Tori Amos

To Venus and Back

Atlantic

One can never really understand what Tori Amos is saying. Actually, I don't think Tori Amos knows what Tori Amos is saying, but most of us can mysteriously understand what she's feeling. Her fifth solo release, the double-CD set To Venus and Back reaffirms the notion that even a string of random words can, in some way, convey angst, love, and yes, even more angst. Unlike her prior albums, which dealt with Amos's traumatic past, To Venus and Back doesn't really have a theme, but Amos insists that it was instead inspired by her Muse. "I look at the piano, I stalk her, she looks at me, takes a yawn, and goes to sleep . . ." Amos says of her fabled friend. "When she does show herself . . . she demands that I become a hunter, a hunter of her frequency." Got that? Yet, even if you don't understand the Muse, never had a miscarriage and never been happily smitten, you can somehow understand the turbulent feelings in songs like "Riot proof" and "Haze". The album, particularly the live CD, showcases the passion that Amos so candidly displays in her performances, and although the words may confound you, you can feel her in the music more than ever. A-