I can't really rank them but Choirgirl, SLG and Scarlet are deffo up thee. Does anyone have Forest of Glass btw?

agreed when your an avid fan .... it is so heard to do.... and when the quality is so good it is even harder....

i have been listening to UG a lot recently and i have all the extra bonus tracks .... they are all great ...as expected.... as an album it has grown on me so much .... but after the recent gig i had been listening to LE, UTP, SW (and the hidden treasures) a lot too, as they seem to fit well together ...hence the set lists.... But this week I have rediscovered 'FTCGH'..... amazing album to span rock pop to latin dance to brass ballads with such dark ethereal reverence...her first 4 albums were all exclusively top of their game!

I just saw on twitter that tonight in Amsterdam Tori did a cover of Madonna's Frozen! She's done other Madonna songs before such as Live to Tell and Like A Prayer, but this is the first time for Frozen. Wow! I want to hear it. Madonna and Tori are my all time two favourite artists. She also did Putting the Damage On which as one of my favourite Tori songs. What a dream set list! Wish I had been there. How lucky are the people in Amsterdam?

Wow - if you find a link to 'frozen' please share. Putting the damage on is one of my faves too.

So in love with the new album. It stacks up well against Tori's 90s work.

I'm seeing Tori live next week on a summer trip to the US to see my family. I can't wait. The selists have been really great and diverse on this tour. But it is a little odd how she isn't really playing very much from the new album. I think it's quite a good album and has been very well critically received, so I'm surprised she isn't playing more from it. But it's great to hear her pull out more of her older obscure songs since most artists now just seem to perform hits and new stuff.

Since I have extra time on my hands since I'm on vacation in the US, I'm thinking about going to the meet and greet before the concert, something I've never done before. Has anyone here met Tori? What was she like? She's such an influence on me, I don't even know what to say to her. I did read she did say that this tour is all about the fans and taking requests. So I guess that's why there's not so much of the new album. She said she has been trying to play songs fans request at the meet and greet which is quite a lovely thing to do.

I've met her a few times and she is a lovely woman. I have a few of my albums signed.

Listening to Midwinter Graces today! I really love it, especially Our New Year and Snow Angrel.

I went to see Tori's concert in the US last weekend. Really great show. She did one of my all time favorites by her, Northern Lad. The covers she did were Pictures of You by the Cure and Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac, two artists I also love. She did a good mix of classics like Crucify and Winter as well as three songs from the new album.
I enjoy her solo with the piano, but honestly I do hope in the future she tours with a band again because I do like that as well with more variety and rhythms.
Unfortunately, something came up and I wasn't able to go to the meet and greet with her.

I would love her next album adventure to be edm meets from the choirgirl hotel - something just refreshingly different but familiar as the remixes of her songs are huge club and dance hits in America. But they are always still very Tori. [blue skies; carnival; professional widow ] Gigi - i am so envious that you got to see her in America!! But i am so happy that you got to see her

That would be amazing. Just what I want from a new album from her. She's a beautiful piano player but sometimes I do crave variety and different textures and rhythms. In America she had a brunch to celebrate the anniversary of her charity for rape and sexual abuse survivors. People who went got to meet her and have a picture taken with her. I wanted to go but I didn't find out about it in time and tickets were all sold out. Not only is she a great musical artist but she does so much good in the world. And she is so accessible to her fans and really seems to be interested in them and care about them. The next thing for her is she's off to Australia to do a tour there.

she is an artist that has always toured and toured and her total sales and money totals are quite surprisingly high.... but imo she is in my top 10 of favourite artists live ...so it is no surprise...

She can make a lot of money from touring because she doesn't have a lot of other people on her tours so the expenses are low. She is also one of my favourite artists live. She really has passion for performing. You can tell she really loves it. She's not going through the motions, she loves what she does. All my favourite performers are like that. Yes, they like the money, but they really do love it and actually need to perform for their own personal emotional reasons.

i mentioned the money to showcase the fact that her tours are very profitable and successful - up their with the best ....

and i agree she is one of my favourite life performers... a true talent ...her covers set her apart from many .....

i get to see Kate Bush next week .... so that will be v interesting .... especially to compare

From what I heard, although Kate's music is compared to Tori, Kate's shows are more like Madonna's in that they are very theatrical and have huge production values and a lot going on.
Tori's concerts on the other hand are just about her playing the piano and sometimes her band. I think one thing that sets her apart is how much she changes the setlist each night. You never know what she is going to play.
Kate from what I read like Madonna doesn't change the setlist at all. In fact, she can't because of how the show is produced and is like a theatre musical. Kate, also like Madonna, has gotten some complaints that she doesn't do more of her best known hits.
Tori changes the setlist a lot but she doesn't seem to mind doing her older music, She always does certain songs which are known as "hits" or known to casual fans such as Little Earthquakes, Crucify, Winter, Cornflake Girl etc in almost every show. Whereas it seems Kate is less likely to do that. There was a controversy about the fact she doesn't do Wurthering Heights.
I'm only a casual fan of Kate Bush. My all time favourite song by her is This Woman's Work. So I was a little disappointed to read she apparently doesn't sing that either.

The comparisons are lazy and boring! They really are very different artists. Who's still listening to UG?

Yes, the comparisons are lazy now. But I think comparisons can be sort of valuable when an artist first starts out. Sometimes it is hard to put into words what an artists' music sounds like, but if you read someone's music sounds like another artist that you like, then you will check them out. But once an artist has been around awhile, comparisons are silly. The main thing Tori and Kate have in common is they do a lot of piano based songs, But neither of them invented the piano! So it's silly to say Tori is copying Kate because they both base their songs around the piano. Obviously they have more in common with each other for that reason than they do with pop/dance artists, but really they are very different.
I guess this is bad, but I really haven't listened to UG that much I tend to listen to more of Tori's older music. I guess maybe because the set list on the last tour was heavy on her older music. I really love To Venus and Back. I wouldn't mind her doing a double album like that again of new stuff and live recordings. She really is at her best live. I also like her use of electronics on that album. As someone else suggested, I wish she could do that again. UG is beautiful but I think just for me maybe it's a little stripped down with just piano. I guess maybe I like more eclectic arrangements.

I also think Tori is something you can connect with emotionally more. She sings about heartfelt personal things. Whereas to me Kate is more arty and distant, and also of course she doesn't really talk to the media. People say it's supposed to be about just the music, but for me to really love an artist I feel I have to connect with them personally. I have to like them and sort of understand what makes them tick.
It's also I guess because a lot of Kate's best known work was before my time, whereas I feel I kind of grew up along with Tori.

I can kind of agree with that. I think sometimes Kate's work is writing about other peoples' experiences, whereas Tori's is very much (vaguely at times) about her own life. That's not to say Kate doesn't have personal songs cuz she really does! Tori is very prolific too.

i wasn't comparing in terms of likeness ...I was comparing in terms of both Tori, Kate and Madonna are my fave 3 artists ever. I have never seen KB so I'm excited and it will be interesting to see if she lives up to my other two faves live ... to my eyes and ears the artists are worlds apart musically.

What are your rainy day Tori albums of your faves?

Won't be long until the Aussies get Tori playing for them!

Great. I love reading what her set lists are. They are always so diverse and interesting. Is she really popular in Australia?