Under the Pink

Under the Pink is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart[11] on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", and peaked at number 12 in the US.[12]

Under the Pink
Studio album by
Tori Amos
ReleasedJanuary 31, 1994
RecordedFebruary–October 1993
StudioThe Fishhouse, New Mexico and Westlake Studios, Los Angeles
Length56:40
LabelAtlantic (US), East West (Europe)
ProducerTori Amos, Eric Rosse
Tori Amos chronology
Little Earthquakes
(1992)		 Under the Pink
(1994)		 Boys for Pele
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
NME6/10[6]
Pitchfork8.1/10[7]
PopMatters9/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

The album was certified double Platinum in the US by the RIAA in October 1999,[13] for sales exceeding 2 million copies. It was the 61st highest-selling album of 1994 in the UK and was certified platinum by the BPI in February 2007,[14] for sales exceeding 300,000 copies.

Under the Pink was included in Blender magazine's list of 500 CDs You Must Own,[15] and was voted among the greatest albums of the 1990s by Rolling Stone magazine some years later.[16] A special double-disc tour edition was released exclusively in Australia and New Zealand in November 1994, titled More Pink: The B-Sides.

Content

On Tori Amos' second solo album, the singer-songwriter continued to offer piano-driven rock songs dealing with religion, gender, and sexuality. However, the album is generally regarded as being more abstract and less directly confessional than its predecessor, Little Earthquakes. In addition to featuring more cryptic lyrics and experimental song structures, Amos invited in reggae influences on the single "Cornflake Girl," prepared piano on "Bells for Her," and Debussy-inspired piano lines on the sweeping nine-and-a-half minute epic "Yes, Anastasia".

While Under the Pink contained several singles and fan favorites, it was "God" and "Cornflake Girl" that solidified Amos's place among the canon of 1990s alt rock musicians. Steve Caton's dissonant guitar work on "God," paired with the frank lyrics of "Do you need a woman to look after you?" were risks that paid off for Amos in the musical landscape of the mid-1990s. The song also boasted a video in which Amos enacted rituals from different spiritual traditions, including dancing with a snake and being covered in rats, visuals that surely left an impression. "Cornflake Girl," with its catchy piano solo, reggae-inspired guitar rhythms, and refrain, became a mainstay of Amos's live performances early on. That single featured a darkly humorous US video as well as a more abstract black and white UK one, so both visuals contributed to the worldwide impact of that song.

Amos performed the Under the Pink tour from February through November 1994, encompassing many of the same stops as on the previous world tour. A limited edition release of the album commemorating the Australian tour included a second disc entitled More Pink, a collection of rare B-sides like "Little Drummer Boy" and a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You", was issued in November 1994. During this period, she also contributed the song "Butterfly" to the soundtrack for the 1994 movie Higher Learning, as well as a cover of the R.E.M. song "Losing My Religion".

The album was recorded in Taos, New Mexico in a hacienda. The album artwork features several Native American and New Mexican references in the photography. The album is also notable as the last Amos album to feature the production of Eric Rosse as they split that year. To date, Under the Pink remains her highest-charting album in the UK and has sold more than two million copies worldwide.

Singles

Under the Pink produced four singles. "Cornflake Girl" was released as the first single from the album in Europe (January 1994) and Australia (February 1994), and as the second single in North America (May 1994). It became Amos's biggest international hit at the time, peaking at number 4 in the UK.[17] "God" was released as the first single in North America in February 1994, where it became her first Billboard Hot 100 chart entry, peaking at #72.[18] "God" was released as the second single from the album in Australia in May 1994, and as the fourth single in Europe in October 1994. "Pretty Good Year" was released as the second single in Europe in March 1994 and the fourth single in Australia in November 1994, but was not released as a single in North America. "Past the Mission", featuring backing vocals from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, was the third single from the album in all territories, released in Europe in May 1994, Australia in July 1994, and North America in September 1994.

B-sides

European pressings of the "Cornflake Girl" CD single, and the US pressing of the "God" CD single, contained the B-sides "All the Girls Hate Her" and "Over It". "Sister Janet" appeared on both the European and US pressing of the "Cornflake Girl" single, and a B-side of the US cassette single for "God", while the US CD single of "God" also contained "Home on the Range - Cherokee Edition". The US "Cornflake Girl" CD single, which had different artwork to international pressings, contained a radio edit of the title track, plus the songs "Daisy Dead Petals" and "Honey". A limited edition second CD single for "Cornflake Girl" was issued in the UK, containing cover versions of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You", Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 Was 9", and Billie Holliday's "Strange Fruit".

Part one of the UK CD single "Pretty Good Year" contained the B-sides "Home on the Range – Cherokee Edition" and "Daisy Dead Petals". The latter track was used as a B-side on the US pressing of "Cornflake Girl". "Honey" and "Black Swan" appeared as B-sides on part two of the UK "Pretty Good Year" CD single.

Seven live tracks were spread across a two-part CD single release for "Past the Mission" in the UK. Live versions of "Upside Down", "Past the Mission", "Icicle" and "Flying Dutchman" appeared on the limited edition part one disc, and live versions of "Winter", "The Waitress" and "Here. In My Head" appeared on part two.

The UK release of "God" contained several remixes of the title track.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tori Amos.

No.TitleLength
1."Pretty Good Year"3:25
2."God"3:58
3."Bells for Her"5:20
4."Past the Mission"4:05
5."Baker Baker"3:20
6."The Wrong Band"3:03
7."The Waitress"3:09
8."Cornflake Girl"5:06
9."Icicle"5:47
10."Cloud on My Tongue"4:44
11."Space Dog"5:10
12."Yes, Anastasia"9:33
2015 deluxe edition bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Sister Janet"4:00
2."Honey"3:47
3."Daisy Dead Petals"3:03
4."Over It" (Piano Suite)2:11
5."Black Swan"4:04
6."Home on the Range" (Cherokee Edition)5:25
7."All the Girls Hate Her" (Piano Suite)2:23
8."God" (The CJ Bolland Remix)5:58
9."Here. In My Head" (Live in Bristol, Colston Hall, March 7, 1994)6:05
10."Upside Down" (Live in Boston, The Sanders Theatre, March 31, 1994)5:57
11."Past the Mission" (Live in Chicago, Vic Theatre, March 24, 1994)4:21
12."Icicle" (Live in LA, Wadsworth Theatre. March 22, 1994)7:50
13."Flying Dutchman" (Live in Chicago, Vic Theatre, March 24, 1994)6:31
14."Winter" (Live in Manchester, Free Trade Hall, March 1, 1994)6:37
15."The Waitress" (Live in Boston, The Sanders Theatre, March 31, 1994)3:29

Notes

  • The original track listing included the B-side "Honey", which was left off the album at the last minute. Amos has since voiced great regret for this:

"There were certain songs that were supposed to be on the record that got kicked off. 'Honey' was supposed to be on the record and, in retrospect, I wish it had been. I kicked it off for 'The Wrong Band'. Under the Pink wept when 'Honey' wasn't on, and she still is angry with me about it."[19]

  • Amos made a similar reference to the song "Here. In My Head" which was originally featured as a B-side to the UK single of "Crucify".[20]

More Pink: The B-Sides

The double-disc version of Under the Pink was released on November 14, 1994[21] by East West to coincide with Amos's tour of Australia and New Zealand. The second disc, titled More Pink: The B-Sides was never released separately, and is a rarity amongst Tori Amos collectibles. Amos would not release another collection of B-sides until 2006's A Piano: The Collection.

The packaging simply inserted the normal Australian release of Under the Pink in a double jewel case, and altered the back insert artwork so that instead of being blank it featured the track listing of the second disc as well as production information for the songs. The title More Pink may be misleading, as many of the B-sides on the disc did not come from Under the Pink singles but in fact from the 1992 album Little Earthquakes, and in one case, from a Christmas compilation. The length of this disc is 48:49.

The double-disc set entered the Australian ARIA Charts Top 100 Albums chart on the week ending December 11, 1994, peaking at #44 and spending 6 weeks on the chart.[22] However, it was listed on the chart as a re-entry of Under the Pink, with its weeks spent charting added to the 21-week tally achieved earlier by the album.[22]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tori Amos except track 1 (Joni Mitchell) and track 11 (traditional).

No.TitleLength
1."A Case of You" (orig. on "Cornflake Girl" UK limited edition CD single)4:38
2."Honey" (orig. on 2nd "Pretty Good Year" UK CD single)3:47
3."Daisy Dead Petals" (orig. on "Pretty Good Year" UK limited edition CD single)3:02
4."Sister Janet" (orig. on 1st "Cornflake Girl" UK single)4:02
5."Sugar" (orig. on "China" UK single)4:27
6."Take to the Sky" (orig. on "Winter" single)4:20
7."Upside Down" (orig. on "Me and a Gun" UK single)4:22
8."Flying Dutchman" (orig. on "China" single)6:31
9."Here. In My Head (Live)" (orig. on "Past the Mission" UK CD single)6:05
10."Black Swan" (orig. on "Pretty Good Year" UK CD single)4:04
11."Little Drummer Boy (Live)" (orig. on Kevin & Bean: We've Got Your Yule Logs Hangin)3:20

Personnel
  • Michael Allen Harrison – violin
  • Tori Amos – piano, vocals, producer; Vox organ on "Past the Mission"
  • John Acevedo – viola
  • Steve Caton – guitar
  • Paulinho da Costa – percussion
  • Ross Cullum – mixing
  • Shaun DeFeo – assistant engineer
  • Melissa "Missy" Hasin – cello
  • John Beverly Jones – engineer
  • Kevin Killen – mixing
  • Ezra Killinger – violin
  • Dane Little – cello
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Paul McKenna – producer, engineer
  • Cynthia Morrow – viola
  • Carlo Nuccio – drums
  • George Porter Jr. – bass
  • Chris Reutinger – violin
  • Trent Reznor – backing vocals
  • Jimbo Ross – viola
  • Nancy Stein-Ross – cello
  • Eric Rosse – producer, engineer,
  • John Philip Shenale – strings, Hammond organ
  • Francine Walsh – violin
  • John Wittenberg – violin
  • Nancy Roth – violin
  • Cindy Palmano – art direction, photography
  • Julie Larson – production coordination
  • John Fundi – assistant engineer
  • Alan Reinl – design
  • Avril McIntosh – mixing assistant

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1994) Position
Australia (ARIA)[23] 5
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[24] 6
Germany (Media Control Charts)[25] 15
Netherlands (MegaCharts)[26] 10
New Zealand (RIANZ)[27] 15
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 15
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)[29] 11
UK Albums Chart[17] 1
US Billboard 200[12] 12

Singles
Year Title Chart Position
1994 "Cornflake Girl" Australia (ARIA)[30] 19
Germany (Media Control Charts)[31] 73
Irish Singles Chart[32] 9
Netherlands (MegaCharts)[33] 26
New Zealand (RIANZ)[34] 41
UK Singles Chart[17] 4
US Modern Rock Tracks[35] 12
"God" Australia (ARIA)[36][37] 65
UK Singles Chart[17] 44
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 72
US Modern Rock Tracks[35] 1
"Pretty Good Year" Australia (ARIA)[38][37] 85
Irish Singles Chart[39] 26
UK Singles Chart[17] 7
"Past the Mission" Australia (ARIA)[40] 116
Irish Singles Chart[41] 25
UK Singles Chart[17] 31

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[42] Gold 50,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[43] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[13] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Raggett, Ned. "Under the Pink – Tori Amos". AllMusic. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  2. Webber, Brad (February 10, 1994). "Tori Amos: Under the Pink (Atlantic)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Amos, Tori". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  4. Sandow, Greg (February 4, 1994). "Under the Pink". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  5. Rosenbluth, Jean (January 30, 1994). "Tori Amos 'Under the Pink' Atlantic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  6. "Tori Amos: Under the Pink". NME. February 5, 1994. p. 40.
  7. Walters, Barry (April 16, 2015). "Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes / Under the Pink". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  8. Ramon, Alex (June 2, 2015). "Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes / Under the Pink (reissues)". PopMatters. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  9. St. Leger, Marie Elsie (February 24, 1994). "Under The Pink". Rolling Stone. No. 676. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  10. Edmonds, Ben (2004). "Tori Amos". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 17–18. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 > 06 February 1994 – 12 February 1994". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  12. "Billboard > Artists / Tori Amos > Chart History > Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  13. "RIAA > Gold & Platinum > Tori Amos". RIAA. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  14. "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for 'Under the Pink' (from bpi.co.uk)". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  15. Alternative Rock: 500 CDs You Must Own Archived 2009-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
  17. "Official Charts > Tori Amos". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  18. "Billboard > Artists / Tori Amos > Chart History > The Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  19. "Bee-Sides". yessaid.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-25.
  20. "Bee-Sides". yessaid.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.
  21. "ARIA Report > New Releases 14th November 1994 (from the ARIA Report Issue No. 248 – Week Ending 13th November 1994)". ARIA. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  22. "Screen shot from Gavin Ryan's Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 book". Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  23. "australian-charts.com > Tori Amos – Under the Pink (album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  24. "austriancharts.at > Tori Amos – Under the Pink" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
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  26. "dutchcharts.nl > Tori Amos – Under the Pink" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  27. "charts.nz > Tori Amos – Under the Pink (album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  28. "swedishcharts.com > Tori Amos – Under the Pink (album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  29. "hitparade.ch > Tori Amos – Under the Pink" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  30. "Australian Charts > Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl (song)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
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  32. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'Cornflake Girl' (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  33. "dutchcharts.nl > Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  34. "charts.nz > Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl (song)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  35. "Billboard > Artists / Tori Amos > Chart History > Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  36. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 19 Jun 1994". ARIA. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  37. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  38. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 08 Jan 1995". ARIA. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  39. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'Pretty Good Year' (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  40. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2014-06-17". imgur.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  41. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'Past the Mission' (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  42. "Canadian album certifications – Tori Amos – Under the Pink". Music Canada.
  43. "Dutch album certifications – Tori Amos – Under the Pink" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Under the Pink in the "Artiest of titel" box.
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