Little Earthquakes, Pam

I'm very happy with my pick for Record Club this week. Even if no one else writes a review, I loved Tori Amos's Little Earthquakes. I knew this was an important album, and listening to it a few times over, I knew it was nice, pretty music. And so it took me a number of times to get the connections and begin to understand the album, which is so ripe with metaphors and symbols that I kind of felt like I was in an art/music history class. And in the same way as it feels rewarding to have a little more understanding of art, I felt the same rewarding feeling after not only listening to but really digging deep into Little Earthquakes.

Written 30 years ago, Little Earthquakes still applies today as much as it did back in 1992. Not only do the songs ring true on an internal, personal level for me, but I felt like the entire album was a lesson in womanhood and ideals of the feminist movement. In this current political climate, Little Earthquakes was a good reminder to continue fighting, and a bad reminder that, 30 years later, women's rights in this insane country are somehow WORSE than in 1992!!

There wasn't one song that stuck out as the best. I enjoyed all of them. I loved the first half of the album so much. "Crucify" has been stuck in my head all week. Listening to "Girl" made me wonder whether the writers of "Let It Go" are big Tori Amos fans. "Precious Things" was empowering. "Winter" legit made me cry a little. "Happy Phantom" was so fun and quirky.

"China" was the song I felt most bored with, so I was a little worried it would be one of those albums that falls apart during the second half. But she definitely picked it back up.

Being a woman is complicated, and I think Tori Amos nailed that idea so well on this album. Little Earthquakes is a celebration of girl power, while at the same time acknowledging the weirdness that comes with growing up and the bullshit many of us deal with on a daily basis, and even things that we, as women, will hopefully never ever have to experience.

As far as the music itself, obviously Tori Amos kicks ass at playing piano. But, as with most singer-songwriters, the big full sounds that you would find with a band are not there. This could certainly be a minus for some, but I never mind, nor do I ever really think about, the lack of something like drums.

And how about the title track, "Little Earthquakes"? Is that not the most spot on idea of how big family gatherings play out especially in 2022? I'm sure we can all relate to that one. Let alone week-long family vacations when anything remotely political becomes the topic of conversation.

My day-to-day is all about raising girls. That's the current name of the game for me (all of that could change slightly in a few months). So, this album came at a really good time for me. Had I listened to this album growing up, I probably would have felt a little more empowered, and definitely more understood. I remember my mom's opinion of Alanis Morrisette being limited to: "She could be so pretty if she didn't wear her hair like that." That's the household I grew up in. Little Earthquakes is, indeed, essential female listening. I'm very glad and grateful to the album picker this week for finally giving me the chance to listen to it after all these years. I hope that my daughters will also appreciate this album someday.