Tori Amos

After splitting into five separate personalities for 2007’s American Doll Posse, Tori Amos pulls herself back together again on her latest. The result is a set of prog-inspired balladry with less bounce than her last disc. The plodding ”˜Strong Black Vine’ has Amos saving folks from ”˜that evil faith’ over strings straight out of Zeppelin’s ”˜Kashmir,’ and ”˜Police Me’ is a multitracked mess of percussion, orchestration and New Wave synth lines. Among the standouts: the ballad ”˜Maybe California,’ a tender show of empathy for a mother about to throw herself off a cliff.