Tori Amos - to venus and back

[liner notes]

lyrics, quotes & videos

disc 1: venus. orbiting.

1. Bliss
2. Juarez
3. Concertina
4. Glory of the 80s
5. Lust
6. Suede
7. Josephine
8. Riot Poof
9. Datura
10. Spring Haze
11. 1000 Oceans

disc 2: venus. live. still orbiting.

recorded live on the Plugged '98 tour

1. Precious Things
2. Cruel
3. Cornflake Girl
4. Bells for Her
5. Girl
6. Cooling
7. Mr. Zebra (solo)
8. Cloud on My Tongue (solo)
9. Sugar
10. Little Earthquakes
11. Space Dog
12. Waitress
13. Purple People

B-Sides

recorded live on the Plugged '98 tour

Hey Jupiter (solo)
Upside Down (solo)
Baker Baker (solo)
Winter (solo)
Famous Blue Raincoat (solo)
Twinkle (solo)

Misc.

Zero Point (2006 A Piano bonus track)

Tori Amos's fifth solo album, to venus and back, was released on September 21, 1999, and debuted at number 12 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart. The first disc was recorded at her home studio, Martian Engineering, in Cornwall, England. The second disc is a live album of songs from her 1998 Plugged Tour.

Where were the live songs recorded?

The sources of the live songs on disc 2 of to venus and back are not given in the liner notes, but people have tried to guess, and this seems to be the general consensus.

1. Precious Things December 3, 1998 - East Lansing, Michigan
2. Cruel December 3, 1998 - East Lansing, Michigan (?)
3. Cornflake Girl unknown
4. Bells for Her November 15, 1998 - Amherst, Massachusetts
5. Girl November 19, 1998 - Durham, New Hampshire (?)
6. Cooling December 3, 1998 - East Lansing, Michigan
7. Mr. Zebra October 27, 1998 - Dayton, Ohio
8. Cloud on My Tongue October 27, 1998 - Dayton, Ohio
9. Sugar November 10, 1998 - Binghamton, New York soundcheck
10. Little Earthquakes November 29, 1998 - Columbus, Ohio
11. Space Dog unknown
12. The Waitress December 3, 1998 - East Lansing, Michigan
13. Purple People unknown soundcheck

B-sides

Hey Jupiter November 10, 1998 - Binghamton, New York
Upside Down November 10, 1998 - Binghamton, New York
Baker Baker November 21, 1998 - State College, Pennsylvania
Winter November 29, 1998 - Columbus, Ohio
Famous Blue Raincoat September 20, 1998 - Santa Barbara, California
Twinkle September 20, 1998 - Santa Barbara, California

Tori talks about to venus and back

"At the start, the idea was one cd live and one cd of rare and unreleased tracks. In the end, it's a new album that goes with the live. Artistically, this began to make sense because the live disc is a collection of songs throughout the years. These are the best performances of the last tour. There are bootlegs circulating, but they don't give a faithful image of my music. Then I wanted to add B-sides, for all those who had troubles trying to find rare tracks, but new songs came. I added them and the engineers told me: 'These songs have a particular sound; if you mix them with b-sides, it's like mixing characters from two different movies.' It was quite hazardous." [Best - October 1999]

[more Tori Amos quotes about to venus and back]

to venus and back magazine ad
from Billboard magazine (US), August 28, 1999

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