| Little Earthquakes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Tori Amos | ||||
| Released | January 13, 1992 (UK) February 25, 1992 (US) |
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| Recorded | 1990–1991 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, piano rock | |||
| Length | 56:54 | |||
| Label | Atlantic (US), East West (Europe) | |||
| Producer | Tori Amos, Eric Rosse, Davitt Sigerson, Ian Stanley | |||
| Tori Amos chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Little Earthquakes | ||||
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Little Earthquakes is the debut solo album of singer/songwriter Tori Amos, featuring the singles "Silent All These Years", "China", "Winter" and "Crucify".
Contents |
Following the dissolution of her synth-pop band Y Kant Tori Read, Amos came back to Atlantic Records in 1990 with a 10-track demo tape. The track listing consisted of "Russia" (later to become "Take to the Sky") / "Mary" / "Crucify" / "Happy Phantom" / "Leather" / "Winter" / "Sweet Dreams" / "Song for Eric" / "Learn to Fly"" / Flying Dutchman".[1]
The album was then recorded in three phases. The first batch of tracks ("Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "Winter", "Happy Phantom", "Leather", "Mother", "Sweet Dreams", "Russia/Take To The Sky", "Upside Down" and "Flying Dutchman") were recorded at Capitol Records in Los Angeles with Davitt Sigerson producing. After hearing the first group of songs, the record company was unhappy. Tori and her then boyfriend Eric Rosse recorded the second group of songs ("Girl", "Precious Things", "Tear In Your Hand" and "Little Earthquakes", plus "Take Me with You", which would not be completed until 2006 and finally released on A Piano: The Collection). This phase was recorded on a limited budget in Eric's home studio, using his old 3M 24-track analog machine and a Yamaha CP-80 piano. They also went outside to Stag Studios to use a Yamaha grand piano. During these sessions, Amos recalled the origins of the B-side "Thoughts":
"[The song] Girl was being recorded and I couldn't get a take. I was freaking out. Eric was in the booth playing air ball encouraging me to take a ten minute. Glued on the bench, I started this thing coming from nowhere singing nonsense into the mic. When I finished, Eric said, 'It's a take.' I said, 'What?' - he had left the machine running."[2][3]
These two phases resulted in the original "final" 13-track version of the album, submitted in January 1991, as revealed in the liner notes for the A Piano: The Collection box set. The tracklist is very similar to the released version: "Crucify" / "Girl" / "Silent All These Years" / "Precious Things" / "Winter" / "Sweet Dreams" / "Little Earthquakes" / "Leather" / "Russia" / "Mother" / "Tear In Your Hand" / "Upside Down" / "Flying Dutchman". Of all 14 tracks recorded, only "Happy Phantom" was omitted at this point, but it would later appear on the released tracklist.
For phase three, Amos traveled to England to work with Ian Stanley. Here she recorded what would become two of her early singles. "Me And A Gun" was the last song written for the album, while "China" was an early track, originally titled "Distance", that she wrote in 1987 along with some of the songs that appeared on Y Kant Tori Read.[4] During those sessions, she also recorded several B-sides.[2]
The second final version of the album was accepted by the record company. However, this was still revised before the final release; a 13-track promo cassette shows that "Little Earthquakes" was to appear after "Happy Phantom" on side one, with side two closing with "Flying Dutchman".[1] The latter track was presumably dropped due to the physical restraints of the vinyl LP format. The four songs recorded with Davitt Sigerson that did not make it to the final version of the album were included as B-sides on the singles released from Little Earthquakes: "Upside Down on "Silent All These Years" in the UK and on "Winter" in the US, "Flying Dutchman" on "China", and "Sweet Dreams" and "Take to the Sky" on "Winter".
The record label relocated Amos to London, where they thought she would have an easier time of breaking into success, due to the country's renown for eccentric performers. Atlantic's European counterpart, East West, promoted the record extensively. Amos spent much of 1991 performing in small bars and clubs in London and playing for music executives and journalists, often in her own apartment. The "Me and a Gun" EP containing four tracks was released in October 1991, receiving considerable critical attention. The single was re-issued the following month with "Silent All These Years" as the lead composition, and it became her first chart entry at UK #51 following Single of the Week support from BBC Radio 1 and a TV debut on the high-rated chat show of Jonathan Ross on the BBC. The back cover of the album contains pictures of phallus mushrooms, also known as stinkhorns.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AbsolutePunk | [5] |
| Allmusic | [6] |
| Q | [7] |
| PopMatters | (positive)[8] |
| Robert Christgau | (C+)[9] |
| Rolling Stone | [10] |
| Slant | [11] |
When the album was finally released in the UK in January 1992, it reached #14 and remained on the Top 75 charts (UK Albums Chart) for 23 weeks. A month later, it was released in the USA to breakthrough critical success and also announced itself as a chart mainstay, despite peaking outside the Top 50 on the Billboard 200. The accompanying singles (along with "Me and a Gun" and "Silent All These Years") were "China" (January 1992 UK), "Winter" (March 1992 UK/November 1992 US) and "Crucify" (May 1992 US/June 1992 UK), the US EP version of which featured covers of songs by artists including The Rolling Stones and Nirvana.
In 1998, the UK's Q magazine readers voted Little Earthquakes the 66th greatest album of all time, and in 2002 the same magazine named it the fourth Greatest Album of All-Time by a Female Artist.[12]
All songs written and composed by Tori Amos.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Crucify" | 4:58 |
| 2. | "Girl" | 4:06 |
| 3. | "Silent All These Years" | 4:10 |
| 4. | "Precious Things" | 4:26 |
| 5. | "Winter" | 5:40 |
| 6. | "Happy Phantom" | 3:12 |
| 7. | "China" | 4:58 |
| 8. | "Leather" | 3:12 |
| 9. | "Mother" | 6:59 |
| 10. | "Tear in Your Hand" | 4:38 |
| 11. | "Me and a Gun" | 3:44 |
| 12. | "Little Earthquakes" | 6:51 |
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 54 |
| U.S. Top Heatseekers | 1 |
| UK Album Chart | 14 |
| Australia ARIA Album Chart | 14 |
| Canadian Album Chart | 49 |
| Dutch Album Chart | 85 |
| Single |
US Billboard Hot 100 Chart
|
US Hot 100 Airplay
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US Hot Modern Rock Tracks
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US Hot Adult Top 40
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Canadian Hot 100 Chart
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UK Singles Chart
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UK Airplay Chart
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Irish Singles Chart
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French Singles Chart
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German Singles Chart
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Dutch Singles Chart
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Swedish Singles Chart
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Australian Singles Chart
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New Zealand Singles Chart
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Silent All These Years" (1991) |
-
|
-
|
27
|
-
|
-
|
51
|
35
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
| "Silent All These Years" (re-release, 1992) |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
26
|
50
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
| "China" (1992) |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
51
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
| "Winter" (1992) |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
25
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
49
|
-
|
| "Crucify" (1992) |
-
|
-
|
22
|
-
|
73
|
15
|
23
|
25
|
17
|
84
|
79
|
16
|
83
|
17
|
| "Silent All These Years" (US only re-release, 1997) |
65
|
66
|
-
|
26
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
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