The difinitive Tom Waits

[mbriant]

I've never purchased a Tom Waits recording, yet over the years I"ve heard several of his works that appealed to me. I'm presently on a quest for vinyl and was wondering if anyone could recommend some of his better albums. Thanks

 

[dave al'orange]

He's one of those artists that's tough to pin down. He spreads himself around and experiments, but everything usually turns out pretty damn good. I tend to like his more rock-like recordings.

Heartattack & Vine and Swordfishtrombones are two of my personal favorites. If you wanted to start with something newer, Alice would be a good choice.

 

[Coltrane]

He really has too periods, one much noisier than the other.

If you dig the sound on acoustic bass, drums and a piano, sorta like a singer at a dive bar in LA, then Small Change is for you.

If you like the sound of drums, horns, distorted vocals, and random percussion instruments then id go with Rain Dogs, although Swordfishtrombones is a good choice.

what stuff did you hear that you like?

 

[AndrewG]

I'm also interested in exploring more Tom Waits

I love the noisy / goofy stuff, I have Rain Dogs, Blood Money and Alice

Not a big fan of more straight forward stuff tho

 

[Coltrane]

Get Mules Variations, Swordfishtrombones, Frank's Wild Years, Bone Machine, and Real Gone. In that order.


all are great though.

 

[VicAjax]

i would actually divide his discography into three: the Asylum period, the Island trilogy, and the post-Island period.

his first two albums, Closing Time and Heart of Saturday Night, while rooted in jazzy blues, have a bit of a country/folk twang to them.

the twang is dropped completely by his third album, Nighthawks at the Diner, which is a love it or hate it album (i love it). he turned the studio into a nightclub and invited a bunch of friends and acquaintances to a live performance. that performance became Nighthawks, and it's pretty much the fruition of Waits' "beatnik" persona, which he pretty much maintained for all the rest of his albums on Asylum Records.

his last album for Asylum was Heartattack and Vine, and you can hear the beginning of his transition to the more esoteric sound that defined his first three albums for Island Records (which i consider his masterpieces): Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years.

after the live album, Big Time, waits took a hiatus for a few years and came back with Bone Machine, which took him into slightly more cacophonous and experimental territory, but still founded on the sound he developed with his Island Trilogy.

The Black Rider was his last album for Island, written with William Burroughs as the book for a play of the same name. i like this album more than most people do. since then, he's been on Anti (Epitaph) Records, with consistently solid stuff, but no real new ground broken.

so, here are my recommendations:

for the Asylum era, start with Closing Time (so you can hear how he started his career) and Small Change (IMHO, the best of his early albums).

for the Island era, the holy trinity is unbeatable: Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years. most people will probably say Rain Dogs is the best, i'll only say it's the easiest to begin with.

for everything else, it's pretty much a matter of taste, but Alice and Blood Money (released at the same time) are both quite good.

hope that helps!

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax i would actually divide his discography into three: the Asylum period, the Island trilogy, and the post-Island period. for the Asylum era, start with Closing Time (so you can hear how he started his career) and Small Change (IMHO, the best of his early albums). for the Island era, the holy trinity is unbeatable: Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years. most people will probably say Rain Dogs is the best, i'll only say it's the easiest to begin with. for everything else, it's pretty much a matter of taste, but Alice and Blood Money (released at the same time) are both quite good. hope that helps!

Nice and short career synopsis and good post, as usual. Hard to argue with anyone's picks, but just for the record, subject to change with the weather, admitting there are more than a few I haven't heard lately (or ever), I'd go with Blue Valentine, Rain Dogs and Bone Machine as my period favorites. Mule Variations was the last one I really loved outright, but there seems to be brilliance on just about everything he's recorded.

 

[eyeteeth]

Frank's Wild Years is the only one that affects me. I don't know why. I've tried a few others to no avail. It might be the lyrics of this single narrative tale that touches me.

The CD sounds superb, deep, warm, rich, full and dynamic and I've never felt the desire to upgrade to vinyl. Maybe I should out of curiousity but I wonder if it'll be better or worse.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davey Nice and short career synopsis and good post, as usual. Hard to argue with anyone's picks, but just for the record, subject to change with the weather, admitting there are more than a few I haven't heard lately (or ever), I'd go with Blue Valentine, Rain Dogs and Bone Machine as my period favorites. Mule Variations was the last one I really loved outright, but there seems to be brilliance on just about everything he's recorded.

i'd agree that Bone Machine and Mule Variations are probably the two best of his "modern" albums, but Alice and Blood Money offer more of a departure from the style he developed with Swordfish et al.

while i love Blue Valentines, i think its highs aren't as high and its lows are slightly lower than Small Change.

funny thing is, i probably come back to Nighthawks at the Diner more than anything else, but i never seem to recommend it to people. i guess because it generally provokes such a visceral reaction.

 

[agile_one]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax snip ... funny thing is, i probably come back to Nighthawks at the Diner more than anything else, but i never seem to recommend it to people. i guess because it generally provokes such a visceral reaction.

Nighthawks at the Diner and Heart of Saturday Night are my two faves, but it's hard to go wrong with anything by Tom Waits once you've acquired the groove.

 

[Leporello]

Rain Dogs, Mule Variations and Bone Machine are all great weird albums. Heartattack and Vine is slightly more normal but good as well.

I have the original Rain Dogs on vinyl and while it is a very nice sounding vinyl, I actually prefer the cd version.


Regards,

L.

 

[mbriant]

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize he's had noticabley different "sounds" during his career. I think I'll start looking for some of the mentioned titles and try to sample something from each era. I had this http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSuppl...inuteslive.htm interview taped for several years but finally taped over it. Wish I hadn't. It was an interesting 1978 interview by Flo and Eddie in Tom's messiest of motel rooms. Thanks again for the input.

 

[Uncle Erik]

For a complation, try "Beautiful Maladies." I've got it and enjoy it immensely.

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik For a complation, try "Beautiful Maladies." I've got it and enjoy it immensely.

Agree. This is a great way to dip your toe in the Tom Waits pool without spending a lot of cash.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant Thanks for the info. I didn't realize he's had noticabley different "sounds" during his career. I think I'll start looking for some of the mentioned titles and try to sample something from each era. I had this http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSuppl...inuteslive.htm interview taped for several years but finally taped over it. Wish I hadn't. It was an interesting 1978 interview by Flo and Eddie in Tom's messiest of motel rooms. Thanks again for the input.

oh man... thanks for that! i love that i now know of a Frank Zappa/Tom Waits connection... oblique as it is.