The Woman's Boat

House of Hope	Union	Ultimate Collection	Lay Down Your Pain	Ancient Heart
The Very Best of Toni Childs	Safe Trip Home (Amazon.co.uk Review) Safe Trip Home, the third album from singer-songwriter Dido, sees the chanteuse cook up a slightly different ambience than on previous albums No Angel (1999) and Life for Rent (2003). Though her signature elements remain in place--the limited, slightly crack...	Under the Pink Under the Pink was Tori Amos' follow-up to the sensationally successful Little Earthquakes and demonstrates that she had by no means run out of faeries and demons to sport with. Amos herself describes it as her "impressionistic" album--her piano playing is perfectly attuned to th...	Tracy Chapman One of the most striking debut albums ever released, this disc instantly established Chapman as a musical force, and with good reason. Immediacy, integrity of purpose, and unqualified artistry are apparent in nearly every song. And while "Fast Cars" remains Chapman's best-know...	The Turn British pop icon Alison Moyet returns with her first solo album in four years and a highly anticipated Yaz summer reunion tour. Critically acclaimed in the UK, The Turn will reintroduce her to this side of the pond at "her most fabulous" as noted by The Guardian. Showcasing v...

If Pink Floyd consisted of feminists
WITH SOME HELP FROM KING CRIMSON Released in 1994, this is Toni Child's third and last album. It is 63 minutes long and the sound quality is very good. This sounds like something Roger Waters would have written if he were a feminist. It is along the lines of his Amused To Death or Pink Floyd's Final Cut. It is a concept album that moves through the life of a woman. For the most part, all songs are strong and could work on their own. Except for 2 songs, nothing seems like a filler or bridge to keep the concept going. The last song does tend to drag on a little, but it is death, which can also drag on. Childs has a unique vocal style which some might not like. At times, it sounds like she is singing with her mouth full. Childs was on David and David's only album, Boomtown and was rumored to have replaced Teri Nunn in Berlin for a short period after Nunn left the group, but it continued on to play a few concerts.

Great Experience
I got this when it came out (and saw Toni perform it live) and just picked it up again. As an experience, it's really great. It hasn't aged in a decade. But...I think my library would be incomplete without all of her Albums (the best of's are fine but each full work has an arc...not just a collection of hits). It is an album you need to listen to 10+ times to have it sink in...she's one of the few artists I have that kind of patience for.

I'm killing myself with drink. I'm killing myself to think. I didn't tell you I cared.
A HEARTBEAT. A HEARTBEAT CEASES. EVERYTHING INBETWEEN. GO TO SLEEP PRECEDES LET ME WELCOME YOU TO THIS WORLD. AND, YES, THERE'LL BE DAY AND NIGHT. A WILD BRIDE LIVES, OWNING HER SEXUALITY. PREDATORS ABOUND. IN SPITE OF IT, WE FIND HER ALLOWING BIRTH AND THE THUNDER INSIDE OF HER. CAN SHE TEAR BACK THE VEILS THAT ARE HERE? YES. SHE DOES. LAYING DOWN HER PAIN BECAUSE SOMETIMES HAVING YOU HERE FEELS GOOD, YET IT'S THE FEAR THAT IS SO REAL. AND THEN IT'S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE. GOODBYE TO ALL THE THINGS WE'VE SAID AND CRIED. LASTLY, THE LOVE SHE COULDN'T SAY, BUT SHE WANTS TO SAY IT NOW. I do not want to say goodbye to this album, so I have not. I have played it often for over ten years now. These are sentiments that no one can bid farewell to. . .and in spite of life's pain and sugarsickness, who would want to?

Not her best
This was probably her most overlooked album, and for good reason. It's clearly not her best. I got it when it first came out, without listening to it, didn't like it, got rid of it, then saw it again years later in a store for .99, gave it another try, and realized why I got rid of it. It can't hold a candle to the brilliance of Union or House Of Hope.

Toni hits the wall
Toni Childs' first release, Union, was a breath of fresh air in an era when so much of mainstream women's rock was just all the same (how many Mariah Carries does one really need, after all). Toni's deep and resonant voice came crashing through with sensitivity, power, and heat. Her sophomore effort, house of hope, was one in which the walls started to get rickity. Not the same power or sensitivity, but still some good stuff. This was the only one of her three major releases I simply threw away. It simply makes you want to pray for Toni's healing, not for another release. It turns out, this appears to have been her last.