Music
Tori Amos has done the unthinkable, elegantly combining her incongruent influences into confident art. Amos has flirted with this persona before but Night of Hunters finds it fully formed.
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