Well, I haven’t done this in a while but we are way overdue for a Tom Waits thread. I have been a fan of his for quite some time and I have about eleven of his albums. He came back with a force with the terrific Orphans triple disc that landed on many year end-lists in 2006. He has a slew of great albums and all of them are tremendous pieces of music, If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Swordfishtrombones.

This is a place to choose your favorite Tom Waits album, talk about all of his music and anything Tom Waits related.

Question:
Which is your favorite Tom Waits release?

Choices:
Closing Time
The Heart of Saturday Night
Small Change
Blue Valentine
One from the Heart (w/ Crystal Gayle)
Swordfishtrombones
Rain Dogs
Frank's Wild Years
Bone Machine
Mule Variations
Alice
Blood Money
Real Gone
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

 

You forgot The Black Rider.

I'd probably go with the ubiquitous Rain Dogs as my favorite, although Bone Machine is a close second in my book. I don't think that album gets enough praise for being the excellent album that it is.

i've been interested in the man for a long time but have had a hard time getting into his music, that voice is just so difficult to get used to.
Alice is the first album i listened to (because i'm a big Alice in Wonderland) and therefore more familiar with. I've listened to Swordfishtrombone & Rain Dogs once or twice but i'd read those were his "classics". Also have Orphans but haven't listened to it yet. But i'm keeping those on top of my pile because it just sounds so different and challenging therefore interesting.

I'm looking forward to reading your opinions

The Black Rider is not one of my favorites by him so that’s why I left it off, no one’s voted yet but if more people want it on the poll, I’ll add it.

I also really like Alice and the title track off that album is one of my favorite songs of his, all time. That’s mostly due to the fact that I really like the saxophone part on it.

I’ve seen a lot of people mention Bone Machine as a highly regarded album of his. I know everyone loves Rain Dogs but I would take the former over the latter, slightly.

I'd rate Bone Machine as one of my favourite albums, the ballads are amazing and Murder in The Red Barn is in my top ten songs.

My biggest disappointment was Mule Variations, which always seemed to me to be a rehash of Bone Machine but with weaker material and lazy arrangements. Maybe I just need to listen to it more.

Hey, I was thinking about making this! I wasn't sure where to put it. I think we don't do too much discussion of older artists/albums beyond lists in General Discussion, so this is a step in the right direction. I've recently fell deep in love with Rain Dogs, so that's going to have to get my vote, but maybe I can get an idea of what to get next from him from the poll results and comments here.

I'm with you FKA.
Swordfishtrombones is probably my favourite...but hell, I love nearly everything he's done, save his Coppola s/track.

Musically and lyrically, he's desert island quality!

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
The Black Rider is not one of my favorites by him so that’s why I left it off, no one’s voted yet but if more people want it on the poll, I’ll add it.

I wouldn't say it's a favorite, but I like it better than most of his pre-Swordfishtrombones stuff.

It's a somewhat atypical Waits release, because the songs were written for a play created by Robert Wilson and William S. Burroughs. Burroughs wrote a lot of the lyrics for the album, and even provides vocals for "T'ain't No Sin."

It's pretty clear Waits was trying to channel the work of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill when he wrote the songs for this play, which was based on a German folk tale. Several years ago I saw a stage adaptation of Brecht and Weill's Three Penny Opera (which gave the world "Mack The Knife") and I was like, "Whoa, this sounds just like The Black Rider."

There are some terrific songs here, including "Lucky Day", "November", and the weird title track, which Waits fan Frank Black liked so much, he covered it twice.

quote:

Posted by EricG75
Several years ago I saw a stage adaptation of Brecht and Weill's Three Penny Opera (which gave the world "Mack The Knife") and I was like, "Whoa, this sounds just like The Black Rider."

hey Eric, have ya heard Waits' version of Mack the Knife, on that old Kurt Weill tribute album, Lost in the Stars?

Fan-bloody-tastic!

I have listened to and/or own all but 2 of his albums, But I've listened to all the ones listed here.

I'm a huge Rain Dogs fan, but... It ended up being a tie between Swordfishtrombones and Bone Machine (I surprisingly even considered Alice).

In the end, I picked Swordfishtrombones.

But if I had to choose again, it might go to Rain Dogs.

Ahh! Oh well...

tough choice but for me its the the combo of Alice and Blood Money to me they are two sides of the one coin... there is something about all the world is green that always makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck....

Mine is Real Gone because I love the rough stuff.

This is difficult... Mule Variations has a precious, little slot in my heart. Swordfishtrombones is just too damn good, so I'll go with that.

I don't own all his albums - just six from Fragile's list. I was never able to enjoy any of his albums from start to finish. But there were always a few songs from each album that I loved. Bone Machine and Orphans are my favorites, with Orphans slightly beating out Bone Machine.

Wow, I can't believe that Nighthawks at the Diner didn't make your list. Although, I used to spend alot of time driving on the highway late at night and stopping at lonely little truck stops along the way. Nighthawks is absolutely the perfect night-time highway driving album of all time.
Also, I second Real Gone.

If I may treat this as a general Tom Waits thread...

Don't get me wrong. I am a rabid Tom Waits fan of over twenty years (since I first heard Rain Dogs in '85) and I think that Bone Machine is one of Tom's top three albums, but something has been bothering me since the album came out.
Has anyone ever heard Mr. Waits acknowledge that "Jesus Gonna Be Here" is a direct rip-off of Howlin' Wolf's "Poor Boy" (rare)(1965 The Real Folk Blues) version? A sample can be found on Amazon.
I love Tom, but this is piracy.