We have known since her famous version of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit that Tori Amos had a good nose for covers. On Strange Little Girls she goes bigger. Twelve well-known pop songs are taken care of, including not the least. Anyone who wants to add something to Heart Of Gold by Neil Young or I'm Not In Love by 10CC must come from a good family. Interviews show that with her interpretations
… of the work of male songwriters she wants to change the original meaning of a song by singing it from a female point of view. In some cases this succeeds, such as in her oppressive version of '97 Bonny & Clyde by Eminem in which she offers a suitable counterbalance to the maniacal version of the controversial rapper. She also mastered Time by Tom Waits in an exemplary way: a beautiful performance. Unfortunately, just as often the result sounds forced and conceived and there is little left of the appeal of the original song, as in the stripped-down version of I'm Not In Love and the draconian Heart Of Gold. Then she leans too much towards 'art for art's sake', where the concept is considered more important than the final musical result. An interesting, but only partly successful album. (MS) where the concept is considered more important than the final musical result. An interesting, but only partly successful album. (MS) where the concept is considered more important than the final musical result. An interesting, but only partly successful album. (MS)more