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It's an album that's unlikely to yield any massive hits, but like that other iconic singer songwriter, Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos has survived initial success to end up in a place where she has the space to do exactly what she likes in pretty much the only way she seems to know how.
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You can delve as deeply into the lyrics and musical brain-teasers as you like, but there's plenty of surface allure for anyone who just fancies a superficial graze.
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As a cohesive work, The Beekeeper holds together better than nearly any of Tori's more ambitious albums, but there's a certain artsy distance that keeps this from being as emotionally immediate or as memorable as her first two records.
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Many of these underwritten, underproduced tunes sound as if Amos could have composed them in the supermarket express lane.
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Her effort is continuously admirable, but what is frustrating about The Beekeeper is the music itself: it’s almost formulaic, including even the token song that displays a powerful sense of womanhood.
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Somewhere in here, there's a lovely, compact, cohesive little album. It just takes a little too much digging to find it.
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The realisation is obvious: a happy, contented, motherly Tori Amos is as irrelevant, sterile, and airbrushed as her face is on the cover of this album. Tori: it’s over.
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The Beekeeper returns the quirky singer to the same whimsical terrain of 1992's Little Earthquakes, but with much stronger storylines, and a much more assured and nuanced voice.
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Her most down-to-earth album in years, because Ms. Amos has decided she doesn't have to pack every impulse into every song. Sometimes, now, a simple melody and a steady groove are enough. [21 Feb 2005]
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Tori Amos delivers some of the most accessible music of her career, coupled with beautifully obscure lyrics.
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The Beekeeper meanders too much to be riveting in the way Scarlet's Walk is.
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The Beekeeper suffers from too much of the glossy stuff that floats on top, and too little foundation on which to keep itself grounded.
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Mainly there's either promising melodies (the "Crucify"-aping "Parasol") ruined by cringe-y lyrics, or decent lyrical ideas executed like a Yoplait commercial. ("This is sooo good." "Pirates good!" Cue bongos.)
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Floats by without stirring much interest.
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Los Angeles TimesShe's been de-emphasizing hysterics for a while now, and here she mostly sings prettily, but still powerfully. [6 Mar 2005]
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MojoShe keeps the mood focused and the music softly funky. [Mar 2005, p.92]
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UncutAmos has never been in rangier voice. [Mar 2005, p.102]
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Q MagazineFor every riveting set piece... there are meandering nonentities such as the title track. [Mar 2005, p.98]
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BlenderIf shards of symbolist vision and baroque virtuosity remain, they're smoothed out on the beekeeping tip, avoiding any sharp stings, leaving barely a spoonful of honey. [Apr 2005, p.112]
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Entertainment WeeklyThe Beekeeper is the Tori Amos album for those normally freaked out by Tori Amos. [25 Feb 2005, p.99]
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SpinFlat... only a few songs flirt with her previous brilliance. [Apr 2005, p.102]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 136 out of 163
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Mixed: 17 out of 163
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Negative: 10 out of 163
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Aug 15, 2018This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.
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Jun 22, 2016
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Feb 17, 2015