"Pretty Good Year" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, taken from her second album, '' Under the Pink'' (1994). It was released by

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

as the second single from the album in the United Kingdom on March 7, 1994, and as the fourth single in Australia on November 7, 1994. It was not released in the United States. "Pretty Good Year" became Amos's second single to reach the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number seven.

Critical reception

Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave the song three out of five, saying, "The second single from Amos's chart-topping '' Under the Pink'' album is an alluring, lyricai and lilting slab of introspection. With less appeal than '

Cornflake Girl "Cornflake Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was released on January 10, 1994, by Atlantic and East West Records as the first single from her second studio album, '' Under the Pink'' (1994), in the United Kingdom. In th ...

', it offers a quartet of exclusive songs spread over two CDs by way of compensation." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "Never boring, Tori refuses to follow up the relatively "easy" single 'Cornflake Girl' with another one in the same vein. A sensitive piano ballad is her answer to such expectations."

Track listings

* UK 7-inch vinyl :A. "Pretty Good Year" :B. "Honey" * UK CD1 # "Pretty Good Year" – 3:26 # "Home on the Range" (with Cherokee addition) – 5:24 # "Daisy Dead Petals" – 3:02 * UK CD2 and Australian CD single # "Pretty Good Year" – 3:25 # "Honey" – 3:47 # "Black Swan" – 4:04

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the '' Under the Pink'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at The Fishhouse (New Mexico, US) * Strings recorded at Westlake Studios (Los Angeles) * Mixed at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

(London, England) * Mastered at Gateway Mastering (

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, US) Personnel * Tori Amos – writing, vocals, piano, production * John Philip Shenale – string arrangement * Scott Smalley – conducting * Ezra Kliger – violin * Nancy Roth – violin * John Wittenberg – violin * Francine Walsh – violin * Michael Harrison – violin * Chris Reutinger – violin * Jimbo Ross – viola * Cynthia Morrow – viola * John Acevedo – viola * Nancy Stein-Ross – cello * Dane Little – cello * Melissa Hasin – cello * Dominic Genova – double bass * George Porter Jr. – "hanging out" * Carlo Nuccio – "hanging out" *

Eric Rosse Eric Ivan Rosse is an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and mixer. Rosse started playing piano at age 8, eventually studying orchestration and arranging with Joe Rotundi, Sr. His style is influenced by soul, rock, art pop, and cl ...

– production, programming * John Beverly Jones – recording * Kevin Killen – mixing *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Tori Amos songs 1994 singles 1994 songs East West Records singles Song recordings produced by Eric Rosse Songs written by Tori Amos