• Record Label: Atlantic
  • Release Date: Sep 18, 2001
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 136 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 8 out of 136

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  1. KevinB.
    Dec 7, 2001
    9
    It's an important album by a female artist that explores that vast wasteland between what men say and how women (and other men) hear it. I think that Tori's work will always bring out such a range in opinion as long as it remains 'academic' and thus controversial. I'm dying to see how this will affect her own self-written work in the future. Best album since Boys It's an important album by a female artist that explores that vast wasteland between what men say and how women (and other men) hear it. I think that Tori's work will always bring out such a range in opinion as long as it remains 'academic' and thus controversial. I'm dying to see how this will affect her own self-written work in the future. Best album since Boys For Pele, as far as I'm concerned. Collapse
  2. Toriphile25
    Jan 2, 2004
    1
    Eekkk... what was she thinking with this album??? The only song I can even stomach is the title track. The rest just don't do it for me... and I'm a huge fan. This was a project and a CD that should've been skipped over completely! Nonetheless... she is still a powerful performer. The songs on this CD were much easier to digest when listened to live.
  3. Moppithm
    Jan 4, 2004
    1
    The albums not bad.... if you are totally oblivious as to where the music comes from. a man's point of view?, beautiful creations? im sorry i didnt realise that a song that has lyrics which basically involve the sky is bleeding and how one will "reign in blood" (slayer - Raining blood) this is not a mans point of view, and really i dont know what she was thinking, these are not The albums not bad.... if you are totally oblivious as to where the music comes from. a man's point of view?, beautiful creations? im sorry i didnt realise that a song that has lyrics which basically involve the sky is bleeding and how one will "reign in blood" (slayer - Raining blood) this is not a mans point of view, and really i dont know what she was thinking, these are not beautiful lyrics, they may be good but they are not beautiful! anyone who thinks diffirent has not actually listened to the lyrics or they have something wrong in their head, tori certaintly did at the point of choosing these songs. Expand
  4. izata
    Sep 23, 2006
    6
    Scores for each song: new age:3 boring... 97'bonnie n clyde:10 immensely powerful n tense strange little girls:5 okay... enjoy the silence:8 beautiful... i'm not in love:1 weird n sad rattlesnakes:5 ok.. time:7 beautiful n lovabvle heart of gold:10(the best song in this album) i still don't get it why most people hate her rendition of this song.. it rocks!! i don't Scores for each song: new age:3 boring... 97'bonnie n clyde:10 immensely powerful n tense strange little girls:5 okay... enjoy the silence:8 beautiful... i'm not in love:1 weird n sad rattlesnakes:5 ok.. time:7 beautiful n lovabvle heart of gold:10(the best song in this album) i still don't get it why most people hate her rendition of this song.. it rocks!! i don't like mondays:8 great... happiness is a warm gun:4 unlogical.. raining blood:4 lame.. real men:7 interesting.. verdict: 6 great concept... but not lovable... this is the first tori album i bought.. n it doesnt give good impression.. but i still love her quirkiness... n im a fan now... Expand
  5. AlexisT.
    Nov 5, 2001
    7
    Tori Amos looks at clearly cut male songs from another angle. It reveals something. Is it exactly what the original artist intended? Probably not- but music is all about interpretation. And judging from the society we live in, Tori's "second glance" is fresh and I think her album is inspired.
  6. BenjaminBunny
    Aug 12, 2003
    2
    At least she looks pretty on the cover. The music itself? Amos waves her faerie wand and presto! Some really great songs (all by MALE songwriters--get it? kewl!)get inapropriately transformed into yawny girly new-age doodoo.
  7. Christian
    Jan 28, 2004
    8
    Tori's worst album, but better than other cover records. Listen to it a few more times and you will discover depth in a seemingly shallow record. Just listen to what she does to Heart of Gold. Beautiful!
  8. NisF
    Feb 22, 2005
    9
    This is one of my favorite Tori albums. Yes, I wasn't familiar with many of the songs before I heard SLG, but I thought it was an intriguing album that included a little bit of everything. I was a little dissapointed in "Heart of Gold", since the origional was so beautiful and her interpretation was unrecognizable, but I thought her cover or "97 Bonnie and Clyde" was absolutley This is one of my favorite Tori albums. Yes, I wasn't familiar with many of the songs before I heard SLG, but I thought it was an intriguing album that included a little bit of everything. I was a little dissapointed in "Heart of Gold", since the origional was so beautiful and her interpretation was unrecognizable, but I thought her cover or "97 Bonnie and Clyde" was absolutley powerful. "Time" and "I don't Like Mondays" are two of my personal favorites, and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was incredibly interesting once I learned the origional context of the song. I thought this was a mostly a great album with a few flaws, but excusable since they create so many great ideas about music as a whole. Expand
  9. RobbieC
    Apr 10, 2007
    8
    Obviously not her best record; none of it is truly hers. But she does a damn good job of occupying other territory. Some songs shine, others seem pointless, but over all the album is intelligent and dynamic. "New Age," "Rattlesnakes," and "Raining Blood" in particular intrigue. The latter being a very challenging, but horribly gorgeous song that by all accounts supercedes the original.
  10. Pete
    Apr 29, 2007
    9
    Tori Amos is one of the most original artists, not only in the music industry today, but in history. Tori has spoken about how she takes personal experiences and uses them as a creative force within her music,. Each album has a different concept, her debut album "Little Earthquakes" was written in diary form, "Under The Pink" was like a painting, "Boys For Pele" (recorded in a small Tori Amos is one of the most original artists, not only in the music industry today, but in history. Tori has spoken about how she takes personal experiences and uses them as a creative force within her music,. Each album has a different concept, her debut album "Little Earthquakes" was written in diary form, "Under The Pink" was like a painting, "Boys For Pele" (recorded in a small church in Ireland) was like a story, "From The Choirgirl Hotel" (recorded in a 300 year old farm house in Cornwall) focused on many levels of sorrow and "To Venus And Back" (a double album, with the first disc being new material and the 2nd being a live disc) as Tori puts it "talks alot about the shadows and the shadow world". The concept of this album "StrangeLittleGirls" is that Tori covered 12 songs that were written by male artists and she sang them from a female perspective. I personally was not familiar with many of songs here, although I did check out the all the original versions to see just exactly what Tori decided to do differently with hers. Some of the songs Tori has kept similar to the originals, while others she has drastically changed, an example of this is Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold" (Neil Young had to hear this because Tori changed the lyrics) which is completely unrecognizable, Tori's version is dark, right from her vocals to the music, whereas her versions of The Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays" and Slayer's "Raining Blood" are the exact opposite, both songs have been slowed right down vocally, and stripped down to a basic format musically, Tori stripped the keyboards off "I'm Not In Love" leaving it to be all about the vocals with just a drum beat in the background and a wailing guitar sound here and there, on "I Don't Like Mondays" Tori gives this dark and angry song (originally based on the infamous San Diego shooting in 1979) a childlike effect, and uses only an electric piano for the music, Tori said she sang "from the point of view of the cop who went to the school that day" because she couldn't "hold the essence of the person who went and killed everybody". Tori also uses a similar format when covering Eminem's "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" (the original version was about Eminem killing his wife and driving the car with his young daughter to bury the body, which I didn't think came across as anything other than a "F___ you!" attitude which wears thin and therefore failed to give the song an actual impression) and manages to suceed and put the original version to shame by speaking from the dead wife's point of view who is lying in the trunk of the car, this version is very dark and creepy, Tori only sings in the chorus part of the song with the lyrics "Just the two of us". On Tori's version of the title track "Strange Little Girl" (originally by The Stranglers) Tori said "this is the little girl who father killed her mother in Eminem's song, all grown up, having to deal with the fact that she was an accomplice to the murder", Tori has also said that her version of "Time" (originally by Tom Waits) is sang from the point of view of Death. Her version of The Beatles' "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" (which had to be approved by Yoko Ono) includes her idea of the song opening with a re-reading of a newspaper article written after John Lennon's death which she linked to the original version. Tori said that "One of the last people Mark David Chapman called before he killed John Lennon was an escort service, and we don't know if they had sex or if they just talked, but he told her to "be silent". So this is sung through the eyes of that call girl". On the opening track "New Age" (originally by the Velvet Underground" Tori said she "wanted to have this balmy, undulating rhythm going on...sort of stripped, and that's where the passion was coming from". In Tori's book "Piece By Piece" she talks about how she wanted to use a certain tone for the song. I also read that Tori used the lyrics which she heard on an early Velvet Underground bootleg from the 60's. Her version of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence" is similar to "New Age" in the way it's pretty much about the vocals. I'd never heard Lloyd Cole's song "Rattlesnakes" but Tori's version is one of my favourites on the album, here we get to hear an acoustic guitar (that kicks in on the chorus) which isn't that common with Tori's music. My favourite song on the album is "Real Men" (originally by Joe Jackson) which finishes the album off perfectly, like "Time" this is just Tori and her piano, the melody, the vocals, the lyrics...I think everything about this song is brilliant. "StrangeLittleGirls" might not be Tori own material but, in my opinion she has surpassed each and every track on here. This album, like any and every other album, by anyone and everyone, is it's own, comparisons are made between a new album that an artist or band have released, which to a certain level, is fine, but people need to realise that each and every album is it's own and not to overlook everything about an album just because of comparisons to another. Expand
  11. NickC.
    Oct 11, 2001
    1
    Self-righteousness wrapped in poisoned honey. Always misreading rather than understanding, Amos is not even a good misreader; she is illterate to the point that she does not care to change the speaking subject in Eminem's song. A womb with no view.
  12. OpheliaL.
    Nov 5, 2001
    9
    Although, this isn't Tori's best album, it is an incredibly thought provoking, layered, deep, and beautiful album. It is not so much the songs, for they are typical Tori, but the message and meaning behind them. Tori has once again broke away from conventon, and I thank her. This album is a great buy and I highly reccomend it to anyone with an open mind.
  13. RomannW.
    Sep 27, 2001
    1
    This CD is, quite simply, bloody awful. Even when one allows for Ms. Amos's extravagances, one cannot ignore the fact that this album is virtually unlistenable. Only the almost-title track and the song "Time" (which is still overlong) can be salvaged from this mess. The remainder are unrecognizable travesties of music. And, for the record, I am a fan.
  14. rub
    Sep 29, 2001
    7
    .... rated a "1"!?! Give me a break... How unobjective. Strange Little Girls isn't the greatest album ever recorded, but Tori Amos's interpretations are warmly welcomed. She has the guts to put a new spin on these songs. "Rattlesnakes" is a beautiful track, "Real Men" has got a quiet bite and the raunchy "Heart of Gold" needed to be stirred up like this. It's not a perfect .... rated a "1"!?! Give me a break... How unobjective. Strange Little Girls isn't the greatest album ever recorded, but Tori Amos's interpretations are warmly welcomed. She has the guts to put a new spin on these songs. "Rattlesnakes" is a beautiful track, "Real Men" has got a quiet bite and the raunchy "Heart of Gold" needed to be stirred up like this. It's not a perfect album, but there are some great sounds and moments spread throughout. Expand
  15. KevinS.
    Jan 13, 2002
    0
    A lesson for both lovers and haters of this egocentric performer: do not mistaken presence for art.
  16. JulesP
    Sep 28, 2002
    9
    It's a great album, however strange and unusual the idea may be. The only thing I disliked was '97 Bonnie and Clyde, being that Tori stooped to covering an ill-mannered tub-of-guts' music. Other than that, I thought it was fantastic.
  17. Taylor
    May 17, 2006
    9
    I think that I'm a bit biased because I'm a Tori Amos fan and I think most all of her music is great. It definitley doesnt beat Little Earthquakes, but I think the idea behind it is pretty ingenious. Since she is such a feminist I think that this album was something she needed to do and she did it acceptionally well. The only songs on the album I had problems with were songs I I think that I'm a bit biased because I'm a Tori Amos fan and I think most all of her music is great. It definitley doesnt beat Little Earthquakes, but I think the idea behind it is pretty ingenious. Since she is such a feminist I think that this album was something she needed to do and she did it acceptionally well. The only songs on the album I had problems with were songs I didnt like the original versions to. So I guess if the song was bad in the first place I wouldnt expect to like it even if my idol was singing it. They're all ok songs and I especially enjoyed "Time", "Strange Little Girls", "Happiness is a Warm Gun", and "Enjoy the Silence". If you liked some of these songs you might try out "Smells like teen spirit" on her album "Crucify-EP". She does an amazing version of it that's definitley worth listening to. Expand
  18. GabbyW
    Sep 16, 2006
    0
    Yikes, this is bad. And I'm a fan. I like Raining Blood and Real Men. A couple of the other songs, such as the title song and Rattlesnakes, are mildly tolerable. The rest stink, in my opinion. Bad bad bad. Tori is known for being an angry rebel; I see her now as rebelling against her fans. "See how bad I can do - and I KNOW you'll buy it anyway!" Ick.
  19. johns
    Jan 21, 2007
    9
    tori's last good album. from hear she went down hill with scarlets walk and the beekeeper. takes time to get into this album but every cover is real cool. the best prob. happiness is a warm gun and the lovely depeche mode's song. give it a try.
  20. Jun 22, 2016
    6
    Though not little, it is a strange and experimental effort by Tori Amos that does offer some winning reinventions of classic songs, however strong losers. Download: Rattlesnakes, ’97 Bonne & Clyde
  21. Dec 7, 2017
    10
    hinario do caralho........................................................................................................................................
  22. Dec 7, 2017
    10
    hinario subestimado, o povo pisa pq é um album de covers mas é um album otimo..........................................................................
  23. Jul 13, 2018
    10
    good covers album with a very smart idea of change this songs for a woman's vision
  24. Aug 15, 2018
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don’t know why people hate this album. it's inoffensive but quietly great Expand
Metascore
65

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 17
  2. Negative: 2 out of 17
  1. How deliciously perverse, and how very, very her.
  2. Mojo
    80
    The power and import of the record is undeniable. [Oct 2001, p.112]
  3. "Strange Little Girls" is not a pretty album, but that's the point: the ugliness of male-female relations, which she exposes bit by bit with each cover, is a fact that is--in both pop music and pop culture--all too often ignored.