The Beekeeper
| Tori Amos
The Beekeeper
American singer-songwriter released her eighth studio album—The Beekeeper—on February 20, 2005, through Epic. This dark album deals with topics of romantic conflict, adultery, and death, making references to the Apocryphon of John and its ancient Gnostic mysticism. The sounds incorporate African drums, Celtic choirs, and a B-3 Hammond organ.
The album debuted among the top 10 in the US Billboard 200, making this her fifth album to reach that spot. Amos secured a position amongst an elite group of women that includes Barbra Streisand and Madonna. Read more about what critics have reviewed about Tori Amos’s Beekeeper!
Critic Reviews
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AllMusic
This is a bright, gleaming album that retains its sunny disposition even when the tempos grow slow and the melodies turn moody. . . . The Beekeeper is a record perfectly suited for the singer/songwriter in her forties -- a little studied and deliberate, perhaps a shade too classy and consciously literary for its own good, but it's an ambitious, restless work that builds on her past work without resting on her laurels.
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Prefix
Her effort is continuously admirable, but what is frustrating about The Beekeeper is the music itself: it’s almost formulaic, including even the token song that displays a powerful sense of womanhood . . . .
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SLANT Magazine
Like Scarlet, the arrangements on The Beekeeper are significantly reigned in, more conventional, even demure, harking back to Amos’s early days. . . . the album suffers the same plight as its predecessor: it’s about six or seven songs too long, perhaps a direct result of commercial singles—thus, an outlet for b-sides, which Amos is famous for—being a thing of the past.
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Hot Sauce
With The Beekeeper, Ms Amos has finally found the perfect balance between her inner voice and artistry with her craving for mainstream success.
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IGN
Half of the tracks sting you sweet, but the rest just buzzes pleasantly by.
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CNN.com - EW
"The Beekeeper" is the Tori Amos album for those normally freaked out by Tori Amos. Her wack-job shtick was beginning to grow old anyway, so the reserved gospel choirs and humming soul organs that decorate these songs, while not exactly what one would call innovative, are easier on the ears.
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Arizone Daily Wildcat
The biggest problem with Tori Amos' new album, The Beekeeper, is that it sounds like every other Tori Amos album . . . it just doesn't add anything to Amos' catalog of already similar sounding songs. It's just a little (dare I say it?) boring.
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POP Entertainment
So it is nice to report that while The Beekeeper keeps its eyes on Amos' strengths, it may be her most diverse recording so far, and yet her musical side trips seem organic. It is also her most accessible album ever — and one of her best.
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PopMatters
The Beekeeper sounds like a collection of outtakes from a much better album. And there are few things more bittersweet than reflecting on what could have been.
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The Guardian
Amos has kept the tracks light and airy, enhancing the always-attractive melodies with carefully layered vocal arrangements and often applying an arresting twist of processed funkiness.
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Rolling Stone
1/21/2005 The themes of the record may be her most universal, rich with mythology and informed by a sense of history. But it also feels like her most personal album to date, . . . . Vocally, The Beekeeper feels lush, thanks to Amos’ continued experimentation with layered vocals. - Brian Orloff
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AV Club
Arranged in six "gardens" of three songs each, the remainder of the album floats by without stirring much interest. . . . but mostly, The Beekeeper's contents sound resigned to a role as study-lounge background music. The smell of teen spirit has become the odor of stale potpourri.
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WYEP
With 19 songs and 79 minutes (and laudably little filler), Tori gives you a lot to think about and lot to simply enjoy, with a lasting impact either way. Whether you like to dig into your Tori Amos albums with a spoon or a shovel, The Beekeeper satisfies.
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Independent
I confess that I failed to make it all the way through this latest offering from Tori Amos, but after suffering through three-quarters of an hour, and realising that there was still more than half an hour to go, I decided that life really was too short, and growing painfully shorter with each ghastly syllable. Quite the worst record I've heard this year, by a country mile.
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Jim DeRogatis
The new album's 19 songs, plus a bonus track, are divided into subgroups with titles such as "Elixirs and Herbs" and "Desert Garden." . . . . But there's too much fluttering and buzzing and not nearly enough stinging.
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Pon De Way Way WAy
When listening to The Beekeeper (which was, incidentally, the last addition to my Tori Amos collection) it feels unfair to label it her worst. . . . It’s not an unpleasant album but it fails to be engaging and is lacking in character.
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Mark's Record Reviews
It's not offensive, not annoying, and quite frankly it provides perfectly good background music for gardening or some other skirt-wearing nature pursuit for girls. But if you really try to listen to the songs - really concentrate with all your might - you notice that she's not doing anything interesting.
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MTVuuiset.fi
Internalizing and understanding this record would probably require a dozen focused listening sessions. The album is nice to listen to, everything is done professionally and Tori is a really skilled singer and pianist. After the album, however, I remain uneasy about what the songwriter wants to say about everything.
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The Miami Herald - Te Dent
The Beekeeper is easily 35 minutes too long and its crushing overlength does a disservice to its good songs, which get lost. - Howard Cohen
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Musicroom.com
This is an overgrown labyrinth of the subconscious as her protagonist experiences a series of life altering events and emotions.
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Apple Music
Like much of Tori Amos’ work, there’s an alleged concept here somewhere, but even listeners glued to the lyric sheet will be hard-pressed to discern it in Amos’ “Beekeeper.”
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Rolling Stone
2/24/2005. On her eighth album, she does something much less expected: She squanders her gifts on a bland record. Fortunately, Beekeeper rallies in the second half. . . . With some ruthless editing and remixing, this maddeningly uneven eighty-minute disc could have been her best in ages. - Barry Walters
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Stylus Magazine
The Beekeeper consists of 19 album closers in search of a good album to attach themselves to the end of. They certainly aren’t going to find one here.
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Being There Mag - The Dent
A 4-star review of The Beekeeper from beingtheremag.com The majority of the songs on the album are still strong and work well in the concept of the gardens. However, there are a handful of songs that, while not being poor, are a departure from what is typical of Amos. - Lisa Hood-Anklewicz
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The New York Post - The Dent
The New York Post This record is incredibly generous - a full 20 songs, 18 of which are better than good. But what these songs lack in plot, they make up for in mood, passion and atmosphere. - Dan Aquilante
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People
. . . The Beekeeper lacks real sting. With its confounding concept and often oblique lyrics—some of which feature religious references—it can be a difficult listen and, at almost 80 minutes long, a draining one.
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Metro Weekly
Overall “The Beekeeper” is a rather warm and summery collection of mellowish pop songs, some of them achingly beautiful. . . . Although it may be the weakest of her main albums of all original material, “The Beekeeper” still has enough plenty to offer.
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Adrian Denning Album Reviews
Tori is generally on good form throughout this album, and whilst not everything here is enjoyable by any means, most of it is and it's a good album to dip into every now and again.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
I once read a description of depression as being the state where your perception of people, objects and events in the outside world is unchanged, but you can no longer find meaning or purpose in them. That's sort of how I feel about this album: the usual Amos markers are there . . . but I don't have any kind of feeling, positive or negative, about them.
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The Coast
. . . Amos's first album of original material since 2002's epic Scarlet's Walk is a return to the ballad-based times of Under the Pink, with a gospel choir and Damien Rice thrown in for new colour.
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The Middle Eight Review
In sum, The Beekeeper is just too much of everything, but not enough of the specific.
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Studio M Live
Tori Amos’ first release since 2002's conceptual piece Scarlet’s Walk is both a triumph and a trial. A triumph because there are moments of elemental beauty here, reaching back as far as her Under The Pink era in terms of emotional spirit and simplicity. A trial at nineteen tracks and almost 80 minutes. . . . all things being equal, this is still one of the stronger releases of this year.
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Live Journal recenzja Molly Knight
I do believe that there is something for everyone on this album. I also believe that because it is so schizophrenic, it will be utterly panned by critics. . . . whether you like this album or not, it's gutsy. Tori Amos is really swinging for the fences here, and for that she should be commended. Sure, it's safe at times. But there are moments that will make you giggle, dance, shriek, gasp, and sing-along.
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Musical Discoveries
Only with repeated listens do subtle touches of genius come out. But they are only the shades of magnificence to be expected from Tori Amos. Let this one grow on you.
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The Hofstsra Chronicle
The Beekeeper is one of Amos' best records to date. It takes successful risks, but stays within the confines of what her fans are used to. It is rare that a concept album is so artfully created, but if any musician were to achieve such a feat, it would be Tori Amos.
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