Y Kant Tori Read is the debut and only studio album by American rock band of the same name, fronted by then-unknown singer and songwriter Tori Amos. It was released in 1988 by Atlantic Records. The promo images for the album were shot by rock photographer Aaron Rapoport. The shoot defined the album’s glam-metal/pirate aesthetic—big hair, corset, elbow-length gloves, and the iconic sword across the shoulders seen on the cover.
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| The cover art for the album Y Kant Tori Read by Y Kant Tori Read. |
The band consisted of Amos, singer-pianist Kim Bullard, drummer Matt Sorum who later joined Guns N’ Roses, as well as long-time Amos collaborator guitarist Steve Caton. Due to the title, some critics believed the album was a solo project by a woman named “Tori Read.” This was compounded by the fact that Amos is billed simply as “Tori” in the liner notes.
Amos chose producer Joe Chiccarelli, having admired his work on other albums. According to Chiccarelli in an interview with HitQuarters: “[Tori Amos] had a very strong vision of what she wanted to do on her first album. And despite the lack of success of that album, it was an interesting process because she was very vocal and very passionate about how she wanted it to sound and what her influences were and the emotions she was trying to convey.”
Although Chiccarelli stated that Amos was very happy with the album at the time, Amos has since criticized it, once remarking: “The only good thing about that album is my ankle high boots.”
The eponymous studio album was released in 1988 to poor sales and the band broke up shortly after. Its lack of success and subsequent deletion has made it one of the most sought-after Tori Amos collectibles, fetching upwards of $1,000 in compact disc format in original longbox. At the height of Amos' career, vinyl copies would often sell for between $300–500 but, due to the decline of music collectibles and the heavy bootlegging of the album, they now frequently sell for between $50–80.
In 2017, Amos said she had made peace with the album, and was considering reissuing it in the future. An entirely remastered edition of the album was discreetly released on all digital and streaming services for the first time on September 1, 2017, with no official announcement or promotion. This was followed by a limited physical re-release of the remastered album on CD and transparent orange vinyl by Rhino Records as part of International Record Store Day’s Black Friday exclusive releases on November 24, 2017. This also resulted in a one-week UK chart entry, at #6, on 06 Dec 2017.
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