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The Chicago Sun-Times (US)
April 26, 1992

Unplugged and unburdened

By Jae-Ha Kim

     "When my first record bombed, I chose not to look at anything," says Tori Amos. "I thought I was making a statement having 12-feet-high hair. I didn't look beyond the outside and had a hard time looking in."

     Things have changed considerably for Amos, who has ditched the heavy metal look and music, gone back to her acoustic roots and scored big with her single and accompanying video, "Silent All These Years."

     "There is no shame in self-acceptance, and I think a lot of people have a difficult time accepting that," she said. "I did, too, until I realized what I did best was something I had tried to forget: singing and playing the piano."

     Amos will perform solo Wednesday at Schubas, 3159 N. Southport. Besides playing most of the cuts from her current LP, Little Earthquakes, she also will do some unexpected covers, such as Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

     "I thought it would be fun to do heavy metal, or alternative, or acid, or whatever it's called now," she said, laughing. "The terms change, but it's still the same thing. And it's challenging to sit alone at an acoustic piano and play these types of music that people find incongruous for a soloist."

     This summer, Amos will participate in a European tour, where the average hall will hold 6,000 people. This is quite a switch from the intimate clubs she's playing in America.

     "It's a daunting concept, but I have to just giggle a bit," Amos said. "I'll go out there and say, 'Hi everybody. There's lots of you and just one of me. Let's have some fun.'"

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