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

14 Ballots Received
13 Album Ballots Received
102 songs voted for

Going to kick things off with the top 9 albums and the remix results soon

https://i.imgur.com/G3J7P0Z.jpg
9. American Doll Posse
6 Points, 3 votes

https://i.imgur.com/8prBdzg.jpg
8. Unrepentant Geraldines
8 points, 2 votes

there are many good songs on geraldines but idk if i'll ever really get it as an "album," just kinda washes over me every time

where i would argue adp doesn't have a bad song on it and is constantly engaging

yeah I agree completely, ADP is great if only my 6th favourite. i think it's just a result of the low turnout + her having four classic albums so not much other room on most ballots that the album results are the way they are

https://i.imgur.com/oRinEvh.jpg
7. Night of Hunters
10 points, 2 votes

^^^ this album does completely rule though

I kinda wish she'd done something like it earlier in her career, going all out in the direction of Icicle, Cloud On My Tongue, Yes Anastasia, Marianne etc.

https://i.imgur.com/aG6Qx5c.jpg
6. Scarlet's Walk
12 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote

album results: all of the tori records that are at the very least good-to-great lol

which is cool that's how it goes usually

I'm here to learn, stoked for the madness.

https://i.imgur.com/IeTPaIG.jpg
5. To Venus and Back
26 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote

my no. 1! which was v impulsive because i didn't even really understand this record until two weeks ago, but it's the tori record i wanna listen to all the time now

on the wiki there's a tori quote that suggests venus is about "shadows and the shadow world" and i'm like hell yeah that's what i wanna hear

https://i.imgur.com/ag5AS6o.jpg
4. Under the Pink
64 points, 13 votes

surprisingly this was the only album to make every ballot

https://i.imgur.com/WmFN5vO.jpg
3. Little Earthquakes
66 points, 10 votes, 3 #1 votes

surprisingly this was the only album to make every ballot

― ufo, Tuesday, September 11, 2018 9:29 AM (thirty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

when i was a kid i skipped from little earthquakes right to pele and never wound my way back to under the pink, so my enthusiasm for it is relatively fresh—after all the years that passed in between, hearing a tori album that was pretty much every bit the equal of its predecessor and successor yet was doing something distinct from either of them (i talked about the production and the impact of the second side prob sufficiently on the voting thread), it was almost like learning to fall in love with her all over again

it's the one I'd spent the least time with too out of the first four and it was great to get properly into it. it doesn't quite have the same highs as Little Earthquakes and doesn't feel as big, but it's broader in sound and more consistently great too

https://i.imgur.com/X48Lxdb.jpg
2. From the Choirgirl Hotel
88 points, 12 votes, 3 #1 votes

https://i.imgur.com/WuWWx4q.jpg
1. Boys for Pele
100 points, 12 votes, 5 #1 votes

didn't really have any idea what order the top four would end up being in so it's interesting to see Pele come out on top fairly decisively

Top 4 mirrors my boring ranking. In a weird contra-brad moment I went in expecting TVAB to be 5th but ended up replacing it with ADP - after realising that while I love TVAB none of its songs are ones I really can't live without.

Unrepententant Geraldines is fine and I listened to it quite a bit when it came out but yeah it does feel like a lesser, more constricted work than ADP. Also I've said this before I think but ironically her last two albums are really the first time the whole "oh she's just an inferior Kate bush" argument has really made sense to me (now that the people who say that have stopped listening).

Unrepentant Geraldines is fine but just sort of a lesser Scarlet's Walk. I understand what you mean with Native Invader, like Reindeer King is one of the most Kate Bush songs she's ever done but it's also one of her best since ADP and the whole album's pretty solid, it almost made my albums ballot.

I was one of the two voters for Unrepentant Geraldines - I gave it a listen when it came out and was surprised how much I enjoyed it, having not heard anything post-Choirgirl Hotel at that point (I still haven't heard Night of Hunters or a couple of the others that aren't listed here). Agree with the top two.

My ballot was [quick math] 47% Little Earthquakes, and that tends to be the only Tori album I go back to with any regularity, so I didn’t know what the more devoted fans considered her best anymore. I do remember From the Choir Girl Hotel being hailed by some as her greatest around the time it was released, but I didn’t know how much of that to attribute to new-album-enthusiasm (see also, OK Computer topping a Q readers poll of the greatest albums ever in late ‘97/early ‘98). Boys For Pele at #1 makes sense, though; it was a dense, difficult album that felt almost calculated to shed her fan base of casual admirers who’d come to her from MTV or Rolling Stone. I do remember mainstream critics typically being baffled by it at the time.

BFP came out at the height of my fandom. i remember finding out about it in December ’95 from the list of forthcoming releases at the mall (not sam goody. record town?) and scarfing it down the day it came out. the 2 star Rolling Stone review prompted a hastily scrawled letter to the editor. XD

i guess i’ve only dabbled but never been convinced there’s anything post-TVAB that approaches what she achieved on the first four albums. i’d be happy to be proven wrong but i’m skeptical.

I straight up just don't like BFP all that much, and if FTCH hadn't been as good as it was, I probably would've stopped following her at that point altogether.

I'm the other unrepentant Geraldines voter, I'll admit I also don't really get it as an album but I love pretty much every song on it.

And like Gavin I hadn't heard anything since Choirgirl at that point -- maybe that was the key?

TBH I'm a little bit surprised with the praise ADP is getting here. It was definitely a more exciting project than the snoozefest of The Beekeeper but it's waaay too long (26 songs?!) and plenty of tracks have some embarrassing lyrical clunkers (Yo George, Dark Side of the Sun etc.). But the worst offender is IMO the actual sound of the record -- it's just so toothless. I know she was going for a rock band vibe but somehow she ended up with Guitar Hero production, lifeless vocals, and tinny drums. Weird, given the fact how brilliantly she managed to incorporate some unhinged rock/electronic/full band elements on Choirgirl and Venus. ADP sounds like a muzak version of them.

Or maybe it's just my ears. Anyway, can't wait to see the songs poll results.

there were only three remix ballots so here are the remixes that got more than one vote:

3. God (The Rainforest Resort Mix by Carl Craig)
12 points, 2 votes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb7rVlHV0DI

2. Ambient Raspberry Swirl (Scarlet Spectrum Feels)
14 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt-LKsyT1qc

1. Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix)
24 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl9DkcBreNw

and the full remix and album results:

1	Ambient Raspberry Swirl (Scarlet Spectrum Feels)	14	2	1
2	God (The Rainforest Resort Mix by Carl Craig)		12	2	0
3	Kingdom - Red Baron Juke				10	1	1
4	God (The Thinking Mix 2 by Carl Craig)			8	1	0
5	Hey Jupiter (Dakota Version)				6	1	0
6	Talula (BT's Synethasia Mix)				2	1	0
8	Mainline Cherry (Ambient Spark)				2	1	0
8	Mainline Cherry (Ambient Spark)				2	1	0
1	Boys for Pele			100	12	5
2	From the Choirgirl Hotel	88	12	3
3	Little Earthquakes		66	10	3
4	Under the Pink			64	13	0
5	To Venus and Back		26	5	1
6	Scarlet's Walk			12	2	1
7	Night of Hunters		10	2	0
8	Unrepentant Geraldines		8	2	0
9	American Doll Posse		6	3	0
10	Strange Little Girls 		2	1	0

going to start counting down the top 40 tracks soon, starting with 40-31 today

uh that's

1	Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix)	24	3	1
2	Ambient Raspberry Swirl (Scarlet Spectrum Feels)	14	2	1
3	God (The Rainforest Resort Mix by Carl Craig)		12	2	0
4	Kingdom - Red Baron Juke				10	1	1
5	God (The Thinking Mix 2 by Carl Craig)			8	1	0
6	Hey Jupiter (Dakota Version)				6	1	0
8	Talula (BT's Synethasia Mix)				2	1	0
8	Mainline Cherry (Ambient Spark)				2	1	0

https://i.imgur.com/SjhNkA6.jpg
40. Yes, Anastasia
84 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 Vote

we’ll see how brave you are

https://i.imgur.com/GuI650e.jpg
39. Little Earthquakes
86 points, 2 votes

https://i.imgur.com/ZBHwnWc.jpg
38. The Waitress
86 points, 3 votes

https://i.imgur.com/J7WULvM.jpg
37. Space Dog
86 points, 6 votes

Wanted to add "Little Earthquakes" to my ballot after I sent it, but didn't want to make trouble for ufo. Glad it squeaked in.

i love the whole last two minutes of Space Dog, whenever she does her overlapping vocals it's incredible

https://i.imgur.com/i0RmKOR.jpg
36. Baker Baker
88 points, 4 votes

https://i.imgur.com/PoJvr6S.jpg
36. Taxi Ride
88 points, 4 votes

I love Taxi Ride so much, it's like a midpoint of Cocteau Twins and Fleetwood Mac lol

Didn’t vote (sorry!) because I didn’t feel knowledgeable but loving the images! Great job

"taxi ride" just missed my ballot (or rather i couldn't in good conscience vote for both it and "secret spell" since they're doing near-identical things) so i'm glad it's here

also these images rule thank you ufo

Secret Spell is so much more driven and it's almost a power pop thing while Taxi Ride is extremely dreamy soft rock so there's not much connection between the two to me except they're both highlights of her 00's albums

and i'm glad people are enjoying the images!

Secret Spell is so much more driven and it's almost a power pop thing while Taxi Ride is extremely dreamy soft rock so there's not much connection between the two to me except they're both highlights of her 00's albums

― ufo, Wednesday, September 12, 2018 8:34 AM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ah i get this but i group them together anyway, both choruses are sugar

https://i.imgur.com/BDEksXJ.jpg
34. Cloud On My Tongue
90 points, 6 votes

"cloud on my tongue" has like at least fifteen melodies in it, each of which could support their own song

https://i.imgur.com/KX74F1I.jpg
33. God
92 points, 3 votes

God has a great groove and when everything drops out except for the intentionally heavenly backing vocals in the chorus is a highlight

that trill downwards on "fi-hi-hind"/"ni-nine iron"

https://i.imgur.com/cVDpdhb.jpg
32. Concertina
92 points, 4 votes

aw it's so nice this made it! one of my favorite venus songs that also dropped off the end of my ballot at the last minute

"i know the truth is in between the first and fortieth drink" is prob my favorite lyric she's ever written, a stark sudden depiction of alcoholism in a song that i can't otherwise make heads or tails of

and the last one for today

https://i.imgur.com/lu5TRli.jpg
31. Bells for Her
96 points, 3 votes

Love the images, ufo!

"Yes, Anastasia" was my #1, glad to see it made the list.

so much of under the pink already!

Yes, Anastasia just missed my ballot and I was surprised it didn't get more votes, it's a real epic

God that low is a shocker, but small pool of ballots makes things unpredictable I guess. (It was my #2)

I've no idea what the consensus favourites from TVaB are so I'm happy to see 'Concertina' place.

great images again ufo!

https://i.imgur.com/J6Uui39.jpg
30. Twinkle
96 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote

doing 30 to 16 today

Twinkle is my favourite album closer and just missed my ballot

https://i.imgur.com/XNr3pUG.jpg
29. Northern Lad
114 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://i.imgur.com/PHvnQCO.jpg
28. Putting the Damage On
114 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote

three of the best songs ever made in a row, none of which made my ballot lol

personally "putting the damage on" is wayyyy too tied to my first relationship and being 15 and feeling bad all of the time and at this point it feels like the song belongs to a different person than who i am now. still devastated every time i hear the chorus or "it's just your ghost passing through / and... now... i'm... quite... sure"

Putting the Damage On has a really great vocal performance and I love the horn arrangement

boy you still look pretty

https://i.imgur.com/7UaG5x6.jpg
27. Cooling
118 points, 4 votes

somehow, a song too intense to make the tracklist of boys for pele

also maybe the most beautiful song she ever wrote; in its winding digressions it feels twinned with "icicle" for me even though they're about v different things

is your place in heaven
worth giving up
these kisses

https://i.imgur.com/R305BtI.jpg
26. In the Springtime of His Voodoo
118 points, 5 votes

too low. even on my own ballot it was too low

there are so many ideas in this song and the second uh post-chorus? with the overlapping vocal lines is divine

https://i.imgur.com/R9nqT1D.jpg
25. Honey
120 points, 5 votes

that's it for the b-sides on my ballot

arrangement of this song perfectly haunts the piano line

that sustained guitar feedback like flames licking at the song

https://i.imgur.com/U07SYeI.jpg
24. Girl
122 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote

my song!!!!

https://i.imgur.com/H0r6sja.jpg
23. Raspberry Swirl
140 points, 6 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZEh3BTtLfA

i love the extra percussion in the live versions

ok so i first heard this song when i was 15, playing a low-quality video on a tori fansite, and it just knocked me out, i had never heard anything like it before. it sounded like what i wanted desire to feel like. anyway now i'm very gay, thanks tori

https://i.imgur.com/ik0caKc.jpg
22. Playboy Mummy
142 points, 4 votes

sometimes this one is too heavy

it's too low, completely devastating song

Where does Honey originate from?

it's an under the pink b-side. originally slated for the album, replaced at the last minute by "the wrong band"

https://i.imgur.com/IVzwdyw.jpg
21. Blood Roses
144 points, 4 votes

Oh wow, never heard it before, I like it.

I found Blood Roses genuinely disturbing when I first heard it. Still shocking even now. I love it though.

it's a shame she replaced Honey for The Wrong Band which is easily the worst track on Under the Pink

I found Blood Roses genuinely disturbing when I first heard it. Still shocking even now. I love it though.

― piscesx, Thursday, September 13, 2018 8:50 AM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

saaaame

https://i.imgur.com/7BuIhdU.jpg
20. Beauty Queen/Horses
160 points, 6 votes

i was really fixated as a kid on music that was so Overwhelmingly Beautiful it gave me chills. Overwhelming Beauty is a pretty narrow aesthetic range, and i wish i hadn't focused on it at the expense of other music. but also: there was the first time i ever heard "beauty queen/horses," and i thought i was, at last, listening to the Most Overwhelmingly Beautiful Music Possible

https://i.imgur.com/IJamJCm.jpg
19. Icicle
176 points, 5 votes

oh wow i thought this'd be top ten

is there a better song about masturbating while your dad holds a prayer meeting downstairs

i think the good book is missing some pages!

this is definitely one that's up there in her most beautiful compositions, what an incredible bridge

nearly the entire top 20 was very much in flux the entire voting period

https://i.imgur.com/mxHBmAz.jpg
18. i i e e e
190 points, 6 votes

this is one that was in my top 10, sounds unlike anything else (except the potion shop theme from ocarina of time)

yeah it was in my top five

the chorus still gets to me

Ahhh these are all my favourite songs in the world. I voted pretty high for "In The Springtime of his Voodoo", "Icicle", "Playboy Mommy" and "Honey".

I'm glad that "Honey" is a b-side, it's such a self-contained perfect song (such great and unusually straightforward lyrics! "And you know what you're doing, so don't even"; "And I think I could leave your world / If she was the better girl").

Whereas "The Wrong Band" is a perfect piece of lightness in between "Baker, Baker" and "The Waitress" that would get lost outside of the album.

Actually Under The Pink was my first TA album when I was 13 and my favourite track used to switch around a lot but I think after initially being "Pretty Good Year" for a while it was "The Wrong Band" because of the sheer levity of the melody. Then for a while it was "Cloud on my Tongue" due to the soothing hypnotism of "circles and circles and circles again..." and then it settled on "Space Dog" for a long time. Coming back to the album now, "Icicle" was my easy favourite.

https://i.imgur.com/7rxRTo1.jpg
17. Jackie's Strength
192 points, 5 votes

i really didn't expect this to place this high, it's good but not really one of the standouts on Choirgirl Hotel to me

Jeez that’s crazy low.

Jackie’s strength showcases Tori’s ability to write empathically and directly, something she doesn’t always do. Love this song

https://i.imgur.com/QcIXSpQ.jpg
16. Cornflake Girl
208 points, 10 votes

last one for today

thanks for doing this ufo

cornflake girl way too low, but also a clear sign of how much quality tori has across the catalog

Way behind here but the #1 vote for Northern Lad was mine, up until recently I wouldn't necessarily have picked it out as a favourite but it struck me just how much of an incredible vocal performance it is from start to finish.

The top 5-10 could have a few surprises then I guess if the likes of Cornflake Girl are already counted for. Is anyone expecting a song from the post-Choirgirl years to still be ahead?

Great poll so far.

Hotel or liquid diamonds hopefully.

I was the #1 vote for "Girl," just a perfect song that never ceases to amaze me.

Indeed my man

Twinkle was my 1

Yeah 'Girl' was near the top of my ballot, i thought it should have been a big single. It gets sorta-forgotten in the sweep of all that great stuff in the top half of Little Earthquakes but i always loved it.

I find le hard to listen to objectively nowadays.
What a big record. Transformative. When I was a teen it perfectly mirrored my disillusionment with Christianity. I think UTP did this even better tho - icicle and god. And hell father lucifer and bliss later on. But like I find it annoying how LE is the cool tori album critically.

https://i.imgur.com/CGH6jdS.jpg
15. Marianne
216 points, 6 votes

what a song

Marianne is the peak of a certain type of Tori song (the ever-shifting piano with a little orchestration ballads)

The ultimate Tori song, in some ways.

Amazing song

Yeah a banger. No idea what the opening line means even now.

Some cool quotes here

http://toriforum.proboards.com/thread/4518

https://i.imgur.com/zquOSuE.jpg
14. Doughnut Song
218 points, 8 votes

How cool is it that pj references Tori’s “no angel came” lyric from Juarez on one of her new songs?

(Side point I know)

xp that looks like a decent site thanks Ross.

:) welcome

https://i.imgur.com/SWCG4I5.jpg
13. Hotel
230 points, 8 votes

I thought this was a lock for top 5

give me moooooooooooooore

Wow three of my favourites all in a row.

truly a track that sounds like no one else

https://i.imgur.com/YGWa5UG.jpg
12. Crucify
232 points, 6 votes, 2 #1 votes

the only track to get multiple #1 votes

Surprised by how low yes Anastasia and putting the damage charted

https://i.imgur.com/Ld5mjFM.jpg
11. Tear in Your Hand
242 points, 6 votes

High five fellow Crucify At Number 1 gang. Thought it’d be at least top 3 for sure!

“tear in your hand” was my no. 2

no hopes for my no. 1 placing at this point despite the low ballot count

Tear In Your Hand coming after Mother is such a fantastic moment on Little Earthquakes. it's such a generous song, it's overflowing with melodies

https://i.imgur.com/hFuX2RL.jpg
10. Spark
242 points, 9 votes

one on Choirgirl Hotel where she takes a song that could have easily been on one of her earlier albums as a mostly solo piano song and gives it a perfect full band arrangement that really elevates it to being the peak of that sort of song

https://i.imgur.com/YzSzNYE.jpg
9. Precious Things
258 points, 9 votes

https://i.imgur.com/WYUtb9f.jpg
8. Caught a Lite Sneeze
262 points, 10 votes

So far, top 11 is my-tastes-inclusive. Let's keep it going.

Caught a lite sneeze is such a perfect song

https://i.imgur.com/LkcrDQd.jpg
7. Liquid Diamonds
264 points, 8 votes, 1 #1 vote

Fuck yeah!

Everything about this song screams water
The drum beat is essential n this has some of my favourite jazzy Tori playing

one thing that's really missed from Scarlet's Walk onward is how unconventional her percussion sounds were, especially in Boys for Pele and Choirgirl Hotel. the last two songs really highlight this

lol yeah my no. 1 ain't placing

The drum beat is essential n this has some of my favourite jazzy Tori playing

― Ross, Friday, September 14, 2018 8:27 AM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agreed. i'm also a sucker for live drums over drum machine patterns

the percussion on Caught a Lite Sneeze reminds me a lot of Donkey Kong Country percussion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qp0_NE8M1c

https://i.imgur.com/yrkWB6U.jpg
6. Hey Jupiter
268 points, 11 votes

first tori song that made me cry lol

Hey Jupiter is nice and obviously the little Purple Rain reference rules but it feels relatively ordinary as far as Boys for Pele tracks go so I was a little surprised to see it so high. I'd assumed I'd vote for it but it didn't end up making my ballot

Dakota Version is so much better though and listening to it again now maybe I should have tried to squeeze it in after all

https://i.imgur.com/Nj6sRi7.jpg
5. Winter
270 points, 8 votes, 1 #1 vote

*pours one out for Take to the Sky*

og "hey jupiter" >>> dakota version but i know i'm pretty alone there. that opening chord is so tense and frail and the rest of the song's construction responds to that

shouts out to mick foley's favorite tori song ("winter")

https://i.imgur.com/8sNYPki.jpg
4. Mother
284 points, 8 votes

really happy to see this one so high, it's the heart of Little Earthquakes

https://i.imgur.com/FSFvv1k.jpg
3. Father Lucifer
292 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 vote

my #1

the bridge is her overlapping vocal lines at its very best and the way the first chord of the bridge hits is perfect

WHOA

my no. something but this song has the lightest possible touch for something so devastating

hey

https://i.imgur.com/GRhKhvh.jpg
2. Pretty Good Year
370 points, 12 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://i.imgur.com/ypLyieG.jpg
1. Silent All These Years
404 points, 11 votes, 1 #1 vote

i didn't have much idea what would be #1 before doing the poll but Silent All These Years was my best guess and it's completely deserving. the song that got me into Tori, i was completely blown away the first time i heard it

years go by!

Pretty Good Year was my #1

Wonderful to see "Mother" so high

It's so weird to see Tori's catalogue ranked like this, I'm starting to think she's not a "singles" artist nor an "albums" artist but this kind of "zeitgeist" artist, it's more her entire existence and strategies toward music-making as a whole that I find so important

The first time I listened to "Little Earthquakes" my take-aways from "Crucify" were "the line about 'dirty sheets' is really good and might mean something to me when I'm not 14" and "that clave is really mixed loud" and "this song has one too many choruses". My take-aways from "Girl" were "this snare drum is really boring" and "those MIDI strings are frustrating" and "what do flying pigs dream about?" Then "Silent All These Years" came on for the first time and I just was floored, I don't think I'd ever been so immediately sure that a song was perfect upon first listen as I was when I heard that song.

"silent all these years" if anything is MORE powerful now than when i first heard it

which, i first heard it driving home from the airport with my mom, after visiting my (internet) girlfriend for the first time and it was a nice trip but it was full of the same tensions that would eventually cause me to run away from home at 15 to live with my girlfriend for 10 months and essentially trap myself in a very mentally abusive relationship. but before all that, it was just my mom driving us back home, it was 2001 and for some reason a radio station in las vegas was playing "silent all these years," who can say why, thank god they were though, bc it was the most beautiful song i'd ever heard and it still is

god that paragraph is a mess but y'all get it

"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