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Alternative Press (US)
January 1998



25 most anticipated albums of 1998

Tori Amos

Working Album Title: TBA (To Be Announced)
Projected Release Date: April 1998, on Atlantic

Why Is It Anticipated? Sensitive female singer-songwriters proliferated in the wake of Amos' 1996 album Boys for Pele. Have performers such as Fiona Apple stolen Amos' thunder or merely whetted the public's appetite for the singer's return?

What's It Gonna Sound Like? "They're a ruthless lot, these songs," Amos says in her typically obscure manner. "One thinks she's made the final cut, but then they spray-paint her dress before she walks down the catwalk, and she isn't allowed to go out."

The singer has ensconced herself in a 300-year-old barn in Cornwall, England, with her nine-foot piano, engineers Mark Hawley and Marcel Van Linbeek, and several other musicians. Amos is fully in charge again, and this time she wants to expand her musical abilities through the recording process. "Musician: It's not like actress or poetess; it is an agenda," she says. "I think there are a lot of great female writers, but I don't think there are a lot of great female musicians. It's not just about songs and a chorus; it's about the playing. So I'm trying to be more of a player."

As both player and producer, Amos is trying to remove what she calls "white, straight" elements from the studio. Using live takes with drums for these sessions, she says she's pursuing an "old records" sound. citing Led Zeppelin and Marvin Gaye as influences.

And the goal?

"I want to bite people's butts when they hear my record, and I want people to want to bite other people's butts when they hear it."

Now that's ruthless. - Randee Dawn

The 25 most anticipated albums of 1998

Nine Inch Nails
Hole
Korn
Marilyn Manson
Tori Amos
Elastica
Pearl Jam
Scott Weiland
Girls Against Boys
Filter
Ritalin
Ani DiFranco
Rob Zombie
Sonic Youth
Tortoise
Garbage
The Breeders
Underworld
Bad Religion
Curve
Massive Attack
Shellac
Afghan Wigs
Sunny Day Real Estate
Type O Negative

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