Album Review | ‘Y Kant Tori Read’ by Y Kant Tori Read
Before Tori Amos’s critically acclaimed debut, her talents graced this 80s hair rock band
Tori Amos is well-known for her hyper-charismatic stage presence and lyrically affecting candor. What many outside of her fan base may not be familiar with is her 1992 debut, Little Earthquakes, was not her first release on Atlantic Records.
The virtuoso pianist had forged a path for years in the industry by attempting to write for other artists, playing in a Kellogg’s Cornflake commercial in 1985 — the irony of this is not lost on me — and even taking on a bit role in the court drama Trail by Jury before her star took flight. Amos gathered together keyboardist Kim Bullard, drummer Matt Sorum (who would later go onto Guns n’ Roses), and guitarist Steven Caton (who would play on all her ‘90s solo albums) to create her first band, Y Kant Tori Read (named after Amos’s childhood aversion to reading sheet music). The album was a commercial failure and quickly fractured the band afterward.
Producer Joe Chiccarelli recalls Tori’s passion for the work displaying the promise of what was to come:
“[Tori Amos] had a very strong vision of what she wanted to do on her first album. And despite the lack of success of that album, it was an interesting process because she was very vocal and very passionate about how she wanted it to sound and what her influences were and the emotions she was trying to convey.” — Joe Chiccarelli via HitQuarters (2010)
Amos’s debut single, “The Big Picture,” is a fury of bouncy synths and glitzy hair metal adjacent guitar. The song is very much a product of its time. From this track's vibe, I get a little Lita Ford if she was a pianist. Tori uses this piece to gain footing around the faltering luck she’s had, “Someone smashed my window/ Broke into my brand new car last night/ Caught my boyfriend looking/ At another slender pair of thighs/ Gotta make more money/ Gotta get, gotta get there faster than the rest/ Knock ’em off the ladder/ If they even seem to stand a chance/ The big picture, got a big white cloud/ The big picture is starin’ at me, starin’ at me.” Despite its dated production, Amos still commands attention through her soaring vocals.
The album’s second single, “Cool On Your Island,” has a cheesier island sound complete with steel drums. Amos has taken to playing this track more in the latter part of her career in a much more subdued manner, which I think benefits it. Tori forewarns her boyfriend that his cold shoulder could chase her off for good, “I got a brand new dress, babe/ Could it make you wanna try? Oh yeah/ I guess I didn’t want to notice/ The stars gone from your eyes, yeah… When will you wake up?/ I want you more than the stars and the sun/ But I can take only so much/ Cool on your island/ Is it cool on your island?” The song never received a music video, however in a funny aside Amos did use its inclusion on a promotional tie-in with Phil Collins to escape arrest for marijuana possession in Germany (a story she discusses live in 1992).
One of the songs I have the hardest time with is “Fayth.” Amos’s spoken sections are so 80s it hurts. She almost personifies the notion of faith being able to guide her through this turning point in her relationship, “I could wake up and face the day (up and face the day)/ Maybe I could start again (start again)/ Why am I afraid of change?/ Maybe fayth could understand/ Darlin’, I remember when (I remember when)/ I held the violets in my hands/ Love can crush, held too tight/ We could bring it back alive with a little more fayth.” Unfortunately, this one is far too locked into its hard rock/pop sound, suffering the wrath of age.
“Fire On the Side” begs to break out the fog machine. I imagine Amos heavily lit in a haze of wind and flowing drapes, sinking in pain over being just the other woman.
Its dramatic air burns the visage of Tori’s mascara running as she tries hopelessly to get her lover to choose her over his current partner, “Kiss goodbye/ Go back to your separate life/ That you have with her/ Ashes blow/ In the windy skye/ Take my heart/ As you go/ Baby it burns/ Baby it burns/ Baby it burns/ To be your/ Fire on the side.” It may have its cliches through its rock edge and Spanish guitar, but I can’t help but find myself singing the track’s hook after every listen. Maybe my love of the powdery sound of Heart’s 80s work makes the song feel so nostalgic for me.
“Pirates” is a more jungle-oriented piece meant to garner the notion of wanderlust that pirates bring. I think the keyboard’s brightness takes me back to the late 80s/early 90s pop-rock I remember as a child. Amos takes the imagery of traveling pirates as a foil for her journey to travel to make her way, “Traveled far/ From my home/ Foreign streets/ Paved with stone/ Deep in my dreams/ Moroccan sand/ Now I sail my ship/ On dry land/ There is a light that/ Shines on the frontier/ Pirates yeah/ Pirates.” She has an anthemic quality to her voice during each chorus. I find this song to be quite fun to listen to.
“Floating City” continues the building theatrics that have been a constant from the start. Amos likens this man she’s enamored with to an otherworldly being she’s unsure she can connect to, “Tell me, is your city paved with gold?/ Is there hunger?/ Do your people grow old?/ Do your governments have secrets that they’ve sold?/ Every night I wait/ Take me away to your floating city/ By my window at night, I see the lights to your floating city/ Come and take me away/ I want to play in your floating city, yeah.” What I like the most is Matt Sorum’s aggressive drum beat. It carries the song. I also find it to be just a catchy song. It has its yellowing from age, but something about its sound gives it character.
The song I like the least is “Heart Attack at 23.” Her spoken intro, underpinned by her piano melody, reminds me a lot of the piercing live improvisation she is known for. This gets a lot more cliche as the driving rock sound comes in. Her sense of devotion could be the death of her as her boyfriend plays her at every moment, “I almost threw it all away for you/ You took me higher, and you dropped me lower/ Than I’ve ever been before/ If I have a heart attack at twenty-three/ I’m loving you too much/ If I have a heart attack at twenty-three/ Wave bye-bye/ You’ll miss me, you’ll miss me, baby.” It’s just too coated in 80s clichés like a sax solo, squelchy synths, and generic rock guitar.
“On The Boundary” drops us into safer 80s rock territories. Tori leans on the edge of making or breaking their relationship due to her boyfriend’s hot/cold nature, “I gave you a kingdom that you could be Lord in/ And we both know you loved the taste of my world/ But you ran back to your corner/ Where you trip over your lines/ Look left, look right, no room to hide/ On the boundary/ On the boundary, baby/ On the boundary, don’t you need my love?/ You won’t even let me keep you from fallin’/ From the boundary that divides our love.” The Spanish guitar comes back in to give weight to the intensity of her emotional state. I could make an argument that is a precursor to the sentiments released on “China” later on.
Something about the mixture of rock and flute synths gives “You Go to My Head” a little Peter Gabriel vibe. Amos tries her best to snap herself from the lustful spell this man has put her under, “Yes, I understand you give your time/ Can’t you see? I’ve given my heart/ All that light in your eyes is from the wine, babe/ I’m such a lush for your love/ You go to my head (go to my head)/ You go to my head/ You go to my head/ And you know I can never say no.” I find this mixture of 80s pop standards, synths, saxophone, and rock guitar much more palatable than in “Heart Attack at 23.”
The final track, “Etienne Trilogy: The Highlands, Etienne, Skyeboat Song,” is my favorite from this album. I could easily see this song making it onto her future solo works as at least a B-side. We open with the wide-panning sound of Kim Bullard’s synths. This then fades into the intricate melody of Amos’s piano, something we haven’t gotten to appreciate on this record. She paints a vivid story of how she and her boyfriend’s souls seem historically intertwined, “Maybe you’re the knight/ Who saved my life/ Maybe we faced/ The fire side by side/ Here we are again/ Under the same sky/ As the gypsy crystal/ Slowly dies/ Etienne/ Etienne/ Hear the west wind/ Whisper my name/ Etienne/ Etienne/ By the morning/ Maybe we’ll remember.” This evaporates into the traditional Gaelic piece “Skyeboat Song” played on the bagpipes. Lyrically, this is the most authentic to Tori’s solo work than any other song on this record. I highly recommend this song.
Amos has stated she is happy this project flopped as it taught her valuable lessons about the industry and allowed her to expand into what she truly wanted to write.
This release was impossible to find for years due to its poor sales and relative scarcity. I believe some reviews critics gave the album cut deep (Tori has said she was referred to as a rock bimbo). In recent years, she’s warmed to the album and gave it an official release in 2017.
It’s by no means representative of her body of work today. That said, you can hear her fervent presence in each song. I enjoy visiting this body of work as a piece of history in a stellar catalog. Yes, it is incredibly 80s and sometimes corny, but it doesn’t deserve to be entirely ignored. There are some gems worth looking for.
My overall thoughts on Y Kant Tori Read:
Loved it: “Fire On the Side,” “Pirates,” “Floating City,” & “Etienne Trilogy: The Highlands, Etienne, Skyeboat Song.”
Liked it: “The Big Picture,” “Cool On Your Island,” “On The Boundary,” & “You Go to My Head.”
Disliked it: “Fayth” & “Heart Attack at 23”
My overall rating: 6.0 out of 10.
