Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel

For Tori Amos, sex can be a weapon, a spiritual offering, or an act of protest; it's certainly been the singer-pianist's big subject since her 1989 debut, Little Earthquakes. But where her earliest compositions tried to punch every emotional hot button at once and came off merely overblown, From The Choirgirl Hotel packs a greater punch by toning down the mock-symphonic excess in favor of stark, haunting tracks that contain their own veiled mysteries. Love cuts both ways on Choirgirl. Songs such as "She's Your Cocaine" and "cruel" view relationships as vicious, sexually-charged power plays, while the protagonists in "playboy mommy" and "Northern Lad" are desperately seeking salvation in the form of some emotional connection. Hypnotic, affecting, and frequently gorgeous, From The Choirgirl Hotel is Amos' most accomplished album to date. --Marc Weingarten