American Doll Posse, 15 years later

 

It's wild to think this album is 15 years old.

I remember the day this album came out, because I couldn't afford it. My friend Zahra, may she rest forever in peace and power, took the bus to the Serramonte Target to get me the limited edition with the postcards and the exclusive Target-only poster. She took the bus because her car wasn't working. She knew I couldn't afford the album, so she took the bus to get my a copy. I will never forget this moment for as long as I live.

Wow.

Was 2007 really 15 years ago?

American Doll Posse encapsulates such a strange time in American history. It was the height of the Bush era. Bush was such an easy target, a safe target. American Doll Posse was the zenith of this: a relatively pointless, indulgent expression of "art" that took very little risk, but made it seem like a bigger risk. A lot of artists were doing this during the Bush era. The next year, Americans would elect their first Black president, which they would greatly congratulate themselves for, even if his policies would not even differ very much from his predecessor. This article from Pop Matters really illustrates how everyone lost during this era, and that no "art" could win. Innocent civilians were brutally slain, but artists, particularly American ones, had to use this as a moment, their moment, to "protest." Great, because that did a lot of well and good. Now these same people are meme-ing Bush, but whatever. WTF do I know.

American Doll Posse was Tori Amos' ninth record, and her first that really ventured into the Rock and Roll world. The sound really suited her voice, which had gained considerable grit over the years of abuse from over-touring. The basis of American Doll Posse was Tori in various wigs representing different  female figures in  Greek mythology reimagined for a Bush-era America. The different songs of the album (all 23 of them), were sung by these different figures. The Doll Posse were named Tori, Clyde, Pip, Santa,  and Isabel. It seemed like a fairly wild concept, but it somehow worked, especially live. Every night of the tour, she would open the set as a different Doll, and would sing songs from the record that were "written" and "sung" by that Doll. There would be a brief intermission, and Tori would come out as a "Tori" persona Doll and finish off the set. The people who made fun of the Doll concept were also the same people who went to every show, but I digress! The Dolls also had different blogs all over the internet, as chronicled by Yessaid.

It's rather silly to look back on now, but you have to remember, two years prior, Tori had released The Beekeeper. which was so controversial. It was considered "too adult contemporary radio," "too soft," "too boring" --which is also very interesting because, like American Doll Posse, it boasts some of her best writing. The 180* from the soft rock about butterflies to American Doll Posse's hard rock was very jarring.

The Dolls would appear in the Visualettes for the next record, Abnormally Attracted to Sin. We were supposed to have another live tour dvd. We got this instead. It was still interesting to see them live on in different ways, though.

The American Doll Posse tour was really one of Tori's best tours, and her slinking into the different identities every night brought something out of her that we had never seen before. It's just weird to look back on this now--at the time we all applauded and accepted it. It was so new. It was so different. Even though she had taken on the different wig personas in Strange Little Girls, she didn't tour as them, you know? The tour had so much energy. I definitely feel like all of the songs "lived" better live. I only went to one of the Oakland shows, and I have to say, I am happy I got the "Santa" show of the three. Most of the shows on that tour were recorded and released. The little improvs she did were some of her best and most magical. Some of them could be recorded as full songs, as far as I am concerned. "Burn Until Then" from the Houston show still haunts me to this day.

It's weird because Tori isn't part of my life anymore. I still listen to her every once in a while, but something happened. Native Invader happened, after she had the luxury of ignoring Standing Rock from afar while our people suffered. She just regurgitated the same gas station hokey Indian shit she has peddled for a long time. She made a non-statement at a safe distance, doubling down on  pan-Indian stereotypes. I think it was then I realized that American Doll Posse, or even Scarlet's Walk, were not that radical, because they were all done at a safe and privileged distance, which is what I think I take issue with the most about Bush-era "protest art." I liked the newest album, but had no interest in seeing the current tour. I think that part of my life is over, and it's fine. I will always love her, and will always be grateful for the opportunity she gave me and my art career. We can love people and gently hold them accountable at the same time.

American Doll Posse is a great album. I know people who only like her until a certain point and cannot let it go that she stopped making music they connected with (and blame Tori for it) don't like this one. But Smokey Joe, Body and Soul, Dragon, Beauty of Speed, Devil's and Gods (especially the live, full version), and Father's Son mark some of her very best writing. American Doll Posse gave us some really great pieces from her. It was a great album, that had an even better tour. Gimmick aside, it really unlocked something special in Tori that she brought out every single night. Like most of her albums, American Doll Posse was written and produced by her. While the outdated hollow messages of the Bush era are seen for what they are today, we cannot ignore the fact that Tori, and this album, put her, a song-writer and producer of her own work, but a woman in an elite category of having multiple number one records.

Let's just say that of all of the songs on the record, Digital Ghost aged the most profoundly.