Tori Amos 'American Doll Posse'

Just when the industry seems to be distancing itself from albums — you know, those old-fashioned collections of songs that fit together musically and thematically — Tori Amos has given the big, audacious concept album a motherly embrace. Amos' ninth disc, "American Doll Posse,” delivers five distinct viewpoints on female empowerment as the singer-songwriter tries on guises and delivers her best work in a dozen years.

After the short, direct political screed "Yo George,” Amos proves she has paid attention to younger artists who traveled the trail she blazed: "Big Wheel,” with its powerful message of mature sensuality, takes cues from the funky blues approach of K.T. Tunstall's "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree,” and "Bouncing Off Clouds” is a close cousin to Nellie McKay's disco-fied "Waiter.” But instead of playing catch-up, Amos improves on those earlier notions, investing the styles with deeper emotions.

In the past decade, Amos has veered from obtuse art-rock to too-soft, adult-alternative ballads. But for all its ambition, "American Doll Posse” is surprisingly accessible. She rocks hard and hits her points with unusual force on this disc — "Teenage Hustling” is a huge slab of glam-rock with sharp points on sexuality — and whether her personality is split five ways or united, Amos' "Posse” is worth following.

— George Lang