Midwinter Graces
by Tori Amos
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 86 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 78 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 86
  3. Negative: 3 out of 86

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  1. datura
    Dec 27, 2011
    9
    Most Tori Amos music is for a particular ear. You're not likely to hear many of her singles on your local top 40-based radio station. But MIDWINTER GRACES, Tori's eleventh studio recording, is an album for everyone. Tori's take on the seasonal theme is a huge and surprising winner. There's little controversy here. Unlike some of her earlier releases, she doesn't mention drugs (FROM THEMost Tori Amos music is for a particular ear. You're not likely to hear many of her singles on your local top 40-based radio station. But MIDWINTER GRACES, Tori's eleventh studio recording, is an album for everyone. Tori's take on the seasonal theme is a huge and surprising winner. There's little controversy here. Unlike some of her earlier releases, she doesn't mention drugs (FROM THE CHOIRGIRL HOTEL) or Satan (BOYS FOR PELE) or masturbation (UNDER THE PINK), but for once, that's a good thing in an Amos recording.

    Aside from the simple and beautiful "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night)" -- available on the deluxe version -- there are no traditional songs on this record. A handful are Amos-penned originals, while most are creative medleys or re-imagined versions of classic carols.

    The album opens with the majestic "What Child, Nowell," featuring the return of the harpsichord, which was so expertly used on Tori's third album, BOYS FOR PELE. It's followed by one of the album's best tracks, "Star of Wonder" -- a fantastic reworking of "We Three Kings." Both tracks will please Tori-first-timers and Tori-fanatics alike. As will the climactic Amos original "Winter's Carol (from THE LIGHT PRINCESS)", which celebrates the winter solstice.

    One can hardly imagine that the woman who sang the story of her own violent rape in "Me and a Gun" on LITTLE EARTHQUAKES and raged against secular religion in songs like "God" and "Crucify" could treat Christmas classics with such care and reverence without seeming like she's double-dealing. However, Tori shines on her reworkings of Christian standards "Candle: Coventry Carol" and "Emmanuel."

    The most remarkable thing about this record is that Tori succeeds in delivering a truly seasonal record yet you would not feel out of place listening to Amos-written originals like the romantic "A Silent Night with You" or the big band number "Pink and Glitter" or the radio-friendly "Snow Angel" at any time of the year.

    MIDWINTER GRACES carries itself with a dignity that many holiday albums don't manage. "Our New Year" is an emotional tribute to loss, while "Comfort and Joy" -- available on the deluxe version -- is classic, introspective Tori.

    No one should be without a copy of MIDWINTER GRACES this holiday season.    … Expand
  2. RobynH
    Dec 6, 2009
    10
    This is beautiful!
  3. SamK
    Dec 3, 2009
    9
    A lush, wintery, melancholy album that is the perfect antitode to sterile Xmas pop. While "Harps of Gold" is absolutely awful, she makes up for it with the last two tracks "Winter's Carol" and "Our New Year," two of the best songs she has ever written.
  4. CoolFace
    Nov 27, 2009
    7
    The faults of her last 4 albums are absent - the right amount of tracks, no filler, mostly piano, return of the harpsichord, and not bad production either. Who'd have thought the dreaded christmas album would prove to be her best since Scarlet's Walk.
  5. elly
    Nov 26, 2009
    10
    The only christmas-themed album which I would listen to all year long. It's always nice to hear Tori sing some pretty songs I love her voice.

Awards & Rankings

82
#82 Most Shared Album of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. AllMusic
    60
    Thanks to some familiar melodies, it can sometimes seem seasonally appropriate, but it always seems purely Tori, who has somehow managed to deliver an easy listening version of all her signatures in one tidy, not so-Christmasy, package.
    Read full review
  2. Slant Magazine
    60
    As a subversion of religious themes, Midwinter misses the mark entirely; as a traditional holiday album courtesy of one of Christianity's most astute pop cultural critics, it's an ironic, pleasantly competent oddity.
    Read full review
  3. PopMatters
    80
    Midwinter Graces is 12 tracks long, a perfect length, and most of the production is spot-on.
    Read full review
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