Regina Spektor vs. Tori Amos

So I've been asked a lot who I prefer, Regina Spektor or Tori Amos. The answer is quite clear, in my opinion: Tori Amos.

Now hey, before you look away, and automatically assume I'm going to start bashing Regina Spektor, you might want to consider reading this.

Let me start by saying that I appreciate both of these women and their ability to create unique and beautiful music. I've also been up for more than 18 hours, so this may be incoherent ramblings that will need fixing later.

To the meat. . . (or tofu? :] )

        Although I don't like stereotyping or placing genre's on music, I do find them to be convenient vehicle for a musical review. I think perhaps the only things that might put these two in the same area of the music spectrum is that they both play a piano, write their own lyrics, and sing. Although they are similar in these regards, they differ quite largely at a closer look.

        Tori Amos has a truly unique vocal style, which includes a lot of almost nasal-style vocals, and long notes that play on the break of her lower and upper range. Amos tends to rely heavily on her strength as a pianist, and also uses non-traditional vocal styles, as demonstrated in "Iieee". She utilizes that seductive femininity in her voice mixed with her own vocal production (which I'll address later) Regina Spektor's stylings, like Amos' are also unique, in that they also tend to break songstress norms, like that of other contemporary pianists (A Fine Frenzy, Kate Nash, Fiona Apple, etc.) Spektor utilizes her ability to create sounds with her voice, as displayed in songs like, "Somedays" and "Lounge". They create a bizarre infusion that are reminiscent of Amos' blatant ethereal oddness. As I grew up, I listened to a lot of Tori Amos, as it was readily available. Amos became popular in the late 80's and throughout much of the 90's with hits like "Cornflake Girl" and "God", which I often heard on days that my mom would clean the house. These songs are refreshing to me and quite strong.

        Another way that the two pianist differ stylistically is within their own genre. Amos, like Madonna, attempts to push the boundaries of her musical arsenal by shifting styles from album to album. She began as a soft-spoken pianist with a crushingly honest debut album, "Little Earthquakes", which houses two my personal favorites, "Winter" and "Silent All These Years". She shifts to a more electronically influenced album with "(Songs) From The Choir-girl Hotel", before shifting back to her outspoken fiery red-headed self on "Under the Pink" wherein she refers to Lucifer as her father. Her debut album, "Little Earthquakes" may be the closest to Spektor's style, in that it's simple, honest, and focuses mainly on her ability to accompany a piano so skillfully. The album itself sounds nothing like Spektor though. I'd say Amos' "American Doll Posse" would maybe hold over the Spektor fan. It's a more modern approach at a style Amos has mastered. The album itself is more upbeat, and brought Amos back into the mainstream, with bubbly hits like "Bouncing Clouds" that conjure up Spektor's "On The Radio" but misses the train towards pop with the rhythmic shift of the dual piano playing (a skill that Spektor never uses, or so I'm not aware of).

        Spektor utilizes her lower range, and hooks on the to the pop mainstream in surefire hits like, "The Calculation" and "Fidelity" but she has a pure and honest voice that makes songs like "Eet" so Spektacular :) Amos's voice to me sounds like its in her nasal passage, or higher up in her throat, and it works for her, and I don't think it would for Regina. Regina has a deeper voice, and to me I imagine an O shape formed in her mouth, and its very rich and full. Tori is the original Goth who's recent album "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" and is drenched in the sludge of emotion in songs like, "Abnormally Attracted to Sin", however Regina too can be somber, but with a much less dramatic approach. Spektor's music is much less metaphorical at times, but it works for her. In songs like "Eet" lyrics like,

"Someone's deciding whether or not to steal.
He opens a window just to feel the chill.
He hears that outside a small boy just started to cry
'Cause it's his turn, but his brother won't let him try.

These lyrics are simple, but they cause a bond between Spektor and the listener. Perhaps because she so simplistically, and skillfully paints a picture in our heads.

        I'm not sure I'm really getting anywhere with this, but I meant to aim in the direction that although I prefer Tori Amos over Regina Spektor, I find them to be equally great in their own ways, but I had to have some reasoning behind it. I'm going to stop rambling, and I'll also probably edit this later on...