Tom Waits Appreciation Thread

TelePaul

He is your god. Bow down!!!

John

Personally I think he's gotten rather boring lately. If I hear him beat box or do another spoken word piece like "What's He Building?" or whatever it's called I'll scream. I wasn't hot on Real Gone and only enjoyed about half of what was on Orphans. So I won't be bowing

parasite

yes, he is our God, though I do agree his latter work can seem a bit of a homage to himself. I sometimes feel i could write my own waits song, some circuses, strange mid-western town names, carnivals, hammers, animals, liquor and whatnot. That said, he still does amazing stuff, 'hoist that rag' off real gone is one of the greatest things ever, just listen to marc ribot's solo :eek:

Steve_o

Just look at my signature!!!!! I love Tom Waits!!!

loyatemu

parasite wrote:

yes, he is our God, though I do agree his latter work can seem a bit of a homage to himself. I sometimes feel i could write my own waits song, some circuses, strange mid-western town names, carnivals, hammers, animals, liquor and whatnot. That said, he still does amazing stuff, 'hoist that rag' off real gone is one of the greatest things ever, just listen to marc ribot's solo :eek:

yes - "Hoist that rag" is fantastic. There is an element of him repeating himself on recent albums but when he nails it he's untouchable. The first disk (Brawlers) of "Orphans" is great, the other 2 are a bit patchy (the maudlin ballads are ok when mixed with other stuff, but a whole disk of them (Bawlers) is a bit much).

catch--22

Closing Time is one of the great albums!

smackbunnybaby

loyatemu wrote:

yes - "Hoist that rag" is fantastic. There is an element of him repeating himself on recent albums but when he nails it he's untouchable. The first disk (Brawlers) of "Orphans" is great, the other 2 are a bit patchy (the maudlin ballads are ok when mixed with other stuff, but a whole disk of them (Bawlers) is a bit much).

i would say the exact opposite. cd 1 is poor in my opinion and cd 2 and 3 are great. but sure thats the beauty of Tom Waits and his many directions.

JLemmon

Subtitle on this thread should be
"What are they writing in there?"
Waits = Legend
My favs of what I've heard are Closing time, Raindogs and Swordfishtrombones
bone machine is ok as is small change and mule variations
Love his sense of invention and willingness to try anything to make music

Jimi-Spandex

I love Tom Waits. Heartattack & Vine is my favourite album, I like some of his recent stuff, Blood Money was a quality album. Didn't rate Real Gone that highly but "hoist that rag" was a great tune. Amazing solo as someone already mentioned.

dream brother

His live album Nighthawks at the diner is my favourite. really laid back feel about it! Nice.....

lordgoat

Ah Tom Waits where do you begin. Closing Time, Heart of Sat Night, Heart Attack and Vine ,all great albums

Then Franks Wild Years, Blood Money, Alice, Real Gone all great in a different way.

I've listened to Orphans and I haven't really gotten it yet, i put that down to it is a tough one to find the time to dit with and listen to or maybe i'm just a bit busy at the moment.

Either Tom Waits has left a musical legacy that few will equal.

DadaKopf

John wrote:

Personally I think he's gotten rather boring lately. If I hear him beat box or do another spoken word piece like "What's He Building?" or whatever it's called I'll scream. I wasn't hot on Real Gone and only enjoyed about half of what was on Orphans. So I won't be bowing

Yup, I'm with you on this.

What he's doing is still good and all, but I can't really get excited about the new stuff. Most of the time, depending on my mood, I'll go back and listen to Closing Time, Small Change, Swordfishtrombones, Frank's Wild Years (my favourite), the Black Rider or Bone Machine. Mule Variations is still tops, but from then on, it's downhill for me.

Although, watching the Danish production of Woyzeck with his songs is a great memory, but I just can't get into Blood Money.

ogy

he probably is a bit past it but felt the need to defend real gone i think its brilliant and i love the waits-ribot combination