Scarlet's Walk
Encyclopedia
Scarlet's Walk is the seventh album released in singer-songwriter
Tori Amos
' solo career. The 18-track concept album
details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, as well as the concept of America post-September 11th (2001)
. The album was the first released by Amos on Epic Records
after her split with former label Atlantic Records
. After a period of trouble with her last label, Amos proved her fan base was still with her when the album debuted at US # 7, selling 107,000 copies in its first week, and reaching RIAA Gold status about a month after its release.
", based on the Cuban Missile Crisis
of 1962. This served as the last commercial CD single of Amos' career to date.
"Taxi Ride," a partial homage to the late make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin
, a friend of Amos' who died in May 2002, served as the second single from the album. An on-line contest was held asking fans to direct and submit a music video
for the song. The song reached the Top 40 Adult Contemporary chart in the US. The third single, "Strange," was released to radio in a redone version that was given a Country and Western feel with twangy guitars and additional vocals. A Timo Maas
dance remix of "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas" served as the fourth single continued Amos' fortunes on the dance charts. Of the last three singles, only the latter was released commercially, exclusively on a 12" vinyl single in the US.
, "The CD's about America -- it's a story that's also a journey, that begins in LA
and crosses the country, slowly heading east. America's in there, and specific places and things, Native American
history and pornography
and a girl on a plane who'll never get to New York
, and Oliver Stone
and Andrew Jackson
and madness and a lot more. Not to mention a girl called Scarlet who may be the land and may be a person and may be a trail of blood." The song Amber Waves is named after Julianne Moore
's character in Boogie Nights
.
∞ - Denotes position on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
, a map detailing Scarlet's journey, stickers, a bracelet-charm and mock Polaroid
postcards. The album also provided entry to "Scarlet's Web" a web site that was the sole source for special concert ticket offers, photos, merchandise, and unreleased B-side tracks. The elaborate packaging of the limited edition version of the album garnered Amos a Grammy
nomination.
In an attempt to prevent Internet trading of the album, Amos, in conjunction with her husband and crew, used glue to bind closed portable CD players containing the album. These were then distributed to the press on the understanding that they would be returned within forty-eight hours. If an attempt was made to open the player, both it and the disc inside would shatter. The success of this attempt was so great that the record industry began to follow suit. As an additional incentive to buy the album rather than download its contents illicitly, the CD also served as a key to access "Scarlet's Web", a website which featured several songs ("Tombigbee", "Seaside", "Mountain") as well as various photographs and journal entries that were not available elsewhere.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
' solo career. The 18-track concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, as well as the concept of America post-September 11th (2001)
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. The album was the first released by Amos on Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
after her split with former label Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. After a period of trouble with her last label, Amos proved her fan base was still with her when the album debuted at US # 7, selling 107,000 copies in its first week, and reaching RIAA Gold status about a month after its release.
Track listing
Bonus DVD- Polaroids
- Commentary by Amos on Gold Dust and A Sorta Fairytale videos.
Singles
The first single from the album was the catchy, radio-friendly track "A Sorta Fairytale" (released September 2002), which proved to be one of Amos' more successful singles, landing her in the US Top 10 Adult Contemporary chart. A commercial single was also released in the UK with a B-side entitled "Operation Peter PanOperation Peter Pan
Operation Peter Pan , was an operation coordinated by the United States government , the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami, and certain Cubans. Between 1960 and 1962, over 14,000 children were sent from Cuba to Miami by their parents...
", based on the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
of 1962. This served as the last commercial CD single of Amos' career to date.
"Taxi Ride," a partial homage to the late make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin
Kevyn Aucoin
Kevyn Aucoin was an American make-up artist and photographer.-Early life:Aucoin was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, to parents Isidore Adrian Aucoin and Thelma Suzanne Melancon, who adopted him as an infant through Catholic Charities of Alexandria, Louisiana He...
, a friend of Amos' who died in May 2002, served as the second single from the album. An on-line contest was held asking fans to direct and submit a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song. The song reached the Top 40 Adult Contemporary chart in the US. The third single, "Strange," was released to radio in a redone version that was given a Country and Western feel with twangy guitars and additional vocals. A Timo Maas
Timo Maas
Timo Maas is an electronic music DJ/producer and remixer.-Career:Maas bought his first set of turntables at the age of 17, and played his very first DJ set in 1982 at a party in his friend's home...
dance remix of "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas" served as the fourth single continued Amos' fortunes on the dance charts. Of the last three singles, only the latter was released commercially, exclusively on a 12" vinyl single in the US.
B-sides
The album, as with most of Amos' albums, is also known for its collection of original B-sides. Amos recorded a host of songs that did not make the album, but were released as B-sides to various singles or performed live in concerts.| Title | Single/EP |
|---|---|
| "Operation Peter Pan" | "A Sorta Fairytale A Sorta Fairytale "A Sorta Fairytale" is a song written and performed by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was released as the first single from her 2002 album Scarlet's Walk. The song reached #14 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, and #1 on the Triple A chart... " (2002) |
| "Mountain" | "Scarlet's Web" download (2002) |
| "Tombigbee" | Scarlet's Hidden Treasures Scarlet's Hidden Treasures Scarlet's Hidden Treasures is an EP that accompanied the Welcome to Sunny Florida live DVD set released by singer/songwriter Tori Amos in 2004. The EP features six non-LP tracks, though several were featured on a web project called "Scarlet's Web"... (2004) |
| "Bug a Martini" | |
| "Ruby Through the Looking Glass" | |
| "Apollo's Frock" | |
| "Seaside" | |
| "Indian Summer" | |
Theme description
According to author Neil GaimanNeil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
, "The CD's about America -- it's a story that's also a journey, that begins in LA
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and crosses the country, slowly heading east. America's in there, and specific places and things, Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
history and pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
and a girl on a plane who'll never get to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
and Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
and madness and a lot more. Not to mention a girl called Scarlet who may be the land and may be a person and may be a trail of blood." The song Amber Waves is named after Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
's character in Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
.
Album
| Chart (2002) | Position |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 (U.S.) | 7 |
| Billboard Top Internet Albums (U.S.) | 1 |
| Official UK Album Chart (UK) | 26 |
| German Top 100 Album Chart (Germany) | 9 |
| Polish Top Selling 50 (Poland) | 10 |
| Australian ARIA Chart (Australia) | 20 |
| Austrian Album Chart (Austria) | 26 |
| Belgian Top 40 Chart (Belgium) | 38 |
| Top 100 Album Chart (Canada) | 13 |
| Danish Album Chart (Denmark) | 32 |
| Irish Album Chart (Ireland) | 24 |
| Finnish Album Chart (Finland) | 20 |
| French IFOP chart (France) | 32 |
| The Album Top 100 (the Netherlands) | 17 |
| New Zealand's Top 50 (New Zealand) | 45 |
| Official Sales Chart (Norway) | 30 |
| Swiss Album Chart (Switzerland) | 21 |
Singles
| Year | Song | Peak positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
Adult Top 40 Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts... |
R&R's Triple A Airplay Radio & Records Radio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and... (U.S.) |
Hot Dance Music/Club Play |
Hot Dance Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes... (U.S.) |
UK Top 75 |
Canadian Singles | German Top 100 Singles | ||
| 2002 | "A Sorta Fairytale A Sorta Fairytale "A Sorta Fairytale" is a song written and performed by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was released as the first single from her 2002 album Scarlet's Walk. The song reached #14 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, and #1 on the Triple A chart... " |
114∞ | 11 | 35 | 1 | 9* | 41 | 6 | 98 |
| 2003 | "Taxi Ride" | — | 35 | — | 17 | — | — | — | — |
| 2003 | "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas Don't Make Me Come to Vegas "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas" is a song by singer-songwriter Tori Amos that originally appeared on her album Scarlet's Walk . Following the success of previous remix singles "Professional Widow" , "In the Springtime of his Voodoo" and "Jackie's Strength" , the song was remixed in the same vein and... " (remix) |
— | — | — | 6 | 12 | — | — | — |
- Billboard Hot Single Sales chart/ 2003 *
∞ - Denotes position on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
Critical reception
Release history
In addition to the standard CD release, a limited edition of Scarlet’s Walk was released in a special box set containing the album, a bonus DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, a map detailing Scarlet's journey, stickers, a bracelet-charm and mock Polaroid
Instant film
Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera...
postcards. The album also provided entry to "Scarlet's Web" a web site that was the sole source for special concert ticket offers, photos, merchandise, and unreleased B-side tracks. The elaborate packaging of the limited edition version of the album garnered Amos a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination.
In an attempt to prevent Internet trading of the album, Amos, in conjunction with her husband and crew, used glue to bind closed portable CD players containing the album. These were then distributed to the press on the understanding that they would be returned within forty-eight hours. If an attempt was made to open the player, both it and the disc inside would shatter. The success of this attempt was so great that the record industry began to follow suit. As an additional incentive to buy the album rather than download its contents illicitly, the CD also served as a key to access "Scarlet's Web", a website which featured several songs ("Tombigbee", "Seaside", "Mountain") as well as various photographs and journal entries that were not available elsewhere.
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| UK | October 28, 2002 |
| USA | October 29, 2002 |
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