Editing Strange Little Girls

{{Short description|2001 concept album by Tori Amos}}
{{About|the Tori Amos album|the song|Strange Little Girl}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Strange Little Girls
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Tori Amos]]
| cover      = StrangeLittleGirls.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = {{start date|2001|09|18}}
| recorded   = February–July 2001
| venue      =
| studio     =
*Martian Studios, [[Cornwall]]
*The Nut Ranch, Los Angeles
| genre      = <!-- Do not add unsourced genres -->
| length     = {{duration|m=62|s=09}}
| label      = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
| producer   = [[Tori Amos]]
| prev_title = [[To Venus and Back]]
| prev_year  = 1999
| next_title = [[Scarlet's Walk]]
| next_year  = 2002
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        = Strange Little Girls
 | type        = cover
 | single1     = [[Strange Little Girl]]
 | single1date = October 9, 2001
}}
}}
{{Album reviews
| MC         = 65/100<ref name="meta">{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/strange-little-girls/tori-amos |title=Reviews for ''Strange Little Girls'' by Tori Amos |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=August 13, 2015}}</ref>
| rev1       = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score  = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/strange-little-girls-mw0000011921 |title=''Strange Little Girls'' – Tori Amos |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=August 13, 2015 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref>
| rev2       = ''[[Alternative Press (magazine)|Alternative Press]]''
| rev2Score  = 7/10<ref>{{cite journal |title=Tori Amos: ''Strange Little Girls'' |journal=[[Alternative Press (magazine)|Alternative Press]] |issue=160 |date=November 2001 |page=74}}</ref>
| rev3       = ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]''
| rev3Score  = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2001-11-02/83505/ |title=Tori Amos: ''Strange Little Girls'' (Atlantic) |work=[[The Austin Chronicle]] |date=November 2, 2001 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |last=Gray |first=Christopher}}</ref>
| rev4       = ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]''
| rev4Score  = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=818 |title=Tori Amos: ''Strange Little Girls'' |journal=[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]] |issue=3 |date=September 2001 |access-date=January 28, 2016 |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine |page=120 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050413041539/http://blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=818 |archive-date=April 13, 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev5       = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
| rev5Score  = B<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2001/09/14/strange-little-girls |title=Strange Little Girls |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=September 14, 2001 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |last=Morgan |first=Laura |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407135309/https://ew.com/article/2001/09/14/strange-little-girls/ |archive-date=April 7, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev6       = ''[[The Guardian]]''
| rev6Score  = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/sep/14/shopping.popandrock |title=Masked ball |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 14, 2001 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |author-link=Alexis Petridis}}</ref>
| rev7       = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev7Score  = {{Rating|2.5|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-16-ca-46241-story.html |title=Tori Amos 'Strange Little Girls' Atlantic |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=September 16, 2001 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |last=Nichols |first=Natalie}}</ref>
| rev8       = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev8Score  = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=Tori Amos: ''Strange Little Girls'' |journal=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |issue=182 |date=October 2001 |page=116}}</ref>
| rev9       = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev9score  = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/strange-little-girls-20010904 |title=Strange Little Girls |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=September 4, 2001 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke}}</ref>
| rev10      = ''[[Slant Magazine]]''
| rev10score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/tori-amos-strange-little-girls |title=Tori Amos: ''Strange Little Girls'' |work=[[Slant Magazine]] |date=September 5, 2001 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |last=Cinquemani |first=Sal}}</ref>
}}

'''''Strange Little Girls'''''  is a [[concept album]] released by singer-songwriter [[Tori Amos]] in 2001. The album's 12 tracks are covers of songs written and originally performed by men, reinterpreted by Amos from a female point of view. Amos created female personae for each track (one song featured twins) and was photographed as each, with makeup done by [[Kevyn Aucoin]]. In the United States the album was issued with four alternative covers depicting Amos as the characters singing "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "Strange Little Girl", "Time", and "Raining Blood". A fifth cover of the "I Don't Like Mondays" character was also issued in the UK and other territories. Text accompanying the photos and songs was written by author [[Neil Gaiman]]. The complete short stories in which this text appears can be found in Gaiman's 2006 collection ''[[Fragile Things]]''.

As with Amos's previous two studio albums, the cover album was recorded at her [[Cornwall]] studio. The album received mixed reviews upon its release in September 2001 with critics largely seeing the album as a mixed bag, praising the unlikely re-workings of [[Eminem]]'s "[['97 Bonnie & Clyde]]" and [[Slayer]]'s "[[Raining Blood]]", while panning the versions of [[the Beatles]]' "[[Happiness Is a Warm Gun]]" and [[Neil Young]]'s "[[Heart of Gold (Neil Young song)|Heart of Gold]]". Amos also tackled songs by artists such as [[Tom Waits]], [[the Velvet Underground]], [[Depeche Mode]], and [[the Stranglers]].

The album's greatest attention was garnered from Amos's cover of Eminem's "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", a [[Hip hop music|rap]] song.  The album's cover of "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" was translated into a discussion on the [[right to bear arms]], and included soundbites from both [[George W. Bush]] and [[George H. W. Bush]], as well as from Amos's own minister father. The album entered the charts at US No. 4, selling 111,000 copies, making it her third album to debut in the US Top 10, her second-highest debut in terms of sales,<ref>{{cite magazine | title = Jay-Z's 'Blueprint' Enters Second Week at No. 1 | magazine =[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | url =http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/78287/jay-zs-blueprint-enters-second-week-at-no-1 | access-date =September 27, 2001}}</ref> and her best position in the US for almost six years.

"[[I Don't Like Mondays]]" was featured in Season 4 of ''[[The West Wing]]'' in the episode "[[20 Hours in America|20 Hours in America Part 2]]".

A planned commercial EP "[[Strange Little Girl]]" (originally by the Stranglers), including "[[After All (David Bowie song)|After All]]" (originally by [[David Bowie]]) and "[[Only Women Bleed]]" (originally by [[Alice Cooper]]), was pulled from shelves soon after being shipped to stores in Europe. Despite being recalled from the shelves, limited copies of the single were sold and a promotional video was made.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}

Additionally, Amos later acknowledged that she had attempted to reinterpret four other songs that she "couldn't find her way into." They were "[[Fear of a Black Planet]]" by [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]], "[[Hoover Factory]]" by [[Elvis Costello]], "I'm Sick of You" by [[Iggy Pop]] and "Marlene Dietrich's Favorite Poem" by [[Peter John Murphy|Peter Murphy]]. These tracks have not been released.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wP3xiglTL2EC&pg=PA107 | title=Pretty Good Years: A Biography of Tori Amos | publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation | author=Jacobs, Jay S. | year=2006 | page=107| isbn=9781423400226 }}</ref> She also mentioned later in a 2012 interview that, with drummer [[Matt Chamberlain]], she had recorded "[[Growin' Up (song)|Growin' Up]]" by [[Bruce Springsteen]] for this album, but it has also not been released although she has played it live.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=PopMatters|title=The Most Wanted Unreleased Tori Amos Music, PopMatters|url=https://www.popmatters.com/163874-the-most-wanted-unreleased-tori-amos-music-2495809707.html|access-date=2021-09-10|website=PopMatters|date=October 5, 2012|language=en-US}}</ref>

Amos received two 2002 [[Grammy]] nominations: [[Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance|Female Rock Vocal Performance]] for "Strange Little Girl", and [[Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance|Alternative Music Performance]] for the album.

==Track listing==
{{tracklist
| total_length    = 62:09
| extra_column    = Original artist
| title1          = [[New Age (Velvet Underground song)|New Age]]
| extra1          = [[The Velvet Underground]]
| length1         = 4:37
| writer1         = [[Lou Reed]]
| title2          = [['97 Bonnie & Clyde|{{-'}}97 Bonnie & Clyde]]
| extra2          = [[Eminem]]
| writer2         = [[Eminem|Marshall Mathers]], [[Jeff Bass]], [[Bass Brothers|Mark Bass]]
| length2         = 5:46
| title3          = [[Strange Little Girl]]
| extra3          = [[The Stranglers]]
| writer3         = [[Jet Black|Brian Duffy]], [[Dave Greenfield]], [[Hans Wärmling]], [[Hugh Cornwell]], [[Jean-Jacques Burnel]]
| length3         = 3:50
| title4          = [[Enjoy the Silence]]
| extra4          = [[Depeche Mode]]
| length4         = 4:10
| writer4         = [[Martin Gore]]
| title5          = [[I'm Not in Love]]
| extra5          = [[10cc]]
| length5         = 5:39
| writer5         = [[Eric Stewart]], [[Graham Gouldman]]
| title6          = [[Rattlesnakes (song)|Rattlesnakes]]
| extra6          = [[Lloyd Cole and the Commotions]]
| length6         = 3:59
| writer6         = [[Lloyd Cole]], [[Neil Clark (musician)|Neil Clark]]
| title7          = [[Time (Tom Waits song)|Time]]
| extra7          = Tom Waits
| length7         = 5:23
| writer7         = [[Tom Waits]]
| title8          = [[Heart of Gold (Neil Young song)|Heart of Gold]]
| extra8          = Neil Young
| length8         = 4:00
| writer8         = [[Neil Young]]
| title9          = [[I Don't Like Mondays]]
| extra9          = [[The Boomtown Rats]]
| length9         = 4:21
| writer9         = [[Bob Geldof]]; [[Johnnie Fingers]]
| title10         = [[Happiness Is a Warm Gun]]
| extra10         = [[The Beatles]]
| length10        = 9:55
| writer10        = [[John Lennon]], [[Paul McCartney]]
| title11         = [[Raining Blood]]
| extra11         = [[Slayer]]
| length11        = 6:22
| writer11        = [[Jeff Hanneman]], [[Kerry King]]
| title12         = [[Real Men (song)|Real Men]]
| extra12         = Joe Jackson
| length12        = 4:07
| writer12        = [[Joe Jackson (musician)|Joe Jackson]]
}}

===B-sides===
Like most of Amos' albums, this one also features B-sides on its singles, but this time only two were released.

{|class="wikitable"
! Title
! Writer(s)
! Original artist
! Single
|-
| "[[After All (David Bowie song)|After All]]"
| [[David Bowie]]
| David Bowie
| "Strange Little Girl" (2001)
|-
| "[[Only Women Bleed]]"
| [[Alice Cooper]], [[Dick Wagner]]
| Alice Cooper
| "Strange Little Girl" (2001)
|-
|}

==Personnel==
*Tori Amos – lead vocals, [[Wurlitzer electric piano|Wurlitzer]], [[Bösendorfer]], [[Rhodes piano|Rhodes]], [[ARP Instruments|ARP]]
*[[Matt Chamberlain]] – drums, [[military drum]], taos drums
*[[Adrian Belew]] – guitars (tracks 1, 3, 8, 10, 12), Drill guitar (track 5), acoustic guitar and rattlesnake (track 6)
*[[Justin Meldal-Johnsen]] – [[bass guitar]] tracks 1, 3, 8; "bass painting" tracks 5, 11
*[[John Philip Shenale]] – music arrangements and performance (track 2), strings and synths (track 4)
*Jon Evans – [[bass guitar]] (tracks 4, 6, 9, 10, 12)
*Dr. Edison Amos, Daniel Bocking, [[George W. Bush]], [[George H. W. Bush]] – voices (track 10)
*M & M – additional guitars, string pads (track 6)

==Charts==

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (2001)
! Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Australia|7|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Austria|18|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Flanders|6|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Wallonia|24|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|BillboardCanada|8|artist=Tori Amos|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Denmark|16|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Netherlands|27|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Finland|16|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|France|26|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Germany4|11|id=3806|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Ireland|21|year=2001|week=38|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Italy|11|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Norway|13|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Scotland|17|artist=Tori Amos|rowheader=true|date=September 29, 2001}}
|-
{{album chart|Sweden|32|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Switzerland|34|artist=Tori Amos|album=Strange Little Girls|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|UK|16|artist=Tori Amos|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|4|artist=Tori Amos|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 2, 2016}}
|-
! scope="row"|[[European Top 100 Albums|European Albums]] (''[[Music & Media|Eurotipsheet]]'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2001/MM-2001-10-06.pdf|title=European Hot 100 Albums|magazine=[[Music & Media|Eurotipsheet]]|volume=19|issue=41|date=6 October 2001|page=16|oclc=29800226|via=World Radio History}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|14
|}

===Sales===
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|artist=Tori Amos|title=Strange little girls|nocert=true|type=album|region=United States|salesamount=395,000|salesref=<ref name="Billboard">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1045442/ask-billboard|title = Ask Billboard|magazine = [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]}}</ref>|access-date=July 4, 2012}}
{{table end}}

== See also ==

* ''[[Male (Natalie Imbruglia album)|Male]]'', a 2015 album by [[Natalie Imbruglia]] with a similar concept

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{Metacritic album}}

{{Tori Amos}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2001 albums]]
[[Category:2000s covers albums]]
[[Category:Tori Amos albums]]
[[Category:2000s concept albums]]
[[Category:Atlantic Records albums]]