5 Stars are Not Enough!!!

5 stars are not enough to describe how simply amazing this EP is. This, more than any other Tori Amos single ever released, is a journey, an aural path complete from start to finish. The CD opens with the delicately beautiful single and album track "Winter." From there it departs into a wonderland of complex vocal layerings, piano runs, and percussive sounds that evoke a fantastic array of visuals. The listener has a sense similar to that of C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" or Lewis Carroll's "Adventures in Wonderland" where one is transported through a portal into a parallel dimension. On this CD, that portal is the gorgeous and fragile "The Pool." The tracks that follow, "Take to the Sky" and "Sweet Dreams," are lighter and more playful and move the listener through the journey at a fun and rapid pace. Finally, we encounter the tumultuous and emotional "Upside Down," generally considered one of Amos's best tracks ever. At its close, "Upside Down" seems to deposit us back where we started, on the other side of the portal. We feel as if we have awakened from a fantastic dream, a magical journey, and truly a unique listening experience.



I should mention that in addition to the musical perfection of this CD, it is packaged in a gorgeous fold-out digipack containing a print of lyrics to all the songs as handwritten by Amos. If you've ever loved anything of Amos's that you've heard, you MUST own this disc.

Awesome Single

Breakdown:



1. WINTER - First off I must say that this is my all time favorite Tori Amos song. It's so heart breakingly beautiful. The lyrics to this song are extremely relative and heartfelt. I especially love the lyrics, "all the white horses". Their symbolism can mean what they mean to you personally. It's very open. The piano combined with the string sections is magical and Ms. Amos' voice really compliments the mood of this song. Pure genius. 5/5



2. THE POOL - This song is very ethereal, seems like it would have fit well on "To Venus And Back" with its vast musical landscape. It is definitely not a song to sing along to, but to admire the artistic value. 4/5



3. TAKE TO THE SKY - This song, left off of Ms. Amos' debut album, "Little Earthquakes", is an especially catchy tune, most notably the chorus. I love the line, "I dyed my hair red today". There is a very awkward bridge in this song, but overall a very good song. 4/5



4. SWEET DREAMS - Also left off of "Little Earthquakes", this is an awesome, politically driven song. The lyrics are very quick and feisty. I love it when Ms. Amos has something powerful and poignant to say. You can almost sense her excitment in the way she sings, as she does on this track. 5/5



5. UPSIDE DOWN - This is a definite classic Tori Amos b-side. This is as well one of my all time favorite Tori Amos songs. Everything about this song rocks, from the sweeping piano melody to the in your face lyrics. I cannot sing enough praises for this song. 5/5



Overall:



I actually rate this EP 4.5 out of 5 stars. Overall, this is a great EP offered to us by Tori Amos. It's not, however, something I would recommend to someone just getting into Tori Amos, but it is most definitely one of her better EP's. If you're a fan, this is a must buy!

Three of her best b-side tracks.

The beautiful title track is taken from her solo debut album, "Little Earthquakes." Although marked as a limited edition, this single is pretty much readily available. It includes a hand-written lyrics booklet by Amos and some of her best b-side work. Amos herself has said that one of her biggest regrets is not including "Upside Down" on "Earthquakes," and it is easy to see why. The song has become one of Amos's fans' favorite tracks, along with "Sweet Dreams" (recently re-recorded for her greatest hits collection "Tales of a Librarian") and a show standard on her 2003 concert tour, "Take to the Sky." "The Pool" is also quite interesting in its own right, but this single is a must-have for the aforementioned songs.