This sounds a bit familiar! Sounds like...

Tori.

Partly because of the fact I was 6 when Tori Amos released the little masterpiece that goes by 'Little Earthquakes', partly because her music is largely inaccessible, it wasn't until recently that I got to appreciate her work and understand what a brilliant artist, songwriter, piano player, singer, performer and mind she is. I was anticipating with great excitement the first Tori Amos album that would be released after my enlarged familiarity with her work. After 10-15 listens of 'Abnormally Attracted To Sin', the artist's 10th album in her long and luscious legacy has left me abnormally attracted to the pause button.

If this album had been released by anyone else, especially an emerging artist, it would have been a great success. It demonstrates great talent, composing ability, innovation and a few potential 'hits'. Coming from Tori, I believe it is a disappointment. Long gone are the masterful piano solos, the soulful, angry singing and the passion and emotion that characterized her most successful work. Welcome To England is the first standout song, but compared to the mega-hit of her previous album, Bouncing Off Clouds, it seems to be lacking something. Together with Curtain Call, they are the most memorable and promoted tracks of the album, but 2 out of 17 songs is not a good success ratio. There are a few more good tracks thrown in there, but most could just be described as simply bearable. Even though Tori has explained numerous times why she doesn't release B-sides and puts everything in one album, she seems to overrule the option of omitting some of the songs from her overall discography. Unless she has a masterplan for Abnormally Attracted To Sin, one that will surface after a few extra dozens of listens of the album. But the general impression I am getting now is that Tori has seemingly sacrificed her old style for something that could be described as "sleek overproduction". Yes, some chord progressions caught me by surprise, making me thing 'That's interesting', but that was it. She remains a lyrical genius, but you still need music to draw attention to the lyrics.

Other reviews on the album have been mixed, and one can understand why. This is not everyone's cup of tea. First Trent Reznor getting engaged and putting Nine Inch Nails on the shelf, now Tori settling into domestic bliss and forgetting how to punch those angry chords and yell into the microphone while f*cking that Bosendorfer's brains out.