The Beekeeper is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos. It was released on February 20, 2005, through Epic Records and is her second release for the label. As with many of Amos's releases throughout the 2000s, The Beekeeper is a concept album, heavily inspired by the practice of beekeeping and its connection to femininity and female empowerment. The album's nineteen tracks are separated into six different "gardens" (denoted in the booklet of the limited edition of the album), and are inspired by topics such as her experiences with motherhood ("Ribbons Undone"), betrayal ("Witness"), and Christian mythology ("Marys of the Sea").
The Beekeeper continues the stripped-back approach of Amos's previous album Scarlet's Walk (2002), now with strong elements of soul music, augmented by guest vocals from the London Community Gospel Choir and Amos's use of the Hammond B-3 organ. Supporting musicians on the album include frequent collaborators Matt Chamberlain on drums, Jon Evans on bass, and Mac Aladdin on guitar. Live performance was emphasized during the recording sessions, rather than having musicians record their parts separately using overdubs.
The album was a success upon its release, reaching the top five in the US and receiving generally positive reviews from critics, although some criticism was directed at its length and production. "Sleeps with Butterflies" and "Sweet the Sting" were released as singles to promote the album, with the former reaching number four on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart (her second-highest position on the chart to date).
Like many of Amos's releases throughout the 2000s, The Beekeeper is a concept album. Alongside the inspiration from beekeeping, female spirituality and the experiences of women in Christianity play a large role, particularly in songs such as "Original Sinsuality" and "Marys of the Sea". Songs from the album are separated into six different "gardens", detailed in the limited edition booklet: "roses and thorns", "herbs and elixirs", "the greenhouse", "the desert garden", "the orchard", and "the rock garden".
During the writing of the album, Amos was concurrently writing her first book, Piece by Piece with journalist Ann Powers, which goes into detail about the background of many tracks appearing on The Beekeeper along with other songs from her discography.
Recording
The Beekeeper was recorded throughout 2004 at Martian Engineering Studios in Cornwall, England, with the mixing handled by Amos's husband Mark Hawley and Marcel van Limbeek. The song depicts a woman who is exiting a relationship with a controlling partner. She now has to confront herself and her experience to be able to recover from said relationship. "The Power of Orange Knickers" features vocals from Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice. The track was written as a response to frequent use of the word "terrorist" (particularly after the September 11 attacks) and to those who twist the term for their own personal or political gain. Amos wrote the lyrics with the intention of "undressing" the word and finding a more basic and universal definition for it.
"Jamaica Inn" features mandolin playing by Mac Aladdin. "Barons of Suburbia" features extensive use of mixed meter, alternating between , , and . The song reportedly took months to write, with the pre-chorus taking shape much earlier than the rest of the track. "General Joy" was written in July 2004 and criticizes the war on terror. "Mother Revolution" concerns the concept of mothers suffering the deaths of their children in global conflict. As Amos said in a 2005 interview with Uncut: "what I find really disturbing about this global war, is you don't see any of the world leaders sending their children to be butchered. It's always someone else's children, someone else's blood." "Ribbons Undone" was inspired by Amos's daughter Natashya. "Martha's Foolish Ginger" is a track which Amos has said to have worked on over a period of several years, having created its title and written its chorus while struggling to finish the song until being inspired by a trip to San Francisco during her 2003 Lottapianos tour.
The Beekeeper was released in various territories through February 20–22, 2005. It reached a peak position of number five in the US, becoming her fifth top ten album.
|rev1 = AllMusic
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|rev3 = The Guardian
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|rev4 = Los Angeles Times
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|rev7 = PopMatters
|rev7score = (6/10)
|rev8 = Rolling Stone
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|rev9 = Spin
|rev9score = (5/10)
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 3.5 stars out of 5. He praised the album's sense of cohesion, stating it "flow[s] with the grace and purpose of a song suite", and calling it "an ambitious, restless work that builds on her past work without resting on her laurels." Subsequently, Amos would apply a band-centric ethos to American Doll Posse (2007) and a heavy emphasis on arrangements for Abnormally Attracted to Sin (2009) in contrast with the approach of The Beekeeper. Aside from "Original Sinsuality"s permanent spot as the show-opener, each show contained a unique setlist as is typical of Amos's shows. Amos was joined by the London Community Gospel Choir during the June 4 show, appearing on "Mother Revolution", "Witness", "Sweet the Sting", and "Hoochie Woman". The shows, particularly those from the Summer of Sin Tour, were positively received. The first five shows came from the Original Sinsuality Tour whilst the final volume came from an August show from the Summer of Sin Tour. Saratogian.com praised the August 23 performance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, calling it "magical" and praising her lively stage presence and setlist choices. The Salt Lake Tribune called the September 6 concert at the USANA Amphitheatre "smoldering" and gave particular praise to the performance of "Winter".
Track listing
Note: An additional track, "Garlands" (placed in "the orchard") appears on the DVD included in the limited edition of the album.
Personnel
- Tori Amos – Bösendorfer piano, Hammond B-3 organ , vocals, handclaps
- Mac Aladdin – acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin , twelve-string guitar
- Jon Evans – bass guitar, upright bass , Hammond bass pedals , handclaps
- Matt Chamberlain – drums, handclaps
- Damien Rice – additional vocals
- London Community Gospel Choir – backing vocals
- Kelsey Dobyns – additional backing vocals
- Alison Evans – handclaps
- Chelsea Laird – handclaps
Charts
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! scope="col"| Chart (2005)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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Certifications
See also
- The Original Bootlegs