Under the Pink

Under the Pink
Studio album by Tori Amos
Released	January 31, 1994
Recorded	The Fishhouse, New Mexico and Westlake Studios, LA (February - October 1993)
Genre	Alternative rock baroque pop alternative pop piano rock
Length	56:40
Label	Atlantic (US), East West (Europe)
Producer	Tori Amos, Eric Rosse
Tori Amos chronology
Little Earthquakes (1992) Under the Pink (1994) Boys for Pele (1996)
Singles from Under the Pink
"Cornflake Girl" Released: January 10, 1994 "God" Released: February 3, 1994 "Pretty Good Year" Released: March 7, 1994 "Past the Mission" Released: May 16, 1994

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
NME	6/10[6]
Pitchfork Media	8.1/10[7]
PopMatters	9/10[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[10]

Under the Pink is the second solo album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album peaked at US #12 and on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", the album debuted at UK #1, her highest-charting UK album debut to date. It had sold around 220,000 copies in the UK by the end of 1994, finishing that year as the UK's 61st best-selling album. This album was included in Blender magazine's list of 500 CDs You Must Own.^[11] It was voted among the greatest albums of the 1990s by Rolling Stone magazine some years later.^[12] A special double-disc edition was released exclusively in Australia and New Zealand, titled More Pink: The B-Sides.

Overview

While several soft-loud-soft tunes betray a clear debt to Nirvana-style grunge, overall this album represents a more acoustic piano-based sound, and most of the final third of the album is devoted to a classical-inspired suite of piano songs, including the sweeping nine-and-a-half minute epic "Yes, Anastasia". Amos used a prepared upright piano for the studio recording of "Bells for Her", which was also played on a prepared piano for the second half of the tour.

Amos has described the meaning of the song "Yes, Anastasia" to the media. The song is about the life of Anastasia Romanova, a grand duchess of Russia who was the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Amos explained that she had once become sick from eating bad crabs in Maryland.^[13] She explained that while performing a sound check, she was influenced by Romanov's presence. "Needless to say, when you are very, very ill, it is easier to communicate with your source... you are fragile and vulnerable... Now I have only heard of her story, I've got no point to make. She comes and goes 'You've got to write my tune.' I go 'Ohhh, now's not a really good time.' She says 'No, you've got to understand something from this, there's something here that you've got to come to terms with.' And that night came." Amos said that the lyrics "We'll see how brave you are" means so many different things to her; it is a part of her self saying "If you really want a challenge, just deal with yourself."^[14]

Amos performed the Under the Pink tour from February through November 1994, encompassing many of the same stops as on the previous world tour. A limited edition release of the album commemorating the Australian tour included a second disc entitled More Pink, a collection of rare B-sides like "Little Drummer Boy" and a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You", was issued in November 1994. During this period, she also contributed the song "Butterfly" to the soundtrack for the 1994 movie Higher Learning, as well as a cover of the R.E.M. song "Losing My Religion".

The album was recorded in Taos, New Mexico in a hacienda. The album artwork features several Native American and New Mexican references in the photography. The album is also notable as the last Amos album to feature the production of Eric Rosse as they split that year. To date, Under the Pink remains her highest-charting album in the UK and has sold more than two million copies worldwide.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Tori Amos. 

The original track listing included the B-side "Honey", which was kicked off the record at the last minute. Amos has since voiced great regret for leaving the song off the album.

"There were certain songs that were supposed to be on the record that got kicked off. 'Honey' was supposed to be on the record and, in retrospect, I wish it had been. I kicked it off for 'The Wrong Band'. Under the Pink wept when 'Honey' wasn't on, and she still is angry with me about it."^[16]

Amos made a similar reference to the song "Here. In My Head" which was originally featured as a B-side to the UK single of "Crucify".^[17]

Singles and B-sides

Singles

Under the Pink produced four singles. "God" was the first U.S. single in January 1994, and reached #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart;^[18] an October release in the UK saw a peak of #44.^[19] "Cornflake Girl" became Amos' biggest international hit of the time, reaching UK #4,^[20] while "Pretty Good Year" followed it to UK #7.^[21] "Past the Mission", which featured the vocal contribution of Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, just missed the UK Top 30 that summer.^[22] In February 2007, the album was certified UK Platinum by the BPI.

More Pink: The B-Sides

The double-disc version of Under the Pink was released on November 14, 1994 by East West to coincide with Amos' tour of Australia and New Zealand. The second disc, titled More Pink: The B-Sides was never released separately, and is a rarity amongst Tori Amos collectibles. Amos would not release another collection of B-sides until 2006's A Piano: The Collection.

The packaging simply inserted the normal Australian release of Under the Pink in a double jewel case, and altered the back insert artwork so that instead of being blank it featured the track listing of the second disc as well as production information for the songs. The title More Pink may be misleading, as many of the B-sides on the disc did not come from Under the Pink singles but in fact from the 1992 album Little Earthquakes, and in one case, from a Christmas compilation. The length of this disc is 48:49.

The double-disc set entered the Australian ARIA Charts Top 100 Albums chart on the week ending 11 December 1994, peaking at #44 and spending 6 weeks on the chart.^[23] However, it was listed on the chart as a re-entry of Under the Pink, with its weeks spent charting added to the 21-week tally achieved earlier by the album.^[23]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Tori Amos except track 1 (Joni Mitchell) and track 11 (traditional). 

Personnel

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References