Under the Pink | ||||
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Studio album by Tori Amos | ||||
Released | January 31, 1994 (UK) February 1, 1994 (US) |
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Recorded | February–October 1993 | |||
Studio | The Fishhouse, New Mexico and Westlake Studios, LA | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 56:40 | |||
Label | Atlantic (US), East West (Europe) | |||
Producer | Tori Amos, Eric Rosse | |||
Tori Amos chronology | ||||
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Singles from Under the Pink | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Chicago Tribune | |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
Entertainment Weekly | B |
Los Angeles Times | |
NME | 6/10 |
Pitchfork Media | 8.1/10 |
PopMatters | 9/10 |
Rolling Stone | |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide |
Under the Pink is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", and peaked at #12 in the US.
The album was certified double Platinum in the US by the RIAA in October 1999, for sales exceeding 2 million copies. "Under the Pink" was the 61st highest-selling album of 1994 in the UK. In February 2007, and was certified platinum by the BPI in February 2007, for sales exceeding 300,000 copies.
The album was included in Blender magazine's list of 500 CDs You Must Own, and was voted among the greatest albums of the 1990s by Rolling Stone magazine some years later. A special double-disc tour edition was released exclusively in Australia and New Zealand in November 1994, titled More Pink: The B-Sides.
While several soft-loud-soft tunes betray a clear debt to Nirvana-style grunge, overall this album represents a more acoustic piano-based sound, and most of the final third of the album is devoted to a classical-inspired suite of piano songs, including the sweeping nine-and-a-half minute epic "Yes, Anastasia". Amos used a prepared upright piano for the studio recording of "Bells for Her", which was also played on a prepared piano for the second half of the tour.
Amos has described the meaning of the song "Yes, Anastasia" to the media. The song is about the life of Anastasia Romanova, a grand duchess of Russia who was the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Amos explained that she had once become sick from eating bad crabs in Maryland. She explained that while performing a sound check, she was influenced by Romanov's presence. "Needless to say, when you are very, very ill, it is easier to communicate with your source ... you are fragile and vulnerable ... Now I have only heard of her story, I've got no point to make. She comes and goes 'You've got to write my tune.' I go 'Ohhh, now's not a really good time.' She says 'No, you've got to understand something from this, there's something here that you've got to come to terms with.' And that night came." Amos said that the lyrics "We'll see how brave you are" means so many different things to her; it is a part of her self saying "If you really want a challenge, just deal with yourself."