Gold Dust is the thirteenth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos, released on October 1, 2012, by Deutsche Grammophon and Mercury Classics. The album is produced by Amos with arrangements by long-time collaborator John Philip Shenale. Inspired by and following in a similar vein as Amos's previous effort, the classical music album Night of Hunters (2011), Gold Dust features some of her previously released alternative rock and baroque pop songs re-worked in an orchestral setting. The material for Gold Dust, consisting of songs selected by Amos spanning almost her entire catalogue at the time, from Little Earthquakes (1992) through Midwinter Graces (2009), was recorded with the Metropole Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley.
Background The stimulus to Gold Dust was a concert where Amos performed with the Metropole Orchestra as part of a "Week of the Metropole" series. The concert, performed at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam on October 8, 2010, was the first orchestral concert of Amos's career, and set the stage for recording the tracks that would comprise Gold Dust.
The project commemorates the 20th anniversary of the release of her debut solo album Little Earthquakes, as well as the music released since then. The collection has autobiographical leanings, with Amos opting for songs that represent a personal narrative instead of including a string of singles. Of the songs included in the project, Amos said, "[they are] a collection of new studio recordings of where they are now and who they have become". Gold Dust mostly consists of songs culled from the 2010 Metropole Orchestra concert. While the original set list from the concert focused heavily on Amos's then-recent holiday album, Midwinter Graces, the focus for Gold Dust shifts with four of the album's 14 tracks from the Little Earthquakes era. In addition, three songs which were not performed during the concert were reworked for orchestra and added to extend the span of the collection over Amos's music catalogue.
Critical reception
American Songwriter gave a glowing review of Gold Dust, stating that often Amos improves upon original versions of the songs and praising her skills as a musician, vocalist, and tunesmith.
Track listing
Personnel
Tori Amos – vocals, Bösendorfer piano, record producer John Philip Shenale – arrangements Jules Buckley – conductor Janine Abbas – Flute Jascha Albracht – cello Julia Jowett – viola Jan Oosting – trombone Juliane Gralle – bass trombone Jos Beeren – clarinet, saxophone Joke Schonewille – harp Karen Binns – stylist Max Boeree – clarinet, saxophone Ruud Breuls – trumpet Ray Bruinsma – trumpet Polina Cekov – violin Marie-Cécile de Wit – Flute Martijn DeLaat – trumpet Tjerk DeVos – Contrabass Lucja Domski – violin Casper Donker – violin Paul van der Feen – clarinet, saxophone Wim Grin – cello Mark Hawley – engineer, mixer Henk Heijink – artistic producer Mieke Honingh – viola Pieter Hunfeld – French horn Maarten Jansen – cello Norman Jansen – viola Leo Janssen – clarinet, saxophone Murk Jiskoot – percussion Sarah Koch – violin Dennis Koenders – violin Wim Kok – violin Pauline Koning – violin Eddy Koopman – percussion Roel Koster – French horn Vera Laporeva – violin Danielle Levitt – cover photo, photography Arend Liefkes – contrabass Elizabeth Liefkes-Cats – violin Willem Luijt – Oboe Ruben Margarita – violin Dennis Martin – photography Dirk Overeem – assistant engineer Isabella Petersen – viola Bert Pfeiffer – trombone Marijn Rombout – violin Arlia de Ruiter – violin Martin De Ruiter – oboe Marc Scholten – clarinet, saxophone Iris Schut – viola Sean Mosher-Smith – photography Jasper Soffers – keyboards Annie Tangberg – cello Jos Teeken – cello Seija Teeuwen – violin Pauline Terlouw – violin Martin van den Berg – bass trombone Mariël Van Den Bos – flute Vera Van Der Bie – violin Marianne Van Den Heuvel – violin Herman Van Haaren – violin Feyona van Iersel – violin Bart Van Lier – trombone Marcel Van Limbeek – engineer, mixer Emile Visser – cello Hans Vroomans – keyboards Frank Wardenier – percussion Eric Winkelmann – contrabass
Charts The chart below lists the peak positions for Gold Dust on various music charts around the world. Chart (2012)PeakpositionAustralian Albums (ARIA)60UK Albums (OCC)36US Billboard 20063US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)16US Top Classical Albums (Billboard)3US Billboard Top Rock Albums (Billboard)25US Top Tastemakers (Billboard)23
References
External links Tori Amos official website Tori Amos official Facebook page