The Tom Waits Thread
- Thread starter Jake!
- Start date
4080
Well-Known Member
The Black Rider is WILD, I mean that in the best way possible, it was a hell of a ride! Starts with a wild into then follows it up with something that sort of continues the intro theme but hits you with a line or two that makes you say, wait what?!? Follow that madness by going right into a beautiful song because of course that's the only logical thing to do!! Lots of cool spoken word songs on this, cool if not off kilter instrumental tracks and straight oddball shit! I love it! I think it just started a little wild and like most of his records it quickly finds its groove, I do feel like I'm trying to basically say the same thing about each record over and over again, they are just so damn good I really can't believe the consistency!
Next was Mule Variations, WOW, this one is fantastic! A bit of a throwback to his earlier work, that is until he decides to blow us all away once again with What is He Building? I can't put into words just how amazing this piece is, it's beautiful storytelling, just sitting there wondering if he's talking about a neighbor or talking about himself, just brilliant! The musical accompaniment is perfect adds to the tension and paranoia! This is one hell of a record, i don't have much more to say about it, so many songs you just want to hear over and over again! I was a little surprised by it but it was a pleasant surprise and will be yet another album to add to the rotation!
Next was Mule Variations, WOW, this one is fantastic! A bit of a throwback to his earlier work, that is until he decides to blow us all away once again with What is He Building? I can't put into words just how amazing this piece is, it's beautiful storytelling, just sitting there wondering if he's talking about a neighbor or talking about himself, just brilliant! The musical accompaniment is perfect adds to the tension and paranoia! This is one hell of a record, i don't have much more to say about it, so many songs you just want to hear over and over again! I was a little surprised by it but it was a pleasant surprise and will be yet another album to add to the rotation!
4080
Well-Known Member
Good lord is Blood Money a phenomenal record! I feel like I'm preaching to the choir again but I just have to say how much I truely enjoyed this record! The music feels simple untill you find yourself getting lost in the sound as it's taking you on its own journey! Then you snap back to the lyrics and again are taken on a completely different journey that somehow feels the same! I'm floored by just how much he does not miss!
yukbon
Well-Known Member
that's the thing about waits: as good as think the early albums are, the middle period is either just as good or better. And as good as you think those middle period records are, the latter-day is again, just as good or better. as far as consistently good discographies go, there are remarkably few contenders that have that kind of record. (bon scott era AC/DC doesn't have a bad album. everything the stones did until at least '73. wire up to the hiatus. death until chuck's passing.)
4080
Well-Known Member
That has been one of the most pleasant surprises of this journey, along with the amazing music of course, the consistency throughout so many records is mindblowing! I know a few groups with good to great discographies but none of them are this big and this consistent! Looking forward to finishing up and starting all over again!
4080
Well-Known Member
Alice - beautiful! Just so dark and moody with a beauty that sits with you, invites you in to share in it's misery, happiness, longing and loving so so many emotions! Now let's talk about Kommienezuspadt, holy shit, I was not expecting this! Track is wild and honestly, with any song I don't understand because it's in a different language I just hope it's not problematic!
Real Gone - first and foremost, is there a DJ cutting it up on the opening track? I remember starting to listen to this very recently, at least two people posted this album in one of the monthly challenge threads and that was enough for me to check it, don't think I finished it, might have got a couple of tracks in before life got in the way, again one of those moments where the universe was doing it's best to push me in this direction! Fantastic record as always, Sins of My Father is a motherfucker!!! Wow! 10 minutes and I still wanted more!
Digging into the 3 hours of Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards!
Real Gone - first and foremost, is there a DJ cutting it up on the opening track? I remember starting to listen to this very recently, at least two people posted this album in one of the monthly challenge threads and that was enough for me to check it, don't think I finished it, might have got a couple of tracks in before life got in the way, again one of those moments where the universe was doing it's best to push me in this direction! Fantastic record as always, Sins of My Father is a motherfucker!!! Wow! 10 minutes and I still wanted more!
Digging into the 3 hours of Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards!
yukbon
Well-Known Member
The DJ is his son, Casey waits. Also none machine has primus on two or three tracks (which is how Tom guests as the voice of Tommy the cat on the primus song). Casey also did percussion on the tour that glitter & doom is cut from.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Sei punktlich! Sei punktlich!
Komme nie zu spät means never be late and Sei punktlich means be punctual. Most, if not the rest, of the song is gibberish. Subvocalising he calls it. from a comment on songmeanings.com: "Basically it's the rabbit stressing down the hole as if his life depended on it. Fun song."
Not sure if you're reading up on the albums too, or just listening, but Alice and Blood Money were released on the same day. It was a very good day.
The original version of Real Gone and the Remixed/Remastered (by Waits & Brennan) version from a couple of years ago are quite a bit different from each other in a few places. Both are phenomenal, but worth noting.
4080
Well-Known Member
Just listening, I've been burned so many times reading about records before listening so I stopped that a few years ago! I found it distracting, I'd read about it and something would stand out and that's all I'd listen for or become distracted when they would say it sounds like x and y and I'd be like, what, and spend too much time trying to figure out what they are hearing that I'm not!
I'll probably go back and read about it all after the fact, I have that book recommendation tagged and am looking forward to that! Nowadays I only really will listen to something that is recommended by an actual person, that's why I love this place, I can always find something someone really loves and at least give it a shot vs just reading a glorified press release disguised as a review!
ranbalam
Well-Known Member
Which book? I didn't scroll back to find out.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
This is the way I like to do it l, usually.
It's a great book. I'll second the recommendation. I think he did a great job with it - especially given how much Waits and Brennan engage in "witness tampering" along the way! But it's also entertaining the way he addresses that aspect outright in his finished product. The care at the core of the project goes a long way toward its enjoyability.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
ranbalam
Well-Known Member
Cool, this just made my list!
4080
Well-Known Member
Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards is really good considering it's an odds and ends and unreleased tracks complication! I had to look up why it's 3 hours long! Listened in sections and enjoyed it way more than I usually do with complications like this!
Unrelated but I find it hard to enjoy "deluxe expanded" albums where they throw anything and everything on at the end to pad it out, some tracks are unreleased for a reason and a bunch of demo versions have a better chance of ruining a song for me vs making it better! With that being said I was a little worried about this one but it really works and has me asking why we're these unreleased? If I didn't read about it beforehand I'd just think he wanted to put out a triple album because he had a lot of songs and thought they were all great?
Bad as Me, 7 years later, how the hell is his 17th album this good?!? How often can you say that about an artist? Just picked up his 17th album and it's fantastic! Artists getting to a 17th album is rare enough but it being this good? I think I'll go back and listen to whatever I missed and then start over again!
This has been a wonderful journey and I'm glad you people humoured me throughout!! Glad for the suggestions and I guess now I join the chorus of people wondering where those Island years reissues are?!
I was playing some of his stuff in the car with my wife and she was really enjoying it, was getting into it maybe it's time I introduced her to him properly!
Unrelated but I find it hard to enjoy "deluxe expanded" albums where they throw anything and everything on at the end to pad it out, some tracks are unreleased for a reason and a bunch of demo versions have a better chance of ruining a song for me vs making it better! With that being said I was a little worried about this one but it really works and has me asking why we're these unreleased? If I didn't read about it beforehand I'd just think he wanted to put out a triple album because he had a lot of songs and thought they were all great?
Bad as Me, 7 years later, how the hell is his 17th album this good?!? How often can you say that about an artist? Just picked up his 17th album and it's fantastic! Artists getting to a 17th album is rare enough but it being this good? I think I'll go back and listen to whatever I missed and then start over again!
This has been a wonderful journey and I'm glad you people humoured me throughout!! Glad for the suggestions and I guess now I join the chorus of people wondering where those Island years reissues are?!
I was playing some of his stuff in the car with my wife and she was really enjoying it, was getting into it maybe it's time I introduced her to him properly!
yukbon
Well-Known Member
A lot of them are compilation or soundtrack one offs, like the king Kong daniel johnston cover, or little drop of poison, or philipino box spring hog. They didn't fit or work on an album so they got used elsewhere. This just sort of puts them all together.
Last edited:
yukbon
Well-Known Member
btw here's the alternate version of "little drop of poison" from wim wenders' "end of violence"
The Shrek version is decidedly more tango:
sonicpharmacist
Well-Known Member
I just ordered every Tom Waits cd from Closing Time through Heartattack and Vine because of this thread. Never really explored his early material.
JonnyH
Well-Known Member
It's all so good. I used to pick up any random used Waits CD I'd come across. He never let me down.
4080
Well-Known Member
I've heard Tommy the Cat more than a few times, usually on mushrooms and probably thought it was just Les doing different voices! I also may have confused Tom Waits with John Waite for the longest time, again this was before music was at your fingertips and Missing You was a staple of those late night infomercials with like hits from the 70's or whatever! It always confused me why people thought that guy was so great!