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Whistle Stopper - Tori Amos - Live From New York
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $64.99
Your Save: $ ( % )
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Manufacturer: Mvd Visual
Starring: Maynard James Keenan, Tori Amos, Steve Caton
Directed By: Milton Lage
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 0075678073236
Format: Live
Label: Mvd Visual
Manufacturer: Mvd Visual
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Mvd Visual
Release Date: 1998-03-24
Running Time: 100
Studio: Mvd Visual
Theatrical Release Date: 1998-03-24
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Maybe not the best intro to Tori Amos' music
Comment: This is the second review I've written on this video. I first watched it a year and a half ago, and stopped half way through impressed with her musicianship but bored with the product. That was my first impression to Tori.
Since then, I've listened to four of her CDs, watched her "Fade To Red" video collection and her "Welcome To Sunny Florida" concert DVD, and read her biography "Pretty Good Years". I finally gave this another try, after being familiar with several of her songs.
I went a little further into this CD, but stopped at "Precious Things". While I enjoyed the music a little better, including some of my favorites "Cornflake Girl" and "Winter" (my favorite Tori song), her performance of "Precious Things" disturbed me. That is a song that I loved musically and hated lyrically (as a born-again preacher), but that performance gave me the creeps. It seemed like something wasn't right with Tori. The same could be said about her dancing or whatever she did prior to doing "Cornflake Girl".
I commented in my review of "Welcome To Sunny Florida" that I admired her improvising with some of her songs. However, I think her improvisions on "Winter" almost ruined the song for me, making it hard to follow and sing along with.
In the original review, I commented that this video was not the best intro to Tori's music, and I still concur. However, I feel I cannot recommend this video, especially to a Christian. It makes me wonder if I should continue listening to Tori, and motivates me to pray for her all the more.
This being said, I will say that one thing Ms. Amos did right was get the charity R.A.I.N.N. started, a group which benefited from this concert.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Put this on DVD
Comment: I'm truly thunderstruck watching this slice of rapture. As are a truckload other Tori fans. Why another review? Just to Tell Sony to put this out on DVD. This is the kind of DVD I need to own and show off to my grand kids together with other great concert DVDs like Opeth's Lamentations, Blind Guardian's Imaginations thru the looking glass and NIN's All that could've been. These are music's defining moments of our generation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A truly magical night in Madison Square Garden
Comment: If you love Tori Amos even one-tenth as much as I love Tori Amos, you have to have this video concert performance (which is still, most inexplicably, not available on DVD). There is no concern experience remotely like the Tori Amos concert experience. Most stars rely on pyrotechnics, intricate light displays, huge video monitors, and the raucous playing of all sorts of loud instruments to wow their audiences - but not Tori. What you basically get here is Tori and her piano (and an organ, which she plays on a few select songs); there's a guy on electric guitar off in the corner that plays on a number of songs, but the whole setup is minimalist at best. Tori's performance itself is truly almost impossible to describe; it can only be understood by way of experience. She does things no other artist would ever do: she sometimes sings in the barest of whispers, produces some guttural wails that don't even sound human, bobs up and down as she plays, and makes an assortment of odd gestures and motions that non-fans would probably consider unnatural. The uninitiated might well think Tori is having fits or some type of seizure at times, and that is why I must stress the point that this concert performance is really suited for established Tori fans only. If you don't get Tori's music, you certainly won't get this performance.
I always have a devil of a time trying to review Tori Amos material. Tori is much more than a brilliant musician, songwriter, singer, and performer - she is a spiritual guru; cosmic truths fall from her lips, and you want to be there at her feet so that you can catch all of them. She gives everything, even more than just her heart and soul, into her performance. The expressiveness of her face is almost magical. Take the song Winter, for instance - you can see Tori become a child again at one point, with a vulnerability that is palpable. There's an erotic quality to her performance, as well, although it is by no means intentional. Tori is, simply put, not human - she lives on a higher spiritual plane than the rest of us, and I for one feel blessed to have her here with us.
This concert took place on January 23, 1997, in Madison Square Garden. It was a benefit concert to launch Tori's "Unlock the Silence" tour, which helped raise awareness for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (Tori, if you don't know, was a victim of rape). At this point in her career, she had released three albums, so the majority of these 16 songs come from Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink, and Boys For Pele. Tori also includes two songs not found on those albums.
The concert starts off rather calmly with Beauty Queen/Horses and Leather, then Tori spins around to play the organ on Blood Roses. After Little Amsterdam, the intensity goes up several notches with Cornflake Girl. Before she sings, Tori hops out to the front of the stage and does some kind of bizarre dance that I can't begin to explain, but the way she nails the first notes of the song even before she even completely sits back down at the piano is just magical. Waitress is always a crowd favorite, and the less familiar Upside Down is a wonderful song (some of Tori's most popular concert songs have always been B sides or previously unreleased material).
Winter is truly special. As I mentioned above, you will be mesmerized by Tori's expression as she sings what will always be one of her most beautiful songs. From here she goes into Precious Things. This has always been one of my very favorite songs, with lyrics that clearly come from the painful experience of youth lying deep inside Tori's heart. In this performance, Tori holds nothing back; it is almost traumatic in spots, as you see raw, heartfelt emotion poured out of Tori's very soul. It's then back to the organ for Caught a Lite Sneeze (actually, Tori alternates between organ and piano on this song) and Talula. Talula is clearly the most energetic performance of the night, which makes the next song, Me and a Gun, all the more powerful. Me and a Gun is, of course, Tori's a capella song about being raped. Her courage is awe-inspiring; without music accompanying her, Tori is essentially up there alone and completely vulnerable as she sings about one of the most traumatic experiences one can have. Marianne is another song not found on one of her albums, and it is given special meaning as it has to do with a friend of Tori's who apparently killed herself. Silent All These Years, the signature song for the "Unlock the Silence" tour, rounds out a stellar performance. The sell-out crowd wants more, of course, and Tori returns with Tool front man Maynard James Kennan to sing Muhammed My Friend, after which she closes out the night with an amazing version of Pretty Good Year.
Any Tori Amos concert is a unique, phenomenal event. This is a video you will play again and again, as it contains Tori magic in one of its most concentrated forms. I would repeat my advice, however, to only approach this concert video if you are already a Tori fan. This concert video was made just for us.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An evening with Tori Amos
Comment: Ok, All Tori fans, this is a must. She opens the show with beauty queen/Horses which is stellar. I'm going to give you the highlights of the show.Little amsterdam : Her voice on this one is so eerie and i love the part where she sings " playin' that organ yes said yes said " and the part that comes after ... tears. Cornflake girl: YES ! it's the tori dance ! i'm sure this girl is crazy ! but it's so awesome. The piano is so beautiful in this one it sounds very different and Steve Caton's guitar in this one is here to fill in empty spots and he does so well. Little Earthquakes : I hadn't heard this song the first time i watched this, and it took a while for me to like it because i didn't have the structure of it imprinted in my brain. But now that i do this is a chilling performance. Beautiful piano, beautiful voice, beautiful Tori. Upside down: This is a great B-side, (she hasn't officially released this song other than on singles compilations) Very nice piano her voice is great, hell the whole thing is great ! make saure to notice her smile the second time she sings " i'm ok when everything is not ok". Ok i'm getting lazy. My other favorites are Caught a lite sneeze, me and a gun, blood roses and Marianne. This whole thing is awesome, i should get my own copy. I have a friends copy and i've had it for about 2 months now lol. get it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great on cd, even more amazing live
Comment: Tori's stellar performance gave me chills. Her jazzy rendition of Cornflake Girl made me want to dance, and I have to admit to singing along to that one as well. But the greatest moments were when she pulled out Maynard James Keenan (Who has the voice of a God) to sing Muhamed my Friend with her. And the almost traumatic performance of Tori's masterpeice, Precious Things, will have you in tears.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Sell-out 1997 concert @ MSG. 17 trks: Leather, Little Earthquakes, Pretty Good Year, more. W/ guest Maynard James Keenan (Tool). Hi-fi Dolby stereo. 100 min.
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