''To Venus and Back'' is a
double album by American singer, songwriter and pianist
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
. Released on September 21, 1999, it comprises her fifth
studio album and first
live album. The first disc, entitled ''Venus: Orbiting'', shows Amos increasingly experimenting with elements of
electronica and
trip hop
Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...
, and spawned the singles "
Bliss
BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...
" (which peaked at number 91 on the ''
Billboard''
Hot 100), "
1000 Oceans
"1000 Oceans" is a song by Tori Amos, released as the second single from her 1999 album ''To Venus and Back''. It reached number 22 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales, though it did not chart on the Hot 100. The song deals with issues of love and loss ...
", "
Glory of the 80's", and "
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front.
The ...
". The second disc, ''Venus Live, Still Orbiting'', was recorded mostly during her ''Plugged '98'' tour in support of her previous album, ''
From the Choirgirl Hotel
''From the Choirgirl Hotel'' is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos, released on May 5, 1998. A departure from her previous albums, it was more a heavily produced project featuring elements of electronic music and ...
''.
Background
''To Venus and Back'' was originally envisioned as a live album accompanied by an album of b-sides from previous singles, with a few new tracks added. However, it was later decided that the b-sides and new material would not mix well as one cohesive album, so the idea was dropped and this portion was later expanded into a full album of new material. These songs, like many of her albums, were recorded at Amos' Martian Engineering in
Cornwall, England
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, and features the lineup of
Steve Caton on guitar, Jon Evans on bass, and
Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter.
Biography
Life and career
Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...
on drums. This marks the first of many of Amos' albums to feature Evans and Chamberlain, and the last of which to include Caton.
The album is sparser both in production and arrangement than ''From the Choirgirl Hotel'', but is similar to its predecessor in that it features overt electronica influences and a relatively subdued piano sound. The songs find Amos's voice and piano subverted in a sonic maze of electronic washes and effects, and some tracks, notably "Juárez" and the epic "
Dātura" are largely built around these effects.
"Bliss", the first single from the album, became Amos' last song to reach the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 91. The track also reached number seven on the
Canadian Hot 100, her highest peak up to that point and second-highest overall (after "
A Sorta Fairytale
"A Sorta Fairytale" is a song written and performed by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was released as the first single from her 2002 album ''Scarlet's Walk''. The song reached number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart ...
" which peaked one place higher). Describing the song in an interview with ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* ' ...
'', she stated:
Other topics covered on the album include unsolved
murdered female maquiladora workers in Ciudad Juárez on the
US–Mexico border ("Juárez"), hallucinogenic plants ("Dātura"), and
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
("Josephine").
The renditions of "Sugar" and "Purple People" on ''Venus Live, Still Orbiting'' come from a soundcheck. Both tracks were originally released as B-sides, the former on the "
China" single, and the latter on the single for "
Spark
Spark commonly refers to:
* Spark (fire), a small glowing particle or ember
* Electric spark, a form of electrical discharge
Spark may also refer to:
Places
* Spark Point, a rocky point in the South Shetland Islands
People
* Spark (surname)
* ...
". The sole track recorded during the ''To Venus and Back'' recording sessions that does not appear on the album, nor as a B-side, is the nine-minute "Zero Point". Of the song's exclusion from the album, Amos has said that the song wasn't intentionally left off the album, rather an over-sensitivity about a certain gardening issue led "Dātura" to being included instead. The liner notes of ''To Venus and Back'' state, "Zero Point - your time is coming", and the song was eventually released seven years later on ''
A Piano: The Collection'' (2006).
Tour
The album was supported by a short tour in 1999, the "Five and a Half Weeks Tour", which Amos co-headlined with
Alanis Morissette beginning a month prior to the release of ''To Venus and Back''. Many referred to Amos as the "opening act" for Morissette because she always performed first; however, this was due only to the logistics of setting up a grand piano for performance. An Amos-only stint, the "To Dallas and Back" tour, also took place, but promotional plans were cut when Amos suffered her third miscarriage in November 1999.
Critical reception
The studio disc of ''To Venus and Back'' is recognized as one of Amos's most experimental yet melodic, and received generally positive reviews. Some critics praised its originality, innovation and unpredictable song structures,
[ with one reviewer describing the album as having "some of the best vocals of her career, embedded in modern, special-effects-laden soundscapes that move from electronica-spiced piano pop and hip-hop to ambient space music", while some begrudged the album because of its overuse of electronic instruments and lack of Amos's trademark simplistic sound,] most present on albums such as ''Little Earthquakes
''Little Earthquakes'' is the debut solo album by the American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, featuring the singles "Silent All These Years", "China", "Winter" and "Crucify". After Atlantic Records rejected the first version of the album, Amos bega ...
'' (1992) and '' Under the Pink'' (1994).
The album received two 2000 Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
nominations: Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...
for "Bliss" and Best Alternative Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. H ...
.
Commercial performance
''To Venus and Back'', priced higher than Amos's previous releases because of its two-disc format, sold 112,000 copies in the US in its first week and debuted at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200, number 18 on the ''Top Canadian Albums'', and number 22 on the ''UK Top 40
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
'', breaking her run of three consecutive UK Top 10 albums.
Two months after its release in November 1999, the album achieved RIAA Certification, reaching Gold and Platinum sales status simultaneously, due to the release being a double CD set. ''To Venus and Back'' remained on the ''Billboard'' 200 for 11 weeks, with its final position at # 189 for the week of January 8, 2000, before falling off the chart. As of May 2008, the album has sold 458,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Track listing
B-sides
Given the conditions under which the album was created, ''To Venus and Back'' is unique in that it does not have any studio tracks that serve as B-sides. Instead the album's singles are backed by live tracks recorded from the previous year's tour.
Following the theme of the album's second disc, which is composed of live tracks arranged similarly to an actual concert, the B-sides that appear on the album's singles are live songs performed solo with Amos on the piano. The chart above lists only the songs that were released as B-sides on singles from ''To Venus and Back''.
Personnel
*Tori Amos - Bösendorfer piano, synthesizers, harpsichord (disc 1 — track 4), vocals
* Steve Caton – guitar
*Jon Evans – bass
*Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter.
Biography
Life and career
Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...
– drums, percussion
*Andy Gray – additional drum programming on (disc 1 — tracks 6, 8, 9)
Charts
Album
Singles
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
Tori Amos albums
1999 albums
Atlantic Records albums
Tori Amos live albums
1999 live albums
Atlantic Records live albums
Trip hop albums by American artists