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Track Listings
| 1. What Child, Nowell |
| 2. Star of Wonder |
| 3. A Silent Night with You |
| 4. Candle: Coventry Carol |
| 5. Holly, Ivy, and Rose |
| 6. Harps of Gold |
| 7. Snow Angel |
| 8. Jeanette, Isabella |
| 9. Pink and Glitter |
| 10. Emmanuel |
| 11. Winter's Carol |
| 12. Our New Year |
Product Description
Product Description
Deluxe CD/DVD edition includes bonus DVD. 2009 holiday release. After nearly two decades writing and recording some of her generation's most emotionally powerful music, Tori Amos releases her first seasonal album, Midwinter Graces. A follow up to Tori's critically acclaimed studio album, Abnormally Attracted To Sin, Midwinter Graces finds Tori reworking and expanding on classic carols as well as developing some of her very own seasonal tracks. For Midwinter Graces, Amos has again teamed up with long time collaborators Matt Chamberlain on drums, Jon Evans on bass, and Mac Aladdin on guitars. Tori has enlisted the help of a Big Band and an Orchestra with stunning John Philip Shenale arrangements to create Tori's new seasonal classics.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a long time fan or Tori Amos but the older she gets the more disappointing her music becomes. There were 2 songs that I somewhat liked, the rest I skip past. Hardly worth even taking it out of the case.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Datura Boi
Format:Audio CD
Most Tori Amos music is for a particular ear. You're not likely to hear many of her singles on your local top 40-based radio station. But MIDWINTER GRACES, Tori's eleventh studio recording, is an album for everyone. Tori's take on the seasonal theme is a huge and surprising winner. There's little controversy here. Unlike some of her earlier releases, she doesn't mention drugs (From the Choirgirl Hotel) or Satan (Boys for Pele) or masturbation (Under the Pink), but for once, that's a good thing in an Amos recording.
Aside from the simple and beautiful "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night)" -- available on the deluxe version -- there are no traditional songs on this record. A handful are Amos-penned originals, while most are creative medleys or re-imagined versions of classic carols.
The album opens with the majestic "What Child, Nowell," which features the return of the harpsichord, which was so expertly used on Tori's third album, Boys for Pele. It's followed by one of the album's best tracks, "Star of Wonder" -- a fantastic reworking of "We Three Kings." Both tracks will please Tori-first-timers and Tori-fanatics alike. As will the climactic Amos original "Winter's Carol (from THE LIGHT PRINCESS)", which celebrates the winter solstice.
One can hardly imagine that the woman who sang the story of her own violent rape in "Me and a Gun" on Little Earthquakes and raged against secular religion in songs like "God" and "Crucify" could treat Christmas classics with such care and reverence without seeming like she's double-dealing. However, Tori shines on her reworkings of Christian standards "Candle: Coventry Carol" and "Emmanuel."
The most remarkable thing about this record is that Tori succeeds in delivering a truly seasonal record yet you would not feel out of place listening to Amos-written originals like the romantic "A Silent Night with You" or the big band number "Pink and Glitter" or the radio-friendly "Snow Angel" at any time of the year.
MIDWINTER GRACES carries itself with a dignity that many holiday albums don't manage. "Our New Year" is an emotional tribute to loss, while "Comfort and Joy" -- available on the deluxe version -- is classic, introspective Tori.
No one should be without a copy of MIDWINTER GRACES this holiday season. Order yours today! And if you enjoy this record, pick up a copy of Tori's debut album, Little Earthquakes, or the best-of compilation Tales of a Librarian and expand your Tori experience.
Aside from the simple and beautiful "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night)" -- available on the deluxe version -- there are no traditional songs on this record. A handful are Amos-penned originals, while most are creative medleys or re-imagined versions of classic carols.
The album opens with the majestic "What Child, Nowell," which features the return of the harpsichord, which was so expertly used on Tori's third album, Boys for Pele. It's followed by one of the album's best tracks, "Star of Wonder" -- a fantastic reworking of "We Three Kings." Both tracks will please Tori-first-timers and Tori-fanatics alike. As will the climactic Amos original "Winter's Carol (from THE LIGHT PRINCESS)", which celebrates the winter solstice.
One can hardly imagine that the woman who sang the story of her own violent rape in "Me and a Gun" on Little Earthquakes and raged against secular religion in songs like "God" and "Crucify" could treat Christmas classics with such care and reverence without seeming like she's double-dealing. However, Tori shines on her reworkings of Christian standards "Candle: Coventry Carol" and "Emmanuel."
The most remarkable thing about this record is that Tori succeeds in delivering a truly seasonal record yet you would not feel out of place listening to Amos-written originals like the romantic "A Silent Night with You" or the big band number "Pink and Glitter" or the radio-friendly "Snow Angel" at any time of the year.
MIDWINTER GRACES carries itself with a dignity that many holiday albums don't manage. "Our New Year" is an emotional tribute to loss, while "Comfort and Joy" -- available on the deluxe version -- is classic, introspective Tori.
No one should be without a copy of MIDWINTER GRACES this holiday season. Order yours today! And if you enjoy this record, pick up a copy of Tori's debut album, Little Earthquakes, or the best-of compilation Tales of a Librarian and expand your Tori experience.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars
77 reviews
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Holiday Album Ever
Nov 10 2009
By W. M. Bell
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was pretty skeptical at first. I don't usually even listen to seasonal music, its just not to my taste usually. Tori making a seasonal album? Really? Could easily have been a disaster. However, this album is quite the opposite. It is easily her best since Scarlet's Walk. All of the songs are gorgeous and most have these incredible layers that just wrap you in a wintery kind of audio sauna.
The reworked old carols really shine under Tori's care. She found a great balance between respecting the original while giving them a totally different feel, changing lyrics here and there making it very inclusive of people of all faiths and not rehashing Christian ideaologies over and over. She's celebrating something older than Christmas here guys...this is a real Midwinter Festival kind of record. No santa claus hats and puppy dogs. In the reworded hymns there is the Tori element but you can still imagine the ancestors from centuries past filling the streets to this stuff. (this is excluding Harps of Gold, which is the most modern of the reworkings...and probably as upbeat as it gets, you can barely recognize the "Gloria" elements to it, not that its a bad thing!)Her originals are even better. Pink and Glitter has an old hollywood vibe, amazing. Snow Angel is so haunting, and the strings on this one are just impeccable.Winter's Carol, the star of this production, takes my breath away. There is not a dull moment in that song. It is so very well put together and a rather dark and beautiful kind of way.
I could go on forever about this piece of holiday magic, seriously. Hear for yourself! You won't be sorry!
Buy this for yourself, your friends, and anyone who loves holiday or simply amazing music.
This one's got something for everyone.
The reworked old carols really shine under Tori's care. She found a great balance between respecting the original while giving them a totally different feel, changing lyrics here and there making it very inclusive of people of all faiths and not rehashing Christian ideaologies over and over. She's celebrating something older than Christmas here guys...this is a real Midwinter Festival kind of record. No santa claus hats and puppy dogs. In the reworded hymns there is the Tori element but you can still imagine the ancestors from centuries past filling the streets to this stuff. (this is excluding Harps of Gold, which is the most modern of the reworkings...and probably as upbeat as it gets, you can barely recognize the "Gloria" elements to it, not that its a bad thing!)Her originals are even better. Pink and Glitter has an old hollywood vibe, amazing. Snow Angel is so haunting, and the strings on this one are just impeccable.Winter's Carol, the star of this production, takes my breath away. There is not a dull moment in that song. It is so very well put together and a rather dark and beautiful kind of way.
I could go on forever about this piece of holiday magic, seriously. Hear for yourself! You won't be sorry!
Buy this for yourself, your friends, and anyone who loves holiday or simply amazing music.
This one's got something for everyone.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A twist to the genre
Nov 18 2009
By Daniel Ting
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Like Tori mentioned before the album was released, the real shocker in this album is that there is no real shocker. Overall it is a very pleasant listen with Tori doing songs across a wide range of sounds. There is big band (Pink and Glitter), medieval (Candle: Coventry Carol), Persian-tinged folk-rock (Star of Wonder) and music from the Dark Ages (Emmanuel). There is also a song, Winter's Carol, that is from the musical Tori is working on (The Light Princess). Tori also wrote a song in memory of her brother Michael, Our New Year, which is a very beautiful, true-to-Tori-form song with some nice strings.
One highlight of the album is that the piano is now back to the center, an element that has been missing in the last few Tori albums. I must say I enjoyed watching the interview, it shows a side of Tori that is not usually brought out in past interviews - and you see that she really does know quite a fair bit about church history. Even though this album is very much your unconventional Tori, I really think Tori could have done a little better with this album. For one, songs like Harps of Gold and Candle: Coventry Carol were not very suited to Tori's voice. And the album cover (I know this should not be a point of contention, but it is not something easily ignored) looks very obviously photoshopped - as a Tori fan put it: "she looks more and more like an android with each album cover." I don't mean to speak this way about Tori but there is something to the raw Tori we all find magical.
My favorites on this album are:
Star of Wonder - reminds me of Strong Black Vine.
Pink and Glitter - a wonderful nod to the big band era, reminiscent of the songs Tori sang on Mona Lisa Smile.
Jeanette, Isabella
Comfort and Joy (Bonus Track on Deluxe Edition)
One highlight of the album is that the piano is now back to the center, an element that has been missing in the last few Tori albums. I must say I enjoyed watching the interview, it shows a side of Tori that is not usually brought out in past interviews - and you see that she really does know quite a fair bit about church history. Even though this album is very much your unconventional Tori, I really think Tori could have done a little better with this album. For one, songs like Harps of Gold and Candle: Coventry Carol were not very suited to Tori's voice. And the album cover (I know this should not be a point of contention, but it is not something easily ignored) looks very obviously photoshopped - as a Tori fan put it: "she looks more and more like an android with each album cover." I don't mean to speak this way about Tori but there is something to the raw Tori we all find magical.
My favorites on this album are:
Star of Wonder - reminds me of Strong Black Vine.
Pink and Glitter - a wonderful nod to the big band era, reminiscent of the songs Tori sang on Mona Lisa Smile.
Jeanette, Isabella
Comfort and Joy (Bonus Track on Deluxe Edition)
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very beautiful album everyone will enjoy
Nov 11 2009
By Jennifer Barthe
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
I was pleasantly surprised by how mellow and smooth this album is. Once you start listening to it, you'll get into such a relaxed mood that all you'll want to do is sit in a comfy chair and sip coffee or tea. I'm listening to Midwinter Graces as I type this review and I have a cup of coffee right next to me :)
I can honestly say that even my parents would appreciate hearing these songs over the Christmas holidays. Now don't get the idea that this album is totally mainstream or lame, because it's not, remember this is Tori Amos were talking about. But it's so well done that non-Tori fans will be asking "Who IS this? And where can I get the CD?".
It's the perfect holiday album to listen to with loved ones but it can also help you introduce Tori's brilliant music to new listeners. Don't be surprised if months from now, your mother discovers 'Little Earthquakes' and shouts to the world that 'Cornflake Girl' is her new favorite song, lol. Trust me, by listening to this album with your family it's ridiculously possible. Of course you'll have to explain to your mom what 'Cornflake Girl' is about and that's it's not just a catchy tune, but a song with a deep message.
Now back to Midwinter Graces...
My favorite songs on this album include:
1. Star of Wonder (my #1 favorite)
2. Holly, Ivy, and Rose (a believe she sings this song with her young daughter)
3. Snow Angel
4. Jeanette, Isabella
5. Emmanuel (a beautiful version of the holiday classic)
6. What A Child, Nowell
7. Winter's Carol
At times it doesn't even feel like I'm listening to a holiday album at all, just a mellow Tori album. I highly recommend getting/downloading it and listening to Midwinter Graces all year round. It's really that good.
I can honestly say that even my parents would appreciate hearing these songs over the Christmas holidays. Now don't get the idea that this album is totally mainstream or lame, because it's not, remember this is Tori Amos were talking about. But it's so well done that non-Tori fans will be asking "Who IS this? And where can I get the CD?".
It's the perfect holiday album to listen to with loved ones but it can also help you introduce Tori's brilliant music to new listeners. Don't be surprised if months from now, your mother discovers 'Little Earthquakes' and shouts to the world that 'Cornflake Girl' is her new favorite song, lol. Trust me, by listening to this album with your family it's ridiculously possible. Of course you'll have to explain to your mom what 'Cornflake Girl' is about and that's it's not just a catchy tune, but a song with a deep message.
Now back to Midwinter Graces...
My favorite songs on this album include:
1. Star of Wonder (my #1 favorite)
2. Holly, Ivy, and Rose (a believe she sings this song with her young daughter)
3. Snow Angel
4. Jeanette, Isabella
5. Emmanuel (a beautiful version of the holiday classic)
6. What A Child, Nowell
7. Winter's Carol
At times it doesn't even feel like I'm listening to a holiday album at all, just a mellow Tori album. I highly recommend getting/downloading it and listening to Midwinter Graces all year round. It's really that good.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 77 reviews
3.9 out of 5 stars
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