Tom Waits

So what does everyone think of Tom Waits? I just got Real gone the other day(I know Im slacking) and I dont like it as much as some of his other stuff but its still really good. So what does everyone else think about The notorius Train Wreck Tom waits?
 
No no, haha in that AIM chat last night HIM was invited in and I told him i was the big3 and i'm all "I can't post, can you do me a favor and tell everyone I said this?"

=D
 
Oh HA. Well I'll try not to be incidiary here but its either an undisputed masterpiece or its completely not their flavor.

You know most times, when people are tripping over themselves to sing the praises of an album, its because other people are doing it. I'll hear more about Elvis and the Beatles than actually hearing either of them.

Put simply, people havn't heard why they should like a Tom Waits album, so they don't have much to say. I've seen one article published on the reasoning for liking the man, and since it wasn't album specific, no one can talk about Rain Dogs.

Even for critics, he's someone they know they ought to really love, but rarely is it the case that they ever say why they love him. When you love Waits, you have to understand he came to be a critical darling under the radar. One day he was a more accomplished James Taylor and the next you woke up and you couldn't even form worRAB to describe him.And so, having no one to tell you anything in one direction or another, you have to come to your own conclusions. I've read less than 10 reviews by the man since I first discovered him in 2003, and I promise I've looked.

Waits is, and always will be a bond between two people. If you love him, then its an understood relationship. If you don't well you can't explain it, and for all I've chastised them for not writing, maybe its just that having listened to his works you don't want to. Maybe listening is enough, and one finRAB themselves contented with knowing that what they've heard is good.

Maybe after listening to someone confident enough in themselves to sing "dirt in the ground", we become a little more secure in ourselves, and in our own taste. Maybe we don't need to justify our love with Waits because we know from the outset that its real, and theres no infirmity or questions about it.
 
Well what don't you like about them? Just that he's trying to croon and "can't" or is there something more?

With Downtown Train, and possibly Blind Love (I'd have to look), you've got some of his better writing lyrically. I think what dooms that song is that we've all heard the Rod Stewart version, and Wait's comes off like a flat version of Stewarts.

Still, and this may be an aestheic thing, Downtown Train is a story I've lived and so for me, the image of waiting on the trains for someone is such a depressing story I can't help but think its great. In the general scheme of things, that song has the Gatsby vibe I dig so much, that the city can be more ferocious and lonely than the wooRAB ever were.

What else don't you like on the B side?
 
Yeah, its a live album. Its new stuff but he also wasn't really reaching you know?

I mean its a great album, but its more of a fun album than it is arabitious. Its also a lot of poetry. I'd say of all the Waits albums its the most focused. Its a jazz album, and no other album fits one genre this well.
 
I didn't know about this but I'm going to spend tomorrow looking and get back to everyone. I imagine Urban might know though, he's been into Nick Cave way longer than I have and that was three years ago.
 
My friend introduced me to Mr. Waits by recommending that I listen to Bone Machine then Rain Dogs. I found Rain Dogs much more enjoyable than Bone Machine. Upon first listening, it took me awhile to get used to the sound of his vocals but once I got passed that I was able to appreciate his lyrics.
 
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