American POLL Posse - ILM Artist Poll #91 - TORI AMOS - Results

"pretty good year" is apparently about a tori fan who was way too dramatic about his own life in his letters to her, but as a way-too-dramatic person it has been a personal anthem this year. which despite a lot of [redacted mental illness], still, pretty good

don't want to be a boy today

the dynamics on Pretty Good Year are so good and the way it drifts between beauty and darkness only to eventually explode is wonderful

anyway here are the full results, thank you to everyone for voting and for all the discussion this has generated. it's been great to poll one of my favourite artists ever

1	Silent All These Years		404	11	0
2	Pretty Good Year		370	12	0
3	Father Lucifer			292	10	0
4	Mother				284	8	0
5	Winter				270	8	0
6	Hey Jupiter			268	11	0
7	Liquid Diamonds			264	8	0
8	Caught A Lite Sneeze		262	10	0
9	Precious Things			258	9	0
10	Spark				242	9	0
11	Tear in Your Hand		242	6	0
12	Crucify				232	6	0
13	Hotel				230	8	0
14	Doughnut Song			218	8	0
15	Marianne			216	6	0
16	Cornflake Girl			208	10	0
17	Jackie's Strength		192	5	0
18	iieee				190	6	0
19	Icicle				176	5	0
20	Beauty Queen/Horses		160	6	0
21	Blood Roses			144	4	0
22	Playboy Mommy			142	4	0
23	Raspberry Swirl			140	6	0
24	Girl				122	3	0
25	Honey				120	5	0
26	In the Springtime of His Voodoo	118	5	0
27	Cooling				118	4	0
28	Putting the Damage On		114	4	0
29	Northern Lad			114	3	0
30	Bells for Her			96	3	0
31	Twinkle				96	4	0
32	Concertina			92	4	0
33	God				92	3	0
34	Cloud On My Tongue		90	6	0
36	Taxi Ride			88	4	0
36	Baker Baker			88	4	0
37	Space Dog			86	6	0
38	The Waitress			86	3	0
39	Little Earthquakes		86	2	0
40	Yes, Anastasia			84	2	0
41	China				70	3	0
43	Black-Dove (January)		68	2	0
43	Real Men			68	2	0
44	Dragon				66	3	0
46	Past the Mission		64	4	0
46	Bliss				64	4	0
47	Happy Phantom			62	2	0
48	Not the Red Baron		60	2	0
49	Datura				58	2	0
50	Leather				52	2	0
51	Take to the Sky			50	1	0
52	Cruel				46	2	0
53	Talula				44	2	0
54	A Sorta Fairytale		42	1	0
57	Carry				40	1	0
57	Wings				40	1	0
57	I'm on Fire			40	1	0
58	The Wrong Band			38	2	0
62	Upside Down			38	1	0
62	Alamo				38	1	0
62	Hungarian Wedding Song		38	1	0
62	I Can’t See New York		38	1	0
63	Gold Dust			34	2	0
65	1000 Oceans			34	1	0
65	Pandora's Aquarium		34	1	0
66	Purple People			32	2	0
70	Promise				32	1	0
70	Spring Haze			32	1	0
70	Night of Hunters		32	1	0
70	Cool on Your Island		32	1	0
71	Carbon				30	3	0
73	Bouncing Off Clouds		26	2	0
73	Mr. Zebra			26	2	0
75	Sugar				26	1	0
75	Cloud Riders			26	1	0
77	Wild Way			24	2	0
77	Here In My Head			24	2	0
80	Juarez				24	1	0
80	The Pool			24	1	0
80	Weatherman			24	1	0
81	Graveyard			22	1	0
84	Father’s Son			20	1	0
84	Your Cloud			20	1	0
84	Time				20	1	0
85	Me and a Gun			18	1	0
87	Pancake				16	1	0
87	Siren				16	1	0
88	Suede				16	2	0
90	Sister Janet			12	1	0
90	Josephine			12	1	0
91	Secret Spell			10	2	0
93	Toast				10	1	0
93	Snow Cherries From France	10	1	0
94	Frog On My Toe			8	1	0
95	Strange				6	1	0
99	Wednesday			4	1	0
99	Lust				4	1	0
99	Butterfly			4	1	0
99	Flying Dutchman			4	1	0
102	Rose Dover			2	1	0
102	16 Shades of Blue		2	1	0
102	Reindeer King			2	1	0

definitely a few I was surprised to not make it - Datura, Sugar, and Here In My Head are probably the main ones

49 Datura 58 2 0

motherfucker. my no. 1

psyched "dragon" made it to 44

oh whoops I didn't copy the #1s properly there lol

Father Lucifer was a shock. Surprised people don’t love Cornflake Girl more. Great poll all round. Does seem, as I thought, that everything after the ‘ .. Choir Girl’ era is much more of an acquired taste.

and fixed results:

1	Silent All These Years		404	11	1
2	Pretty Good Year		370	12	1
3	Father Lucifer			292	10	1
4	Mother				284	8	0
5	Winter				270	8	1
6	Hey Jupiter			268	11	0
7	Liquid Diamonds			264	8	1
8	Caught A Lite Sneeze		262	10	0
9	Precious Things			258	9	0
10	Spark				242	9	0
11	Tear in Your Hand		242	6	0
12	Crucify				232	6	2
13	Hotel				230	8	0
14	Doughnut Song			218	8	0
15	Marianne			216	6	0
16	Cornflake Girl			208	10	0
17	Jackie's Strength		192	5	0
18	iieee				190	6	0
19	Icicle				176	5	0
20	Beauty Queen/Horses		160	6	0
21	Blood Roses			144	4	0
22	Playboy Mommy			142	4	0
23	Raspberry Swirl			140	6	0
24	Girl				122	3	1
25	Honey				120	5	0
26	In the Springtime of His Voodoo	118	5	0
27	Cooling				118	4	0
28	Putting the Damage On		114	4	1
29	Northern Lad			114	3	1
30	Twinkle				96	4	1
31	Bells for Her			96	3	0
32	Concertina			92	4	0
33	God				92	3	0
34	Cloud On My Tongue		90	6	0
36	Taxi Ride			88	4	0
36	Baker Baker			88	4	0
37	Space Dog			86	6	0
38	The Waitress			86	3	0
39	Little Earthquakes		86	2	0
40	Yes, Anastasia			84	2	1
41	China				70	3	0
43	Black-Dove (January)		68	2	0
43	Real Men			68	2	0
44	Dragon				66	3	0
46	Past the Mission		64	4	0
46	Bliss				64	4	0
47	Happy Phantom			62	2	0
48	Not the Red Baron		60	2	0
49	Datura				58	2	1
50	Leather				52	2	0
51	Take to the Sky			50	1	1
52	Cruel				46	2	0
53	Talula				44	2	0
54	A Sorta Fairytale		42	1	0
57	Carry				40	1	0
57	Wings				40	1	0
57	I'm on Fire			40	1	0
58	The Wrong Band			38	2	0
62	Upside Down			38	1	0
62	Alamo				38	1	0
62	Hungarian Wedding Song		38	1	0
62	I Can’t See New York		38	1	0
63	Gold Dust			34	2	0
65	1000 Oceans			34	1	0
65	Pandora's Aquarium		34	1	0
66	Purple People			32	2	0
70	Promise				32	1	0
70	Spring Haze			32	1	0
70	Night of Hunters		32	1	0
70	Cool on Your Island		32	1	0
71	Carbon				30	3	0
73	Bouncing Off Clouds		26	2	0
73	Mr. Zebra			26	2	0
75	Sugar				26	1	0
75	Cloud Riders			26	1	0
77	Wild Way			24	2	0
77	Here In My Head			24	2	0
80	Juarez				24	1	0
80	The Pool			24	1	0
80	Weatherman			24	1	0
81	Graveyard			22	1	0
84	Father’s Son			20	1	0
84	Your Cloud			20	1	0
84	Time				20	1	0
85	Me and a Gun			18	1	0
87	Pancake				16	1	0
87	Siren				16	1	0
88	Suede				16	2	0
90	Sister Janet			12	1	0
90	Josephine			12	1	0
91	Secret Spell			10	2	0
93	Toast				10	1	0
93	Snow Cherries From France	10	1	0
94	Frog On My Toe			8	1	0
95	Strange				6	1	0
99	Wednesday			4	1	0
99	Lust				4	1	0
99	Butterfly			4	1	0
99	Flying Dutchman			4	1	0
102	Rose Dover			2	1	0
102	16 Shades of Blue		2	1	0
102	Reindeer King			2	1	0

the first four albums are the classics obviously but it's definitely worth digging into some of the later ones even if they aren't quite as special. Scarlet's Walk, American Doll Posse and To Venus And Back are all solid, and I like Native Invader a lot too

Sister Janet is so low! and Here In My Head! and Carbon! so interesting. I guess it was a poorly showed voting process tho, that's not a lot of points!

thanks for running this ufo, great images throughout

my ballot, bolded didn't place in the rollout

Songs:

Datura
Tear in Your Hand
iieee
Icicle
Liquid Diamonds
Silent All These Years
Cooling
Hey Jupiter
Dragon
Raspberry Swirl
Talula (The Tornado Mix)
Girl
Doughnut Song
Honey
Spark
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Father Lucifer
Pretty Good Year
Suede
Carbon
Cloud on My Tongue
In the Springtime of His Voodoo
Secret Spell
Space Dog
Cornflake Girl

Albums:

To Venus and Back
Boys for Pele
Under the Pink
From the Choirgirl Hotel
American Doll Posse

Remixes:

Ambient Raspberry Swirl (Scarlet Spectrum Feels)
God (The Thinking Mix 2)
Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix)
God (The Rainforest Resort Mix)
Talula (BT's Synethasia Mix)

xpost: yeah only 14 ballots total, rather low unfortunately, it seems Tori only has a small following here

my ballots:

Father Lucifer
Hotel
Tear in Your Hand
Silent All These Years
iieee
Marianne
Spark
Mother
Pretty Good Year
Playboy Mommy
Taxi Ride
Icicle
Liquid Diamonds
Raspberry Swirl
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Winter
God
Siren
In the Springtime of His Voodoo
Cornflake Girl
Carbon
Doughnut Song
Precious Things
Cloud on My Tongue
Twinkle

From the Choirgirl Hotel
Boys for Pele
Little Earthquakes
Under the Pink
Scarlet's Walk

Twinkle
Tear in Your Hand
Marianne
Beauty Queen/ Horses
Doughnut Song
Bells for Her
Alamo
Northern Lad
Mother
Not the Red Baron
Cruel
Pretty Good Year
Space Dog
Liquid Diamonds
Past the Mission
iieee
Purple People
Here. in My Head
Precious Things
Icicle
Baker Baker
Father Lucifer
Cloud on My Tongue
Butterfly

Albums:

Boys for Pele
Under the Pink
From the Choirgirl Hotel
Little Earthquakes

never need to hear the LI and UTP singles again.
I regret not voting for She's Your Cocaine. only recently realized how savage the lyrics are lol.
Twinkle became my favorite in the past few years. the piano alone kills me, simple as it is. all the live performances i've seen on Youtube (mostly from the 00s and beyond) don't quite get it right--just a little too fast or busy.

this, on the other hand...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9hjw20vifI

My ballot:

Songs:

1. Yes, Anastasia
2. In the Springtime of His Voodoo
3. Liquid Diamonds
4. Cooling
5. Precious Things
6. Blood Roses
7. Hotel
8. Cloud on My Tongue
9. Pandora's Aquarium
10. Spring Haze
11. Caught a Lite Sneeze
12. i i e e e
13. Doughnut Song
14. Juarez
15. Mother
16. Spark
17. Baker Baker
18. Crucify
19. Pretty Good Year
20. Cornflake Girl
21. Gold Dust
22. Hey Jupiter
23. Strange
24. Flying Dutchman
25. Reindeer King

Albums:

1. From the Choirgirl Hotel
2. Boys for Pele
3. Under the Pink
4. Little Earthquakes
5. To Venus and Back

Great poll and images ufo!

My songs ballot:

Liquid Diamonds
Tear In Your Hand
Doughnut Song
Icicle
In The Springtime of his Voodoo
Mother
Pretty Good Year
Playboy Mommy
Marianne
Honey
Father Lucifer
Hotel
Silent All These Years
Gold Dust
Dragon
iieee
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Precious Things
Cornflake Girl
Sister Janet
Putting The Damage On
Here In My Head
Space Dog
Taxi Ride
Horses

^ This feels like I was being too harsh on TVAB, but while I love that album I just realised I don't feel as close to any of its songs (even "Datura", my favourite) as to the above. But that's not a diss given I didn't even vote for, like, "Girl" or "Baker, Baker" or "Cloud On My Tongue" or "Sugar" or "Cooling" or "Carbon" or...

Albums

1. Boys For Pele
2. Little Earthquakes
3. Under The Pink
4. From The Choirgirl Hotel
5. American Doll Posse

Songs

1. Pretty Good Year
2. Icicle
3. Doughnut Song
4. Crucify
5. Little Earthquakes
6. Caught A Lite Sneeze
7. Hungarian Wedding Song
8. Hotel
9. Liquid Diamonds
10. The Waitress
11. Mother
12. Twinkle
13. Father Lucifer
14. The Pool
15. Cooling
16. Father Jupiter
17. Silent All These Years
18. Cornflake Girl
19. Purple People
20. Josephine
21. Dragon
22. Past The Mission

Sad that Carbon didn't make the top 40, despite three votes. Glad to see that mine wasn't the only vote for Purple People. Weird that Josephine didn't get more votes! my favourite track from TVAB

I think The Waitress is one of her top 10 songs, too, but has been somewhat tarnished (in my mind, anyway) by its live version which I find gruelling

If I voted for covers (I didn't) I'd have voted for "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" lol

I don't know why I didn't top 10 "Silent All These Years".. I think there's a comparative simplicity to its composition that makes me rank it lower within Tori's oeuvre.. but if I were to include a Tori song on a list of "best songs of the 90s" it'd be my pick

glad to see the other dragon voters here

Just home from work and catching up with the top 15 -- great choices everyone! I'm a bit surprised that nothing post-90s cracked the top 35, though I suppose it's just a matter of a consensus-averse artist's later work being even less prone to consensus (and, uh, slightly less amazing).

Howdy @ my fellow "Wild Way" voter, whoever you are.

1. Girl
2. Crucify
3. Jackie's Strength
4. Little Earthquakes
5. Black-Dove (January)
6. Hey Jupiter
7. Winter
8. Putting the Damage On
9. Bells for Her
10. Promise
11. Caught A Lite Sneeze
12. Tear in Your Hand
13. Cloud Riders
14. Concertina
15. Past the Mission
16. Your Cloud
17. Father Lucifer
18. The Waitress
19. Hotel
20. Wild Way
21. Space Dog
22. Frog On My Toe
23. Bouncing Off Clouds
24. Wednesday
25. Rose Dover

1. Little Earthquakes
2. From the Choirgirl Hotel
3. Boys for Pele
4. Unrepentant Geraldines
5. Under the Pink

felt a little guilty putting "Girl" and "Crucify" at 1 and 2, though not enough to start my own religion

btw i didn't mention this during the countdown but "mother" is one of my least favorite tori songs! idk why!!!!!

Thanks for running this ufo! My ballot:

1. Northern Lad
2. Father Lucifer
3. Pretty Good Year
4. Blood Roses
5. Marianne
6. Jackie's Strength
7. Beauty Queen/Horses
8. Caught a Lite Sneeze
9. Silent All These Years
10. Space Dog
11. Liquid Diamonds
12. Cornflake Girl
13. Black Dove (January)
14. Weatherman
15. Bells for Her
16. Real Men
17. Winter
18. Hey Jupiter
19. Cooling
20. Wild Way
21. Honey
22. Concertina
23. Spark
24. Secret Spell
25. 16 Shades of Blue

Albums:
1. Boys for Pele
2. From the Choirgirl Hotel
3. Under the Pink
4. Unrepentant Geraldines
5. Little Earthquakes

Xpost whut brad that is insane

Seconded!

Tracks (ranked)

Take to the Sky
God
Mother
Spark
A Sorta Fairytale
Wings
Precious Things
Pretty Good Year
Bliss
Cool on Your Island
Silent All These Years
Raspberry Swirl
Sugar
Tear in Your Hand
Honey
Bouncing Off Clouds
Hey Jupiter
Hotel
Talula

Albums (ranked)

Little Earthquakes
From the Choirgirl Hotel
Under the Pink

idk i can't help it, at some point when i was a kid i convinced myself the lyric was just a little less sure-footed than the rest of le and that feeling persisted even though it doesn't matter! lovely music behind it ofc

It definitely points forward to a more oblique lyrical style than the rest of the album. "Somebody leave the light on / just in case I like the dancing / I can remember where I come from" isn't top-tier. But man.. the sudden shift in tone on "he's gonna change my name" wow

he's gonna change my name is outstanding yes, maybe i should work hard at changing my relationship with this song lol

Surprised by how low yes Anastasia and putting the damage charted

My ballot would have snuck Past the Mission into the top 40 too :)

Datura

Criminally underrated

Is there a spotify playlist of the results?

Thanks very much to everyone who participated in this - I listened to Little Earthquakes a lot in college but never went much beyond that, and have really enjoyed discovering everything else in this poll.

Tori influenced my writing to an incredible degree. When she says Ed is watching my every move, that is such an abstract lyricism - perhaps it is Ed the Horse, but Tori always wrote lyrics that allowed one to transpose themselves onto them. Even if she did not give background to these lyrics, she respects the intelligence of the listener to take away their own meaning (much like Lynch). I am grateful she exists and her music changed my life