''A Tori Amos Collection: Tales of a Librarian'' is the first retrospective

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

by American singer-songwriter

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 ...

. Given the option to be involved in the project, Amos elected to take a central role in the production of the collection, released in 2003 on her former label

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

. Amos described the compilation as a "sonic

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

", a title derived from her dislike of the term "

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

". Recording under the premise that a librarian is a "chronicler", Amos pieced together the collection in accordance with the

Dewey Decimal System The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), colloquially known as the Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system which allows new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject. Section 4.1 ...

; so, for example, "Sweet Dreams", which contains the lyrics "Land, land of liberty / We're run by a constipated man", is listed as "973.938: History of North America -- Politics of Illusion". Amos revisited the mixing of many of her own favorite songs from her career, focusing on those she thought were not fully realized in their original recordings and those that she felt explained her life story. Additionally, Amos added two new songs and two re-recorded

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

: "Angels", "Snow Cherries from France", "Sweet Dreams", and "

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

", respectively. The latter two compositions were originally recorded in 1990 during sessions for ''

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). "Mary" and "Angels" were released as singles from the album.

Track listing

CD

DVD

Live

Others

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tales Of A Librarian Tori Amos albums 2003 compilation albums Albums produced by Eric Rosse Atlantic Records compilation albums