The Beekeeper - Tori Amos
The Beekeeper Image
Metascore
65 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 107 Ratings

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  • Summary: The singer-songwriter returns with her first album of original material in three years, a conceptual work centering on the title character, with its 19 songs divided into six thematic "gardens." Damien Rice guests on one track.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Amazon.com
    90
    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.
  2. Playlouder
    80
    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.
  3. Q Magazine
    60
    For every riveting set piece... there are meandering nonentities such as the title track. [Mar 2005, p.98]
    All this publication's reviews
  4. Stylus Magazine
    16
    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.

See all 21 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 69
  3. Negative: 7 out of 69
  1. TonyW.
    10
    At it's worst, on this album Tori's voice is beautiful and the songs have attractive melodies. At its best it makes my hair stand on end. If she has 'sold out' here then i for one am grateful, cos i didn't get a lot of the obscure other stuff; but i don't think we've seen everything yet.… Expand
  2. hcarter
    8
    This album shows off a lot of Tori's song-writing ability, which has gotten much better over the years. I do think the album is uneven and several songs suffer from the Sarah McLachlan-like symptom of sounding the same. Her shining moments really are brilliant though and make this album worth owning (Marys of the Sea/Beekeeper/Witness). Out of 19 songs, it's tough to admit that maybe she could've made a tighter album with fewer songs, but that's just me. I still think her stuff is far superior to much of the crap out there.… Expand
  3. HenryG.
    7
    I don't own all of her albums yet, but I love all the ones I have (Still need Under The Pink, Venus and Back, Strange Little Girls), and this is no exception. It's different to her other stuff, which people can't seem to get. She is obviously contented, whole and happy. It feels like theres little struggle in this album, which in some ways makes it bad, but in another makes for a pleasant wholesome experience. Has some some really nice songs on it. It's a change for tori. As was ADP.… Collapse
  4. mrLemonade
    4
    Not as good as her previous or subsequent efforts. Some of the songs are bland (Sweet the Sting, Parasol), some have tacky lyrics (Barons of Suburbia) and tacky titles (Martha's Foolish Ginger, The Power of Orange Knickers) while the lyrics on others are uninspired and clichéd (Sleeps with Butterflies, Ireland). Still, there are songs that still have the flare and emotion Tori is known for. The beautiful ballad Toast is an incredible closer, while the, unfortunately, bonus track Garlands comes 2nd place to Toast, and has more quality than every other song on the album.… Expand

See all 69 User Reviews

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