Strange Little Girls
| Tori Amos
Strange Little Girls
Strange Little Girls is a concept album released by singer-songwriter Tori Amos in 2001. The album's 12 tracks are covers of songs written and originally performed by men, reinterpreted by Amos from a female point of view. Amos created female personae for each track (one song featured twins) and was photographed as each, with makeup done by Kevyn Aucoin. In the United States the album was issued with four alternative covers depicting Amos as the characters singing "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "Strange Little Girl", "Time", and "Raining Blood". A fifth cover of the "I Don't Like Mondays" character was also issued in the UK and other territories. Text accompanying the photos and songs was written by novelist Neil Gaiman. The complete short stories in which this text appears can be found in Gaiman's 2006 collection Fragile Things.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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AllMusic
Though there's a bit too much surface sheen, it's a solid record, yet it's not particularly distinctive, . . . . while all that press may have given the impression that this is something new, something different -- precisely what it was meant to do -- it really is nothing more than another, pretty good Tori Amos record, only not quite as interesting because she didn't write the tunes.
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Slant Magazine
Tori Amos wishes for a dozen of her best impressions on Strange Little Girls, a cover album that covers about as much of the singer’s split-psyche as it does her diverse musical influences.
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The Austin Chronicle
Leave it to strange little Tori Amos to completely upend the idea of a covers album. When Amos interprets someone else's song, she doesn't simply rehash the music and lyrics; she's invented 13 different personas to serve as narrators . . . .
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The Guardian
In a market saturated with low-risk rock aimed at the lowest common denominator, Strange Little Girls is something of a rarity: an album that makes demands on the listener, but repays their efforts with startling and unique music.
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music OMH
It’s a strange beast, the covers album. . . . It comes as quite a shock therefore to discover on listening that this is Amos’ best work since her landmark debut Little Earthquakes.
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Collected Sounds
All in all, an album that all true Tori fans will want (but they don’t need me to tell them that). If you’re a lukewarm fan you might want to hold off until you can find it cheap. But I think I’m going to like it more with each listen.
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Rolling Stone
In Strange Little Girls Tori Amos has made a record that is huge in its strangeness: twelve covers of songs written by men . . . in which Amos sings from the other side of the anxiety and sorrow. It is dangerous work. . . .But she attacks the possibilities in Strange Little Girls with a grip and grit often missing from her other solo work, and her handful of bull’s-eyes easily justifies her audacity.
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PopMatters
As a concept album, Strange Little Girls fails. But then again, most concept albums are guilty of that. As a collection of cover tunes, it infuriates and nauseates. I'm sure some of the ones who enjoy this album will delight in knowing that, but all I can say is you're more than welcome to this one.
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Cover Me Songs
February 21, 2020. Strange Little Girls is an ambitious album and, where it succeeds, it is superlative. Where it fails it is awful, yet still somehow commendable. The problem is of the in-between being merely competent.
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mxdwn Music
. . . for as much as Strange Little Girls is an obscure poke at the all but invisible world of male-dominated music, the songs are beautifully mastered and contain that typical Tori flare that we all know and love.
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The Japan Times
This is Amos’ most affecting album since her 1992 debut, “Little Earthquakes,” and one of the more infamous records to be released this year.
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AV Club
Strange Little Girls is a forgivable misstep, the product of ambition and experimentation, but it's a misstep nonetheless.
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Female.com.au
The album features songs composed by other artists . . . . Each is taken apart, and put back together darkly, gently, and in an uncompromising fashion.
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The Dent - Newsday
"Strange Little Girls" (Atlantic), the latest from Tori Amos, is the mother of all concept albums, . . . . It's quite a good concept. Unfortunately, it's not a very good album.
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The Dent - The Harvard Crimson
Strange Little Girls is unlikely to win Amos legions of new fans, though those who are prepared to take the bizarre trip through her wires, down avenues of fancy and musical exploration, will be rewarded with some of the more intriguing music to emerge for quite a while.
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The Dent - The Baltimore Sun
While the album isn't as heady and redeeming as a dose of original Amos, it's a clever, appreciative exercise in reinvention. Tamara Ikenbert, Special To The Sun The Baltimore Sun
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The Dent - The Cavalier Daily
"Strange Little Girls," Amos's latest album, is a beautiful, effective and successful reinterpretation of 12 songs, all written and performed by men.
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Thke Dent - D: Republic of Women Magazine (Italy)
The album is a little essay of feminine psychology, a study on identity, a view on the relationship between opposite genders.
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The Dent - Houston Chronicle
Amos always has been an acquired taste, given her penchant for oblique lyrics and ornate melodies, but she never has been truly unlistenable until now.
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The Dent - Herald Sun (Australia)
For this covers album Amos decides only to reinterpret songs written by men and lyrics from the male perspective.
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The Dent - Heat Magazine
Verdict: A Tori Amos covers album was never going to be conventional but this is as intriguing as it is challanging. You worry about her sanity though.
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The Dent - London Evening Standard
Following a period of hype-induced doubt, it's now safe to assert that, actually, Tori Amos is a goddess and an artiste of the highest calibre.
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The Dent - Boston Phoenix
Strange Little Girls is a full-fledged concept album inspired by the same gender politics that have fueled her solo work from the start. And what the album may lack in outright commercial appeal, it makes up for by delivering the kind of bold statement thatís bound to generate some sensational press.
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The Dent - Charattack.com
The cool thing about Tori Amos' collection of cover songs is that all are played with her own inflections and interpretations of how she thinks they should, making for non-boring takes on the originals. The bad thing is that, well, you're not always going to agree with or even understand her versions.
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The Dent - Sonicnet
Surprisingly, Strange Little Girls is a street project ã daring, visceral and engaging, even when it's not fully successful.
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The Dent - Atlanta Journal Constitution
More admirable than enjoyable, "Strange Little Girls" will keep Amos fans happy until the real thing comes along--that is, new Amos originals.
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The Dent - dotmusic.co.uk
'Strange Little Girls' crystallizes both the journey and the destination of an artist, a feat nearly impossible to achieve. She is at the top of her game, and hits it out of the park both concept-wise and musically.
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The Dent - San Francisco Chronicle
"Strange Little Girls" is the work of a talented songsmith, but it's also an album in search of its own meaning. . . . Unfortunately, the result is more a noble experiment than a coherent manifesto. Clear statements demand a clear voice, and "Strange Little Girls" offers only a chorus of ambiguities.
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The Dent - Las Vegas CityLife
With Amos at the helm, it's the most daring and intriguing album of the year so far.
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Mat's Music Blog
Taking songs composed by male artists and reimagining them in a way only Tori Amos can, the result is a sparse, spooky and incredibly interesting listen.
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The Dent - BBC Radio 1 Teletext
Always innovative and original, Amos does not fail to please with this intriguing collection. Her skills as a vocalist and musician are very strong, and she puts her stamp all over this.
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The Dent - The Express (U.K.)
. . . Amos's versions are creative and inventive and, concept aside, it's beguiling enough.
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The Dent - The Scotsman Newspaper (U.K.)
WHILE her big brother was out running with a gang, Tori has plundered his record collection. The result is this concept album ... no hang on, it's really quite good: . . . .
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The Dent - The Times newspaper (U.K.)
It's one of those albums where you'll hate some tracks and love others. But it's an Amos album that fans won't want to ignore.
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The Dent - Guardian newspaper (U.K.)
Strange Little Girls is a brave and uncompromising album - when it fails, it fails because it tries too hard. More often, however, Amos succeeds, . . . .
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The Dent - Mail On Sunday (U.K.)
Amos's voice is a velvet glove, full of the intimacy that men fight shy of. She has made a disturbing album but a rewarding one.
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The Dent - Daily Telegraph (U.K.)
And while there are moments of warmth and approachability, this is an album whose musical achievements are limited, since it's hard to imagine anyone except the most devoted Amosophile wanting to repeat the experience more than a couple of times.
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The Dent - The Times magazine (U.K.)
AMOS'S SIXTH solo release is a covers album. But the songwriter, whose lyrics are among the most analysed in the business, is not simply going to knock out a bunch of favourites. . . . And it works, with a mix of fierceness and fragility.
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Thke Dent - Daily Mail (U.K.)
Verdict : Drab Covers Collection.
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The Dent - The Washington Post
"Strange Little Girls" isn't easy listening, but it's a powerful argument for the pop adage that it's the singer, not the song.
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The Dent - New York Post
Is she successful in exploring how men see women and how they see themselves? Not always, but she hits the mark often enough to make this one of the more important albums of the year.
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The Dent - Entertainment Weekly
Part off-the-rails feminist art project, part sheer genius.
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The Dent - Plattentests Online (Germany)
All those mockers who, when relating to a cover album, suspected that after the weak predecessor Tori Amos has run out of song ideas will find their sneering laughter stuck in their throats. Because apart from a drawling interpretation of "I'm Not In Love" (10CC) these covers bear more creative effort than some bands manage in their whole career.
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The Confidential Attachees
Amos’s talent as a musician is indisputable, I think, and the tracks are all very interesting musically, ranging in genre from quite piano ballads to loud rock songs, . . . .
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New York Essays
For Tori Amos fans, “Strange Little Girls” is a change, but I think it features the same old Tori. She still gives her inspiring beam of womanhood and individuality. Her voice still captivates and amazes thosewho listen to her.
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MarkMyWorks
Though not little, it is a strange and experimental effort by Tori Amos that does offer some winning reinventions of classic songs, however strong losers.
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The Tech
Although this collection is not likely to be anyone’s favorite, it is certainly an intriguing and unique addition to Amos’s increasing opus.
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DrunkenWerewolf
The album proves her versatility, carves the way for later projects with multiple personas and also highlights her ability to make other people’s songs her own.
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Alltime Records
Unless you're a really big fan of Amos, you don't want to hear this album. And if you are a fan, I'd be surprised if you made it this far through my reviews of her albums.
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Adrian's Album Reviews
A good album, actually. Take out 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' and replace it with anything, or even replace it with NOTHING AT ALL, and you might have had an excellent album here. And I don't like albums of cover versions, . . . .
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The Reflector Matthew's Reviews
Whatever this album lacks in originality, it makes up for with purpose. This is truly music with a cause. Well, this could be the greatest cover album ever made, but it's still a cover album.
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Babyblaue-Seiten.de
Conclusion: A bold, uncompromising, calm record. More electronic and spherical than before, often very successful, but unfortunately also 4 failures, too much with 12 tracks. May also differ depending on the liking of the originals. A recommendation is difficult, it's best to listen.
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Hot Press
Tori Amos' sixth album and her first since 1999's To Venus And Back, marks a major departure for her in that it consists entirely of cover versions – written exclusively by men! One from the soul.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
You'd have to be really under Amos's spell to get anything out of this record. (DBW)
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FEMMUSIC.com
Strange Little Girls mixes traditional tellings of covers with broad interpretations that metamorphoses songs into something different. Strange Little Girls is a cover album, but Amos also owns it in spirit.
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W.L. Swarts Reviews The Universe
Amos is clever and interesting and on this album she articulates well enough to actually be understood. Sometimes, that's the best we can hope for!
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laut.de
With "Strange Little Girls" Tori Amos did two things at once. On the one hand a noteworthy concept album that has never existed in this way and which has more than succeeded over long distances. On the other hand, most interpretations go back to their "roots" and make the weaker predecessor forget what many fans should be happy about.
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The Night Owl
Strange Little Girls is an interesting collection of tunes, and one that requires several listens before you can truly appreciate it. Not all of the songs work, but the ones that do, work well.
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The Utah Statesman
The album is one of unanswered questions and untreated wounds. It explores every shade of black and somehow gets submerged in the shadows.
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BBC News
But on Strange Little Girls, the songs were chosen for their authors and subject matter as much as Amos's ability to turn them into things of aural beauty.
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Music Street Journal
This is a great collection and features, among others, King Crimson's Adrian Belew on about half of the songs.
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Evolver
With "Strange Little Girls", however, she went a bit wrong in terms of selection and execution. In the end, the numbers on "Strange Little Girls" are "only" cover versions, because nothing profound has been changed in them.
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Orlando Weekly
. . . as a collection of radically left-field covers of songs by Lloyd Cole, Depeche Mode and Slayer, among others, "Strange Little Girls" is an act of occasional instinctive brilliance.
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