The first time I listened to 'Scarlet's Walk', I admit to being a little shattered with a not too good impression, but after giving it several run-throughs it began to grow on me, which made me feel very relieved. If I didn't like this album I was afraid that I would no longer be able to call myself a Tori Amos fan because of recent let-downs, but songs like the quirky "Wednesday" (which brings me back to her 'Boys For Pele' days), "Crazy", "Sweet Sangria", "Taxi Ride" and (my personal favorite) "Scarlet's Walk" make this all worth the purchase.

What makes this album even more interesting is the fact that Tori wrote this on a cross-country road trip, which she took shortly after the terrorist attacks. And while this album is nothing like my favorite Tori album, 'From The Choirgirl Hotel', at times it reminds me of 'Little Earthquakes' (my second favorite) but is best to be compared to 'Under The Pink'.

'Scarlet's Walk' is much lighter and not so dark in mood as previous albums, but is still guaranteed to please most fans of Tori's earlier works.


Scarletys Walky a conceptual journey across lives, the U.S.   February 13, 2003
Veggiechiliqueen
17 out of 19 found this review helpful

Tori Amos' newest effort "Scarlett's Walk" is an extremely rewarding conceptual journey in song across the United States, from a porn star in Las Vegas ("Amber Waves"), to finding love in unexpected places ("A Sorta Fairytale") to echoes of First Nations ("Wampum Prayer," "A Sorta Fairytale," "Virginia"). The sounds of the songs range from sultry jazz-inspired songs ("Carbon," with a gorgeous piano solo that feels right at home in a "Due South"esque score sort of way, or in Sarah McLachlan's "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy," "Don't Make Me Come To Vegas," with its bongos and prowling bass piano, "Your Cloud," "Gold Dust"), to a ragtime-vaudeville sound reminiscent of the Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney duet "Say Say Say", moody ballads ("Strange," "Sweet Sangria," "Pancake"), laments ("Amber Waves," "I Can't See New York"), to haunting melodies ("Crazy," "Scarlet's Walk," "Gold Dust"). I must admit, this is my first Tori Amos album, and the vast majority of her lyrics have me baffled. I guess I'm just not a stream-of-consciousness beatnik poet at heart. Consider the following snippets:

"Carbon"

Carbon made, found her at the end of a chain,
"Time to race" she said, "race the downhill."
Behind crystaline irises loons can dive,
where the world bleeds white.

"Pancake"
Oh, Zion please remove your glove,
And dispel every trace of His spoken word,
That has lodged in my vortex.

One of the neatest features is the interactive "Scarlet's Walk" CD Rom, which features an interactive map showing three choices: Scarlet's Walk, Native America and Tori Amos' tour. With the "Scarlet's Walk" you can follow Scarlet song by song, collecting Polaroid snapshots and reading more about national parks, etc. You can put together a personalized journal of Scarlet's walk filled with Polaroids from various places she's visited, watch short music videos, read the lyrics, listen to a bonus song ("Tombigbee"), read Scarlet's journal entries/poetry and more. This is *the* best enhanced CD I've ever had the pleasure of exploring-far from mere screensavers or uninteresting videos, you are truly made part of Scarlet's journey across U.S. Combined with the powerful music (and occasionally cryptic lyrics), "Scarlet's Walk" is truly a journey that we all should make.


Subtle insight for the post-9/11 soul   December 1, 2002
Simon Phipps (Southampton, UK)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

The last few weeks as I have been driving around America I have been listening to this album and finding it pleasantly quirky - echos of Kate Bush in places ("I can't see New York" in particular). Much more enjoyable than the samples I have listened to before, I've not been a fan. Her diction is pretty curious though and I'd not been able to dig into the words very much, and her web site had few insights. As I've explored the lyrics, I have gradually realised there's more going on than meets the eye. The reviewer at Rolling Stone doesn't get it - clearly didn't have time to dig. He's missed the spiritual unity of the album, listening only to the melodies. But one of the comments to his review has caught the drift: "This CD contains the most intelligent, complicated, subtle, and artistic post-9/11 reflection on America that I have encountered."

Returning to the lyrics with that insight, suddenly the layers underneath the widely-reviewed obvious clicked into focus and it's all there - the confused ghostly voice in 'I can't see New York', lost friends and innocence in 'gold dust', and more. An interview on VH-1 (see my weblog for links to external sources) gave more pointers - even the porn star "Amber Waves" is a metaphor for the fallen grace of the nation. If all you hear is the single ("a sorta fairytale" - which has a firefly glimmer to it) you may think it's a loved-and-lost album like the other reviewers.

As I listen I am caught up more and more in the album - an exploration of the spirit of the nation of America, of the emotions and experiences following September 11, 2001. This is the first work to come out of that event that leaves me with insight into the people and the place rather than with a sense of a person scrabbling to build a response and coming up instead with misplaced patriotism or a warmongering rage. Listen carefully to "Scarlet's Walk" and in amongst the strangeness you may hear, as I have, the outline of a soul's response to 9/11.

(I recommend this, the regular edition, rather than the 'limited edition as the extras are low value and the box used is flimsy)