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There is something that makes astonishing debut albums very hard to follow up with. Whereas you might take an entire lifetime to pour your entire existing into one piece of work, you are expected to come up with the same quality two years hence! Of course it might be disappointing.

Tori did an amazing job of following up Little Earthquakes with Under the Pink. It is a very solid album and is ver close to making this list. But it's still not quite the same. She is not as consistent and there are some moments that make you just sit back and say "what the hell was she thinking?" There are songs on the album that are every bit as good as the songs on Little Earthquakes, but on the whole it's not nearly the album.

Her third album, Boys for Pele, is even more "out there." Once again, this is one of those albums that I tend to program out certain songs, and some of the songs are downright tedious to sit through. I appreciate the fact that she is growing as a musician and trying more things, but it's very difficult to listen to some of those ideas.

One unique aspect of her music catalog is the B-sides that she has released. There are not too many artists out there that have more singles and EP's and limited edition singles and remixes etc. ad nauseum. Some of these other releases are very solid works, and many times picking up a Tori single is worth more money than picking up some artists' full albums. It's difficult to keep track of all of these other songs, but I have a collection of them that has become like a whole new album for me.

Note: As of this writing, Tori's fourth album, Songs from the Choirgirl Hotel, is set to be released within four days. I will update this section with some thoughts about it when I'm more familiar with that album.

I would not wish a Tori Amos concert on anyone unless they were very familiar with her music. I've seen her in concert six times and each time I've seen a sea of faces that were very turned off and wish they could have been anywhere else.

But to a fan of her music there can indeed be nothing finer than seeing her perform her songs live. She is incredibly dedicated to her fans and her songs (usually with just her and a piano) lend themselves to endless interpretations and improvisations. Never before have I seen any artist take such artistic freedom with their own work. I have heard some of her songs that I had listened to five hundred times on her album and still didn't recognize until half through (if then!). Sometimes the interpretations are agonizing, sometimes glorious, but always unique.

Tori Amos has a solid musical background and is not afraid to show it. She has a very large number of songs running around in her head and she is known for her covers. She will play everything from Joni Michell, Leonard Cohen, and Fleetwood Mac to Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, and Jimmy Hendrix. It is always a joy to hear her play a song from another of your favorite artists or hear someone else in the crowd recognize a song.

One of the nice things about seeing Tori in concert is the fact that she never plays the same set twice. She has a great habit of trying to please her fans and is not afraid to take request. I've had the privilege of meeting her twice on the afternoons of her shows and each time I've seen her take a special request from someone, write it on her hand, and later play it during the concert. The effect this has on some of the fragile kids that make up the majority of her fan base is nothing short of amazing.

And this is of course the reason that I'm a major Tori fan and am not afraid to admit. Many times in my life I have used her music to get me through a tough time and I know that others have to. She is always willing to meet her fans in every city and will always lend an ear and show genuine feelings toward those that need her. I've heard a story of a person who knew someone who recently died and requested that Tori sing Madonna's "Live to Tell" that night during the concert. Since she didn't know the song, she had someone track down the sheet music and she sight-read it during the show for that person and dedicated it to them. That's integrity.