American Doll Posse

Infobox Album
Name = American Doll Posse
Type = studio
Artist = Tori Amos


Released = April 26, 2007
Recorded = June 2006 – February 2007, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Genre = Alternative rock, baroque pop, piano rock, Rock
Length = 78:42
Label = Epic/Sony
Producer = Tori Amos
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hzfyxzq5ldfe link]
*"Blender" rating|4|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=4526 link]
*"Entertainment Weekly" (C+) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20035223,00.html link]
*"The Los Angeles Times" rating|3.5|4 [http://www.calendarlive.com/music/reviews/la-ca-racka29apr29,0,4112664.story?coll=cl-albumreviews link]
*PopMatters (8/10) [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/33738/tori-amos-american-doll-posse/ link]
*"Slant Magazine" rating|3.5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1115 link]
*Stylus Magazine (D+) [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/tori-amos/american-doll-posse.htm link]
*"Rolling Stone" rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/14300667/review/14459317/american_doll_posse link]
*"Spin" rating|4.5|5 [http://www.spin.com/reviews/tori-amos-american-doll-posse-epic link]
*"NOW rating|2|5 [http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-04-26/music_discs.php link]
Last album = "The Beekeeper"
(2005)
This album = "American Doll Posse"
(2007)
Next album =
Misc = Singles
Name = American Doll Posse
Type = studio
single 1 = Big Wheel
single 2 = Bouncing Off Clouds
single 3 = Almost Rosey
single 1 date = 2007
single 2 date = 2007
single 3 date = 2007

"American Doll Posse" is the ninth studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. The album, like her previous three, is a concept album, with the 23-track "American Doll Posse" entailing five female personae Amos developed based on Greek mythology. Musically, the album is a drastic departure for Amos. Having stated that the box set "" (2006) was the summation of her previous work and the end of an era, [cite web | last = | first = | title = Paul Tingen Interview | publisher = Tingen.org | url = http://www.tingen.org/toriamos07.htm | accessdate =2007-02-21] the album elicits a new chapter in her career and is her heaviest, most rock-influenced album to date. [cite web | last = | first = | title = For 'American Doll Posse,' Tori Amos took cues from performance art and classic rock (with audio) | publisher = Idahostatesman.com| url =http://www.idahostatesman.com/276/story/224670.html | accessdate =2008-04-23]

"American Doll Posse" serves as Amos' third and final album under her contract with record label Epic/Sony, as Amos announced a year after the album's release that she would be operating independently of major record labels. [cite web|url= http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/ask_bb/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003810247| publisher = "Billboard" |title= Ask Billboard — TORI AMOS GETS GRAPHIC |date=2008-05-30|accessdate=2008-06-09]

Track listing

tracklist
all_writing = Amos, respective Doll personae in parenthesis
title1 = Yo George
note1 = Isabel
length1 = 1:25
title2 = Big Wheel
note2 = Tori
length2 = 3:15
title3 = Bouncing Off Clouds
note3 = Clyde
length3 = 4:06
title4 = Teenage Hustling
note4 = Pip
length4 = 4:02
title5 = Digital Ghost
note5 = Tori
length5 = 3:50
title6 = You Can Bring Your Dog
note6 = Santa
length6 = 4:04
title7 = Mr. Bad Man
note7 = Isabel
length7 = 3:18
title8 = Fat Slut
note8 = Pip
length8 = 0:41
title9 = Girl Disappearing
note9 = Clyde
length9 = 4:00
title10 = Secret Spell
note10 = Santa
length10 = 4:04
title11 = Devils and Gods
note11 = Isabel
length11 = 0:53
title12 = Body and Soul
note12 = Pip and Santa
length12 = 3:56
title13 = Father's Son
note13 = Tori
length13 = 3:59
title14 = Programmable Soda
note14 = Santa
length14 = 1:25
title15 = Code Red
note15 = Tori
length15 = 5:27
title16 = Roosterspur Bridge
note16 = Clyde
length16 = 4:01
title17 = Beauty of Speed
note17 = Clyde
length17 = 4:06
title18 = Almost Rosey
note18 = Isabel
length18 = 5:26
title19 = Velvet Revolution
note19 = Pip
length19 = 1:19
title20 = Dark Side of the Sun
note20 = Isabel
length20 = 4:16
title21 = Posse Bonus
note21 = Tori
length21 = 1:45
title22 = Smokey Joe
note22 = Pip
length22 = 4:19
title23 = Dragon
note23 = Santa
length23 = 5:03

Development

Following songwriting during and after Amos' five-month solo tour in 2005, recording sessions commenced in June 2006 with longtime collaborators Matt Chamberlin on percussion, Jon Evans on bass, and Mac Aladdin on guitars at Martian Engineering in Cornwall, [cite web | last = | first = | title = MP3.com: Tori Amos announces new album, tour | publisher = | url =http://www.mp3.com/news/stories/8813.html | accessdate =2007-02-21] like all of Amos' albums since "From the Choirgirl Hotel" (1998). [cite web | last = | first = | title = About The Martians... | publisher = Martian Engineering | url = http://www.martianengineering.com/about.html | accessdate =2007-02-21] Due to the musical composition and nature of the album, Amos' principal band mates were present in the recording studio from the beginning of the recording session. After a month of tracking work, Amos continued editing and recording for the remainder of the year, as well as working on the promotion for her career-spanning box set "". Mixing work was completed by February 2007, and the album title was announced through a press release on February 20.

Prior to its release, Amos revealed that the album is political in nature:

While Amos had hinted that she may bring back both the harpsichord (last used on "Boys for Pele") and the Wurlitzer (used on "Strange Little Girls" and "Scarlet's Walk"), [cite web | last = | first = | title = News: BBC 6 Music Interview | url = http://undented.com/news/129/bbc-6-music-interview-september-17-2006 | accessdate = 2007-03-10] only the latter appeared on the track "Dark Side of the Sun". Before the album's release, she made several comments about bringing a "warrior woman" out, as well as stating that the record would be a very different chapter from what has come before. [cite web | last = | first = | title = News: Recording On Tori's Next Album To Start Soon | url = http://undented.com/news/28/tori-to-start-recording-next-week | accessdate = 2007-03-10]

The Doll Posse

The "American Doll Posse" of the title consists of five different female characters that Amos developed, representing different aspects of her own personality: [cite web | last = | first = | title = News: The Posse ... Revealed! | url = http://undented.com/news/382/the-posse-revealed | accessdate=2007-03-21] [http://everythingtori.com/go/musings/entry/american-doll-posse-revealed Introducing...the American Doll Posse!] . Retrieved April 22, 2007.]

Posse members

Release history

As with Amos' previous releases under the Epic Records label, "American Doll Posse" was offered in a limited edition, which includes two videos (a behind-the-scenes of her photo shoot and a slide show-style bonus track titled "My Posse Can Do"), an expanded booklet, and five postcards, one of each "doll".

iTunes offered a free bonus track, "Miracle", and a Ticketmaster concert pre-sale code for anyone who pre-ordered either version of the album. Standard edition versions of the album purchased from Borders included a code to download a different bonus track, "Drive All Night", while albums purchased at Target were accompanied by a poster featuring the five "dolls".

The chart below lists the release dates for "American Doll" Posse in major markets around the globe.

Personnel

[cite web | last = | first = | title = American Doll Posse Credits | url = http://toriamos.pl/index.php?itemid=361 | accessdate=2007-04-14]

*Isabel – vocals on tracks 1, 7, 11, 18, 20
*Clyde – vocals on tracks 3, 9, 16, 17, background vocals on track 5
*Pip – vocals on tracks 4, 8, 12, 19, 22, background vocals on track 15
*Santa – vocals on tracks 6, 10, 12, 14, 23, background vocals on track 3
*Tori Amos – vocals on tracks 2, 5, 13, 15, 21, background vocals on track 20, Bösendorfer piano on tracks 1-7, 9-10, 12-23, electric piano on track 3, Fender-Rhodes on tracks 7, 13, 23, upright piano on track 17, Wurlitzer on track 20, clavichord on track 22, Mellotron on track 23
*Matt Chamberlain – drums & percussion on tracks 2-7, 9-10, 12-13, 15-18, 20-23
*Jon Evans – bass on tracks 2-7, 9-10, 12-13, 15-18, 20-23
*Mac Aladdin – electric guitar on tracks 2-8, 10, 12-13, 15-18, 20, 22-23, ukulele on tracks 7, 11, electric 6 and 12 string guitars on tracks 10, 13, 18, 20, mandolin on tracks 11, 19, acoustic guitar on tracks 11-12, 15-16, 20, ebow guitar on 22
*Edward Bale, Matthew Elston, Holly Butler, Rosmary Bank – string quartet on tracks 9, 14
*John Philip Shenale – string arrangement on tracks 9, 14, brass arrangement on track 14
*Nick Hitchens – tuba, euphonium on track 14

Tour

The first live performance of the new material took place on April 10, 2007 for Radio Eins in Berlin, Germany, where Amos performed six songs solo on piano - "Silent All These Years" and "Leather" from 1992's "Little Earthquakes" as well as four songs from the new album - "Velvet Revolution," "Father's Son," "Beauty of Speed," and "Almost Rosey."

The full band tour for "American Doll Posse" commenced on May 28, 2007 in Rome, Italy. The European leg of the tour ended with a show in Ra'anana, Israel on July 21, 2007. The Australian leg of the tour, which commenced on September 10 and lasted the rest of the month, was followed by the North American leg which began October 9. The tour ended on December 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, CA. Amos, using a Bosendorfer piano, Yamaha synth, and Hammond organ, was backed by Matt Chamberlain (drums), Jon Evans (bass), and Dan Phelps (guitar).

As hinted before the tour began, one of the four alter-egos, complete in her own unique wardrobe, opened each show, performing as many as seven songs, followed by a costume change with Amos taking over as herself for the remaining two-thirds of the show. Three exceptions were the San Diego and Los Angeles shows, where two dolls opened, [ [http://undented.com/tour/992/san-diego-ca Tori Amos - Undented: San Diego, CA ] ] [ [http://www.undented.com/tour/924/los-angeles-ca Tori Amos - Undented: Los Angeles, CA ] ] and the Anaheim show, where two dolls opened and one of them returned for the encore. [ [http://undented.com/tour/1007/anaheim-ca Tori Amos - Undented: Anaheim, CA ] ]

ee also

* Legs and Boots

References