Talula

A+

This single presents a nice oportunity of balancing the pros and cons or Tori's music: it contains Tori's songs, a song in collaboration, a cover and two remixes."Frog on my toe" would stand for her classical me-and-my-piano style which she abandoned after BOYS FOR PELE. It is sweet, with a little touch of ironic melancholy."Samurai" was written in collaboration with bass player George Porter Jr. It seems more as if she was improvising. Sometimes her improvisations are disastrous. (The "Merry widow version" of "Professional widow" might even have been nice when she fist played it, live. Released in disc, it is a fiasco. I like it, or used to, I admit; but it is really bad.) It is not the case here. I think this song is a favorite to only a few people; I'm one of them."London girls" is another Chas & Dave cover (the other is "That's what I like Mick", in the "Caught a lite sneeze" US single). Cute.There are two versions of "Talula" in this single. The tornado mix is a lame attempt at including the song in the TWISTER soundtrack. Tori replaces the original introduction by words which are supposed to link it with the movie but that have nothing to do with the rest. Besides, the little noisies and thingies added by Brian Transeau, otherwise and excellent remixer, seem to hold it back, instead of making it faster. The drums and percussion of the original version mingle with the other instruments in a far better way. One cannot put a pop beat to a song with such vocal lines and think it will fit. As for the dance mix, it is good and bad. As a dancefloor piece, it is one of her best - which, truth be said, are not many -; as a re-mix of a preexisting song, it fails to take advantage of the variety and density of its original. The "Professional widow" and "In the springtime of his voodoo" remixes are equally bad for the same reason.This disc is most likely to be appreciated by Tori Amos fans only. Still, it is varied without lacking cohesion, and both enhances and contrasts to BOYS FOR PELE.

Her B sides are often her most impressive. This fact is no less, maybe even specially true, for this single.

This is a great cd single, however it is incorrectly titled for the track listing that is stated. If this cd has those songs on it, then it is Talula CD5. I was disappointed because I collect Tori Amos cd's and know for sure this IS NOT TALULA PART 1, if those are the songs listed on the cd. It is true though that Talula Part 1 and Talula Part 2 exist though. They have just been long out of print. However this version of this single, Talula CD5, has ben reprinted since it's first release in 1995-96 and you can still purchase it brand new. And that's probably what this cd actually is, Talula CD5.

Altough I am a hardcore Tori fan (hence, my username!), I have never much cared for the song "Talula." I am not afraid of her wierd lyrics, but this is one song I have never been able to penetrate. I bought the single simply because I collect her albums, and I love b-sides. Buy this single just for "Frog on my Toe." Ignore its silly name- it's one of Tori Amos' most haunting and lovely b-sides, though many fans would probably disagree with me. The album's other good song is a cover called "London Girls," which is a catchy and upbeat ode to.. London girls! The other b-side, "Samurai," is all right, but doesn't really go anywhere. An 11-minute remix of "Talula" rounds out this single. All in all, an interesting buy.

Buyers should take note that there are a few different Talula CD singles floating around out there. This particular disc has four tracks and was made in Germany. Like the domestic U.S. version, this disc includes as track 1 "Talula (the tornado mix)," running 3:43 -- credited as "Talula (Tornado Album Version)" on the U.S. disc. This is a great alternate mix of Talula, featured in the movie "Twister," different from the cut on Pele. Both the German single and the U.S. domestic single also include "Frog On My Toe," a sweet little song that Tori fans will smile at (Tori herself has said in concert that she wrote "Frog" after having a few too many margaritas!). But this German single features two tracks, "Sister Named Desire" and "Alamo," which are not included on the U.S. version. These two are slower tracks, in contrast to the danceable, upbeat Talula tornado mix. At first listen, they may not seem as instantly charming as vintage Tori B-sides such as "Honey" or "Sweet Dreams," but both tracks are unique and thoughtful and will grow on you after a few rotations in your CD player. Worth a listen.

"Talula" is one of Tori's best, most memorable songs, and this CD maxi single contains what I consider to be the best available version of the song--the Tornado album version from the movie "Twister." The original version on the Boys For Pele album opens differently and always seems a bit off-kilter to my ears; I much prefer this more familiar version. As for the remix of the song also included here, it seems rather pointless to me to have a track over 11 minutes long that basically repeats one line over and over again. I'm not a big fan of remixes to start with, and I certainly do not dance, so perhaps those who are so inclined will enjoy the extended remix much more than I did. I really enjoyed the three other, previously unreleased songs. "Samurai" is a nice, rather calm song that highlights Tori's great singing voice. "Frog on My Toe" is definitely a keeper, calling to my mind the kind of style and substance found on Tori's first CD Little Earthquakes. "London Girls" is a real gem; Tori seems to indulge herself and have some fun performing this cover song. Whenever Tori covers someone else's work, the music seems to become her own--that is the mark of a very accomplished performer. I would put this CD maxi single high on my list of must-have Tori Amos CDs.

beautiful!