After over ten years of recording albums, Tori was finally able to match her the achievement of her musical debut, 'Little Earthquakes.' 'Scarlet's Walk' does just that: she's back, after a not-so-brilliant 'Strange Little Girls' made up of versions in 2001, with an album for posterity, what could be a considered an album for the road and one that you can't take out of the CD player once you pop it in. The first couple of songs ("Amber Waves" and "A Sorta Fairytale") set the stage for what's left down the road... "Carbon" and "Crazy" take things up a notch, making you beg for more. But the true best lies toward the end: in "I Can't See New York" she reminds of Kate Bush more often than not. The strength of her Bosendorfer is coupled with Matt Chamberlain's exquisite bass and an impeccable drums work to yield a song for the ages. The great music doesn't stop. It's all "downhill" in a spiral of amazing tracks back-to-back after #12, to top it all with the closing "Gold Dust," in my opinion, one of the best pieces of music and lyrics Tori has ever composed. Thanks for it all, Tori. You brought life back into the void that no one else has been able to fill!

For the original Tori Amos fans, those who have been around since "Little Earthquakes", there has been a certain sound that seemed lost on her most recent releases. While Choirgirl, Venus, and strange little girls all have there moments, fans have been longing for the quiet, peacefull and sometimes just bizarre Tori that won their hearts so many years ago. For those fans comes Scarlet's Walk. Tori latest release re-captures her old sound while not copying it. All the songs on the CD, while in her old style have a life and identity of their own. From the opening song, Amber Waves, to the well known,A sorta fairytale, Tori instantly grabs our attention with the personal and intimate lyrics that we we never seem to understand, yet always can relate to. We see many new sides to her aswell as getting back in touch with the Tori we already know. She takes risk with the old fashion sound of Wednesday, takes us to a special place in her heart with the different, yet beautiful sound of Your cloud, gives us a haunting and suprisingly non-cliche statement on the 9/11 attacks with I can't see New York, and takes us back to her old symphony days with Gold Dust. My only reservations about the album is that to of the strongest songs, Scarlets Walk and Wampum Prayer are so short that leave a lot to be desired. But maybe that's the way of this passionate and instantly addictive new release from of the most talented and intriguing artist of our time.

After being very disappointed with her monotonous covers album, 'Strange Little Girls', and only mildly taken with her last studio album, 'To Venus And Back', I was a little skeptic about buying 'Scarlet's Walk'. When I heard "A Sorta Fairytale" on the radio, however, it sort of reminded me of two of my favorite Tori Amos songs, "Cruel" and "God". So naturally (being the Tori fan that I am) I decided to give the album a go, but with very low expectations.

The first time I listened to 'Scarlet's Walk', I admit to being a little shattered with a not too good impression, but after giving it several run-throughs it began to grow on me, which made me feel very relieved. If I didn't like this album I was afraid that I would no longer be able to call myself a Tori Amos fan because of recent let-downs, but songs like the quirky "Wednesday" (which brings me back to her 'Boys For Pele' days), "Crazy", "Sweet Sangria", "Taxi Ride" and (my personal favorite) "Scarlet's Walk" make this all worth the purchase.

What makes this album even more interesting is the fact that Tori wrote this on a cross-country road trip, which she took shortly after the terrorist attacks. And while this album is nothing like my favorite Tori album, 'From The Choirgirl Hotel', at times it reminds me of 'Little Earthquakes' (my second favorite) but is best to be compared to 'Under The Pink'.

'Scarlet's Walk' is much lighter and not so dark in mood as previous albums, but is still guaranteed to please most fans of Tori's earlier works.

Tori Amos' newest effort "Scarlett's Walk" is an extremely rewarding conceptual journey in song across the United States, from a porn star in Las Vegas ("Amber Waves"), to finding love in unexpected places ("A Sorta Fairytale") to echoes of First Nations ("Wampum Prayer," "A Sorta Fairytale," "Virginia"). The sounds of the songs range from sultry jazz-inspired songs ("Carbon," with a gorgeous piano solo that feels right at home in a "Due South"esque score sort of way, or in Sarah McLachlan's "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy," "Don't Make Me Come To Vegas," with its bongos and prowling bass piano, "Your Cloud," "Gold Dust"), to a ragtime-vaudeville sound reminiscent of the Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney duet "Say Say Say", moody ballads ("Strange," "Sweet Sangria," "Pancake"), laments ("Amber Waves," "I Can't See New York"), to haunting melodies ("Crazy," "Scarlet's Walk," "Gold Dust"). I must admit, this is my first Tori Amos album, and the vast majority of her lyrics have me baffled. I guess I'm just not a stream-of-consciousness beatnik poet at heart. Consider the following snippets:

"Carbon"

Carbon made, found her at the end of a chain,
"Time to race" she said, "race the downhill."
Behind crystaline irises loons can dive,
where the world bleeds white.

"Pancake"
Oh, Zion please remove your glove,
And dispel every trace of His spoken word,
That has lodged in my vortex.

One of the neatest features is the interactive "Scarlet's Walk" CD Rom, which features an interactive map showing three choices: Scarlet's Walk, Native America and Tori Amos' tour. With the "Scarlet's Walk" you can follow Scarlet song by song, collecting Polaroid snapshots and reading more about national parks, etc. You can put together a personalized journal of Scarlet's walk filled with Polaroids from various places she's visited, watch short music videos, read the lyrics, listen to a bonus song ("Tombigbee"), read Scarlet's journal entries/poetry and more. This is *the* best enhanced CD I've ever had the pleasure of exploring-far from mere screensavers or uninteresting videos, you are truly made part of Scarlet's journey across U.S. Combined with the powerful music (and occasionally cryptic lyrics), "Scarlet's Walk" is truly a journey that we all should make.

The last few weeks as I have been driving around America I have been listening to this album and finding it pleasantly quirky - echos of Kate Bush in places ("I can't see New York" in particular). Much more enjoyable than the samples I have listened to before, I've not been a fan. Her diction is pretty curious though and I'd not been able to dig into the words very much, and her web site had few insights. As I've explored the lyrics, I have gradually realised there's more going on than meets the eye. The reviewer at Rolling Stone doesn't get it - clearly didn't have time to dig. He's missed the spiritual unity of the album, listening only to the melodies. But one of the comments to his review has caught the drift: "This CD contains the most intelligent, complicated, subtle, and artistic post-9/11 reflection on America that I have encountered."

Returning to the lyrics with that insight, suddenly the layers underneath the widely-reviewed obvious clicked into focus and it's all there - the confused ghostly voice in 'I can't see New York', lost friends and innocence in 'gold dust', and more. An interview on VH-1 (see my weblog for links to external sources) gave more pointers - even the porn star "Amber Waves" is a metaphor for the fallen grace of the nation. If all you hear is the single ("a sorta fairytale" - which has a firefly glimmer to it) you may think it's a loved-and-lost album like the other reviewers.

As I listen I am caught up more and more in the album - an exploration of the spirit of the nation of America, of the emotions and experiences following September 11, 2001. This is the first work to come out of that event that leaves me with insight into the people and the place rather than with a sense of a person scrabbling to build a response and coming up instead with misplaced patriotism or a warmongering rage. Listen carefully to "Scarlet's Walk" and in amongst the strangeness you may hear, as I have, the outline of a soul's response to 9/11.

(I recommend this, the regular edition, rather than the 'limited edition as the extras are low value and the box used is flimsy)