Tori Amos describes this album in this way, “I have used the structure of a classical song cycle to tell an ongoing, modern story. The protagonist is a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship. In the course of one night she goes through an initiation of sorts that leads her to reinvent herself, allowing the listener to follow her on a journey to explore complex musical and emotional subject matter. One of the main themes explored on this album is the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us."

Certainly, I wouldn’t put all Amos’ music under the heading of progressive rock, but based on that explanation, that label clearly applies to this release. It’s quite a bit different from a lot of Amos’ other albums, but there are definitely links to her previous catalog. All the tracks are actually based musically on classical pieces. I’m not sure this will ever make it into my list of favorite Tori Amos albums, but it certainly is a good disc that grows on the listener with repeated exposure.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2011  Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.

While this is classical in terms of musical instrumentation and structure to some degree, it also rocks in an acoustic manner. This, in a lot of ways, feels a lot like a pretty standard (if there is such a thing) Tori Amos song, but with additional layers of symphonic instrumentation added to her piano based arrangement. It’s a powerful cut that’s one of the best on the set. There’s a great mellower movement later that’s got some of Amos’ gentler vocals. It’s quite a dynamic composition, moving in various directions as it continues.