Personnel: Tori Amos (vocals, piano, synthesizer); Steve Caton (guitar); Jon Evans (bass); Matt Chamberlain (drums, percussion); Andy Gray (programming).

Engineers: Mark Hawkley, Marcel van Limbeek.

Recorded at Martian Engineering, Cornwall, England. Live tracks recorded in 1998.

TO VENUS AND BACK was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance.

Personnel: Tori Amos (vocals, keyboards, synthesizer); Steve Caton (guitar); John Chamberlain (drums, percussion); Matt Chamberlain (drums); Andy Gray (programming).

Recording information: Martian Engineering, Cornwall E.

Photographer: Loren Haynes.

TO VENUS AND BACK pairs a disc of studio tracks with a disc of live concert recordings. The first disc features some of Amos' most electronic-sounding productions to date. Though her acrobatic singing is given its usual full rein, many of the studio songs feature intricate, effects-rich orchestrations. The album-opening "Bliss" begins as a windswept soundscape, only to open up into a hook-laden chorus. "Juarez" is an intoxicating stew of disembodied voices, roiling synthesizers, and propulsive percussion. "Glory of the '80s" visits a night of drug-fueled hedonism during a decade that defined excess. "Josephine" is a standout track that will appeal to fans of Amos' more open, piano-centered work.

The second disc culls tracks from Amos' 1998 Plugged Tour. The live rendering of "Cornflake Girl" is a particularly stirring affair, noteworthy for Amos' vocal bravura and for the cascading sheets of piano that she adds during the song's climax. Also featured is "Cooling," a track that Amos has never committed to album. No Tori Amos fan will want to be without TO VENUS AND BACK.

Rolling Stone (10/14/99, p.124) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...testifies to just how wide and deep her river runs....[it] is Amos at her most surreal, dreaming of her past, her pain and her desires in supersaturated musical and lyrical color..."

Entertainment Weekly (9/24/99, p.145) - "...this disc is more 'Tori in an Ambient Mood'....it's the most enjoyable listen she's generated in years..." - Rating: B

Q (11/99, p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...her most involving album to date....she only emerges as even more singular a talent, practically unique....The songs of Tori Amos are nothing if not brave."

CMJ (10/18/99, p.32) - "...The studio album contains some of Amos' most introspective songs to date....The live bonus album showcases her more rocking and raw side with hard-hitting renditions of her hits....VENUS should appease anyone looking to scratch that Amos itch."

Mojo (Publisher) (11/99, p.97) - "...This fine, complex record finds [Amos] a little calmer, but no less challenging or controversial. She's threaded a few more beads, several of them gems."