Boys for Pele

Released in 1996, “Boys For Pele” is one of the more infamous albums. Released on January 22, 1996, it debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. This makes Boys For Pele her highest charting album to date. This is the first time Tori Amos self-produced an album.

Written and recorded following Tori Amos’s break-up with her longtime boyfriend/collaborator Eric Rosse, “Boys For Pele” (named after the famed volcano Goddess), details the sordid details of the breakup and it’s aftermath. Infamous for it’s cryptic lyrics, the album covers the breakup and it’s impact on Amos as she seeks to find her own way following the breakup.

The album spawned five singles (Caught A Light Sneeze, Hey Jupiter, Talula, Professional Widow, and In The Springtime of His Voodoo); three of of which (Talula, Hey Jupiter, and Professional Widow) were released as heavily altered remixes. The remix of Talula was included on the soundtrack for the 1996 movie “Twister” and proved to be a minor hit for Amos, leading to her label removing the original version and replacing it with the remix. The single remix for “Hey Jupiter” would receive it’s own EP while the remix of Professional Widow would be released as a stand-alone single. The lead single of the album also holds the distinction of being one of the first songs to be made available online for streaming.

With “Boys For Pele”, Tori Amos produced a rather stripped down album with lyrics about her break-up, along with the struggle of recovering from said break-up. Songs also dealt with creative issues, with Tori singing of her struggling to record her album without her longtime lover’s help, along with small town murder (Little Amsterdam), death (Marrianne and Not the Red Baron), her rivalry with Courtney Love over Trent Reznor (Professional Widow), and sexism in Islam (Mohammed My Friend). .