Very early on in her solo career, Tori Amos was routinely dismissed as a Kate Bush wannabe, and much fun was had at the expense of her underwhelming 1988 album as the leader of the misbegotten hair metal act Y Kant Tori Read. Quickly, however, the quirky redhead became one of the most popular female singer-songwriters of her generation. Although it was Sarah McLachlan who organized the Lilith Fair roadshow and so codified a whole generation of female musicians (for better or worse), Tori Amos's early albums defined the style. Intensely personal, flighty in both lyrics and performance, and oddly relatable, Amos's first four albums are touchstones of 1990s alt-rock. A PIANO: THE COLLECTION is an expanded and reworked re-envisioning of Amos's early solo career, with alternate mixes, rarities, and other surprises wound throughout the four-disc set. Essential for fans, A PIANO: THE COLLECTION is also a handy introduction for those who have come to Tori Amos only through her later albums.