To Venus and Back
Encyclopedia
To Venus and Back, the fifth album released by singer and songwriter
Tori Amos
, is a two-disc album set
including a studio album and a live album
. The first disc, titled Venus: Orbiting, features eleven original songs that finds Amos experimenting heavily in electronica. It spawned the singles "Bliss
" (August 1999), "1000 Oceans" (August 1999), "Glory of the 80s" (Europe
only, November 1999), and "Concertina" (U.S. only, February 2000). The second disc, Venus Live: Still Orbiting, is a thirteen-track album compiling live tracks recorded from her Plugged '98 tour. This is the first official live release of Amos' career.
on the U.S.-Mexico border, hallucinogenic plants, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
In November 1999, Tori Amos was quoted by Pulse Magazine
as saying that this record says a lot about the shadows and the shadow world.
Following the theme of the album's second disc, which is composed of live tracks arranged similarly to an actual concert, the B-sides that appear on the album's singles are live songs performed solo with Amos on the piano. The chart on the left lists only the songs that were released as B-sides on singles from To Venus and Back.
The sole track recorded during the To Venus and Back recording sessions that does not appear on the album, nor as a B-side, is the nine-minute "Zero Point". Of the song's exclusion from the album, Amos has said that the song wasn't intentionally left off the album, rather an over-sensitivity about a certain gardening issue led "Dātura" to being included instead. Interestingly, the liner notes of To Venus and Back state, "Zero Point - your time is coming". The song was released seven years later on A Piano: The Collection
(2006).
(1992) and Under The Pink
(1994).
The album received two 2000 Grammy Award
nominations: Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
for "Bliss" and Best Alternative Music Album
.
, # 18 on the Top Canadian Albums, and # 22 on the UK Top 40, breaking her run of three consecutive UK Top 10 albums.
Two months after its release in November 1999, the album achieved RIAA Certification, reaching Gold and Platinum sales status simultaneously, due to the release being a double CD set. To Venus and Back remained on the Billboard 200 for 11 weeks, with its final position at # 189 for the week of January 8, 2000, before falling off the chart. As of May 2008, the album has sold 458,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan
.
beginning a month prior to the release of To Venus and Back. Many referred to Amos as the "opening act" for Morissette because she always performed first; however, this was due only to the logistics of setting up a grand piano for performance. An Amos-only stint, the "To Dallas and Back" tour, also took place, but promotional plans were cut when Amos suffered her third miscarriage in November 1999.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
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...
, is a two-disc album set
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
including a studio album and a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
. The first disc, titled Venus: Orbiting, features eleven original songs that finds Amos experimenting heavily in electronica. It spawned the singles "Bliss
Bliss (Tori Amos song)
"Bliss" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It is the lead track from Amos' fifth studio album, To Venus and Back. "Bliss" went to alternative stations on August 6, 1999 and was released commercially in the U.S. on August 24, 1999...
" (August 1999), "1000 Oceans" (August 1999), "Glory of the 80s" (Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
only, November 1999), and "Concertina" (U.S. only, February 2000). The second disc, Venus Live: Still Orbiting, is a thirteen-track album compiling live tracks recorded from her Plugged '98 tour. This is the first official live release of Amos' career.
Track listing
Background
To Venus and Back, which began life as a proposed B-sides album, is sparser both in production and arrangement than From the Choirgirl Hotel, but is similar to its predecessor in that it features overt electronica influences and a relatively subdued piano sound. The album finds Amos' voice and piano subverted in a sonic maze of electronic washes and effects, and some songs, notably "Juárez" and the epic "Dātura," are largely built around these effects. Topics covered on the album include unsolved murdered female maquiladora workers in Ciudad JuárezFemale homicides in Ciudad Juárez
The phenomenon of the female homicides in Ciudad Juárez, called in Spanish the feminicidios and las muertas de Juárez , involves the violent deaths of hundreds of women since 1993 in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, a border city across the Rio Grande from the U.S. city of El...
on the U.S.-Mexico border, hallucinogenic plants, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
In November 1999, Tori Amos was quoted by Pulse Magazine
Pulse magazine
Pulse magazine is a weekly publication for general practitioners in the United Kingdom.It publishes news, features and comment pieces on clinical, political and financial issues relevant to GPs working in primary care. It is published in London by UBM Medica, a subsidiary of United Business Media,...
as saying that this record says a lot about the shadows and the shadow world.
B-sides
Given the conditions under which the album was created, To Venus and Back is unique in that it does not have any studio tracks that serve as B-sides. Instead the album's singles are backed by live tracks recorded from the previous year's tour.| Title | Length | Single |
|---|---|---|
| "Hey Jupiter" (live) | 4:32 | "Bliss Bliss (Tori Amos song) "Bliss" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It is the lead track from Amos' fifth studio album, To Venus and Back. "Bliss" went to alternative stations on August 6, 1999 and was released commercially in the U.S. on August 24, 1999... " (1999) |
| "Upside Down" (live) | 5:47 | |
| "Baker, Baker" (live) | 3:54 | "1000 Oceans 1000 Oceans "1000 Oceans" is a song by Tori Amos, released as the second single from her 1999 album To Venus and Back. It reached number twenty-two on the Hot 100 Singles Sales, though it did not chart on the Hot 100. The song deals with issues of love and loss, and is based on the singer's personal experiences... " (1999) |
| "Winter" (live) | 6:59 | |
| "Famous Blue Raincoat" (live) | 5:25 | "Glory of the 80s Glory of the 80s "Glory of the 80s" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It is the fourth track on Amos' 1999 album To Venus and Back. The song reached #46 on the UK singles chart, having the lowest debut since her 1994 single God when both parts of the single were recalled early for a misprint in... " (UK) (1999) / "Concertina" (US) (2000) |
| "Twinkle" (live) | 2:48 |
Following the theme of the album's second disc, which is composed of live tracks arranged similarly to an actual concert, the B-sides that appear on the album's singles are live songs performed solo with Amos on the piano. The chart on the left lists only the songs that were released as B-sides on singles from To Venus and Back.
The sole track recorded during the To Venus and Back recording sessions that does not appear on the album, nor as a B-side, is the nine-minute "Zero Point". Of the song's exclusion from the album, Amos has said that the song wasn't intentionally left off the album, rather an over-sensitivity about a certain gardening issue led "Dātura" to being included instead. Interestingly, the liner notes of To Venus and Back state, "Zero Point - your time is coming". The song was released seven years later on A Piano: The Collection
A Piano: The Collection
A Piano: The Collection is a five-disc box set spanning the first 15 years of the solo career of American singer and song-writer Tori Amos. Released on September 26, 2006 by Rhino Records as part of the contract Amos negotiated with Warner Bros., the set consists of classics, rarities, demos,...
(2006).
Reception
The studio disc of To Venus and Back is recognized as one of Amos' most experimental yet melodic, and received mixed reviews. Some critics praised its originality, innovation and unpredictable song structures, with one reviewer describing the album as having, "some of the best vocals of her career, embedded in modern, special-effects-laden soundscapes that move from electronica-spiced piano pop and hip-hop to ambient space music", while others begrudged the album because of its overuse of electronic instruments and lack of Amos' trademark simplistic sound, most present on albums such as Little EarthquakesLittle Earthquakes
-B-sides:The album is also known for its collection of B-sides. The four songs recorded with Davitt Sigerson that did not make it to the final version of the album were included on the singles released from Little Earthquakes....
(1992) and Under The Pink
Under the Pink
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...
(1994).
The album received two 2000 Grammy Award
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...
nominations: Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works containing quality vocal performances in the rock music genre...
for "Bliss" and Best Alternative Music Album
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative rock genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
.
Sales
To Venus and Back, priced higher than Amos' previous releases because of its two-disc format, sold 112,000 copies in the US in its first week and debuted at # 12 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, # 18 on the Top Canadian Albums, and # 22 on the UK Top 40, breaking her run of three consecutive UK Top 10 albums.
Two months after its release in November 1999, the album achieved RIAA Certification, reaching Gold and Platinum sales status simultaneously, due to the release being a double CD set. To Venus and Back remained on the Billboard 200 for 11 weeks, with its final position at # 189 for the week of January 8, 2000, before falling off the chart. As of May 2008, the album has sold 458,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
.
Album
| Chart (1999) | Position |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 (US) | 12 |
| Billboard Top Internet Albums (US) | 1 |
| Official UK Album Chart | 22 |
| ARIA Album Chart (Australia) | 6 |
| Austrian Album Chart | 17 |
| Top Canadian Albums | 18 |
| Finnish Album Chart | 30 |
| IFOP Album Chart (France) | 31 |
| German Album Chart | 11 |
| Norwegian Album Chart | 10 |
| Dutch Album Chart (Netherlands) | 24 |
| Swedish Album Chart | 49 |
| Swiss Album Chart | 27 |
Singles
| Title | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| "Bliss" (1999) | Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
07 |
| "Bliss" (1999) | Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales (U.S.) | 16 |
| "Bliss" (1999) | Billboard Hot 100 Airplay (U.S.) | 89? |
| "Bliss" (1999) | U.S. 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... |
91 |
| "1000 Oceans" (1999) | Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales (U.S.) | 22 |
| "Glory of the 80s" (1999) | UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
46 |
| "Glory of the 80s" (1999) | Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
81 |
| "Concertina" (2000) | US AAA Adult album alternative Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats.... |
18 |
| "Concertina" (2000) | Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales (U.S.) | 48 |
Tour
The album was supported by a short tour in 1999, the "Five and a Half Weeks Tour", which Amos co-headlined with Alanis MorissetteAlanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
beginning a month prior to the release of To Venus and Back. Many referred to Amos as the "opening act" for Morissette because she always performed first; however, this was due only to the logistics of setting up a grand piano for performance. An Amos-only stint, the "To Dallas and Back" tour, also took place, but promotional plans were cut when Amos suffered her third miscarriage in November 1999.