Tom Waits (Official Thread)

[Soot and Stars]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

Wow! I think I just officially became a Tom Waits fan! Why does this guy have such a bad rep again? I just listened to the whole debut:

Closing Time

It's brilliant! If I as a novice had to say what I thought Tom Waits style was like I'd say if you took Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman and Billy Joel in a blender. I loved the jazzy lone man in a bar or walking home from the bar vibe. This album is for the everyman and Tom Waits is a great storyteller! What I thought going in was this was going to be exclusively like a Leonard Cohen album or a Bob Dylan album. Great writing but no digestible musical sensibilities. Boy was I wrong. This album is very musical. Jazzy horns, melodic somber piano and a far palatable though gruff singing voice than expected by his rep. Here are my favorite tracks:

Martha
(Great tune, great melody, great storytelling, an instant classic for me)


Lonely
(my favorite, gorgeous visceral song that fleshes a mood and ambiance brilliantly, reminds me of the piano melody to Annie Dog by SP a bit)


Grapefruit Moon
(If Randy Newman wasn't a complete goofball this would be his song)


I hope by reviving this thread I can be further educated on this artist which is my favorite since checking out more in depth on classic rock artist!

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

Wow! I think I just officially became a Tom Waits fan! Why does this guy have such a bad rep again? I just listened to the whole debut:

Well....there is are very good reasons why Tom has a bad reputation that aren't well represented in his first two or three albums. For his debut and "The Heart Of Saturday Night" he had that very jazzy barroom piano (which I love) and he sang really well....and then for his third album, "Small Change" (my favorite album of his) he continued with the same course musically though many of his lyrics got quite silly on that album (which I like) and he adapted his current, distinctive, gravely, drunken singing style which grates on a lot of people....though I really like it.

And then that's not even touching the very unique musical styles he experiments on later albums. Take this song from "Bone Machine" for example...

 

[Soot and Stars]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

Wow! That is odd BUT it does have its charm! So what you're saying is Tom Waits has giant grapefruits and isn't afraid to go outside the box! Sounds like an artist I'll like even more now!

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread



Yes I like him and his giant grapefruits as well, but I completely understand why some people wouldn't like him.

Here's the song that first made Tom catch my attention, "Time":



You also might like that it was covered by Tori Amos, Sooty.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

That's actually my least favorite Tori album period Cosmic but both versions of that song are good! I actually prefer the Tom Waits one which is rare for me to pick an artist over Tori for any song!

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

It just proves how awesome Tom is.

Speaking of how wicked awesome Tom is he also does quite a bit of acting and had a key role in one of my favorite movies Wristcutters: A Love Story.

 

[Death on Credit]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

Tom's a rare breed, his career has two incredibly different sides to it, on an almost unpretending level. Even his fans are distinctly divided over those two sides...very few people like both. Personally, I'm really fond of his later career, from Swordfishtrombones on.

When I first heard the album Rain Dogs, I had to take a step back in amazement. It was like a soundtrack to what has going on in my head at the time.

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

Tom's a rare breed, his career has two incredibly different sides to it, on an almost unpretending level. Even his fans are distinctly divided over those two sides...very few people like both. Personally, I'm really fond of his later career, from Swordfishtrombones on.

I like the bulk of Tom's career but I favor the beginning of it up to and including "Rain Dogs".

 

[Soot and Stars]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

Thanks for the info guys! It'll be interesting to see what parts if not all I'll like! I've moved onto:

The Heart of Saturday Nights


I'll say right now that I prefer the debut but in this one I found the lyrics and storytelling the highlight. Musically and even vocally it's a step back in my opinion. He really sounded like Randy newman more consistently here but sometimes he was so over the top.....Don't shoot me for saying this.....but some of the songs sounded like they could've been sung in "The Grinch Stole Christmas"! Sorry! The positives though!!!! Like I said the lyrics are great, some of the musical arrangements are very pleasing and sweet and the character of Tom Waits (sometimes it seems he's playing it) while overdone at times is intriguing as well! My favorite songs are:

Shiver Me Timbers
(a nice waltzy tune where Tom plays it straight vocally and it works in his favor, the arrangement also shines)


Fumbling With The Blues
(Could be in Toy Story! Love the vocal storytelling)


Please Call Me Baby
(My favorite song arrangement (Sinatra alike) and especially lyrically,I'm going to crib one of the lyrics for my signature)


Actually I'm going to edit my signature now!

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Re: The Official Tom Waits Thread

Since it is the season, I'll just got ahead and post one of my favorite songs from Tom...