Tom Waits - Foreign Affairs
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Free Music Notes for Foreign Affairs
Free Music Review: A slight hint of change
Hit: 4 Stars
Foreign Affairs seems to be a very fitting title for Waits' 4th studio album. As I noted earlier, Tom Waits perfected his shtick on Small Change. Foreign affairs is actually the start of the metamorphosis that would continue on his next two albums until a full fledged transformation with Swordfishtrombones(1983).The first part(side 1 on the old vinyl record) finds Waits sticking to his guns. Cinny's Waltz is an is an instrumental, but this time we also see the addition of violins.
Muriel is another Waits song about a lost love. Although nothing is wrong with the song per- se it doesn't match Waits' earlier songs touching this subject.
I Never Talk To Strangers is a singles bar duet with Bette Midler and has a clever and funny text. Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassidy is remembered on the track Jack & Neal. One of the albums highlights comes next. A Sight for Sore Eyes starts with an intro that uses the notes from Auld Lang Syne and then catches on as one of Waits' most memorable bar stool ramblings of his career.
Then there is a change in direction. The almost 9 minute long Potter's Field is a quite different song a kind of jazz noir. On Burma Shave we find a traditional scenario: girl meets mysterious stranger and takes off with him in his Ford Mustang. But the roles are blurred. You're not really sure about who is leading and who is following. A great song with a tragic end. Barber Shop is a jazz beat song. Foreign Affair is a song that sounds like Bad Liver and a Broken Heart.
A lot of critics accused Waits of repeating himself on Foreign Affairs. I think they overlooked a new approach by Waits. This is especially apparent from Potter's Field and on. Waits seems to pick up on this new approach as it is followed up on his next album Blue Valentines.
Foreign Affairs isn't as strong as his previous albums. It might be that Waits, too, was a little tired of sticking to his old act. That is why the album seems a little confused. Any transitionally period is hard and despite the flaws Foreign Affairs is still a great album
Free Music Review: Waits unleashed
Hit: 4 Stars
Small Change was the culmination of Tom Waits's piano/strings/barstool philosopher hijinxs, and Foreign Affairs, his next album, is more of a transitional album than it is given credit for. Waits clearly felt the need to branch out somewhat, as he did less subtly on his next two albums leading up to the full-on re-invention of Swordfishtrombones. He had been delivering Beat-worthy jazz raps for several albums by this point, but Foreign Affairs was the first album where the music seemed to matter quite as much as the lyrics. It opens with the beautiful instrumental, Cinny's Waltz, and the music is strong throughout - from the tinkling piano of A Sight For Sore Eyes to the lush orchestrations of Potter's Field. As I mentioned, Tom was branching out a bit at this point, and, thus, the album is a bit schizophrenic by nature. The first half of the album mostly consists of fairly concise (for Tom, anyway) ballads - such as the quaint Muriel; the duet with Bette Midler on I Never Talk To Strangers (on which her vocal is horrendus in my opinion, but doesn't ruin the clever lyric); and the nice song A Sight For Sore Eyes. The second half of the album, on the other hand, consists mostly of long, drawn out acid jazz raps - such as the 8 and 1/2 minute schizo freak-out masterpiece Potter's Field, and the witty, Burma Shave. Jack & Neal (the title characters being two of Tom's more obvious Beat predecessors) is another one of these songs. It is true that, if you like any of Tom Wait's 70's album, then you will enjoy all of his records at least through Heart Attack & Vine (my advice if you like them is to just grab 'em all up: you'll be addicted), but this is a particularly nice, and somewhat distinctive one, for several reasons. It's perhaps the best of his early albums musically, and it features perhaps his best free-form jazz raps - including some of his most hilarous lyrics (Jack & Neal being an absolute "laugh out loud.") Reccommended for any Waits fan.Free Music Review: I'm Not A Bad Guy Once You Get To Know Me!
Hit: 4 Stars
Yea, Tom Waits really nailed Small Change in '76. Everything including the cover.......ESPECIALLY THE COVER, is just so BOSS. It's where Waits, the songwriter hits his stride. Indeed Small Change was a tough act to follow, but Foregin Affairs released in '77 is almost as interesting. I've come back to it of late, and it does have at least three of TW's best compositions (Muriel, Cindy's Waltz and Foregin Affairs and I'll throw in I Never Talk To Strangers).
Cindy's Waltz is the opening track, much the way Waltzing Matilda opens up Small Change. Barber Shop also sounds like Step Right Up from SC, only it's not as manic. Foregin Affairs is a beautiful ballard and allows TW to really show off his pipes.... Well almost. It explores one of TW's most universal themes, wonderlust. Here he really nails, what might be considered the quintessential Tom Waits song...Just beautiful! So tasty! Much has been written here of the wonderful duet with Bette Midler, I Never Talk To Strangers. Not even Louis Armstrong and Villma Middleton could have had more fun with this number. Overall FA ranks pretty high in the Tom Waits catalog. It's kinda' like Tom says in Never Talk To Strangers, "I'm not a bad guy once you get to know me".
Free Music Review: Classic Tom Waits
Hit: 4 Stars
Small Change is my all time favorite, but Foreign Affairs is a close second. Maybe it has something to do with where my head was at at the time that makes this recording one that has stayed with me. As with Small Change Tom Waits sets a mood that only a ture artist can capture. The mood gets set with Cinny's Waltz it's off tune trumpet solo then nicely slides into Muriel giving an image of jilted lover stumbling through his sorrows with a cheap bottle of scotch. Jack and Neil, A Sight for Sore Eyes and Barber Shop are all masterful in their imagery through the lyrics and music. It's not something I can listen to every day, but it is music that I come back to year after year.Free Music Review: Brilliant . . . Until It Runs Out of Gas . . .
Hit: 4 Stars
I'd rate this right up there with Blue Valentine as the best of the pre-Swordfish records. The first side, especially, can be listened to over and over again (the first side ends with Sight for Sore Eyes. in case you're wondering). Burma Shave is the only good song on the second side, if you ask me, but you're doing pretty well if you can come up with even one "Burma Shave" per record.
Strong melodies, lush arrangements, and, in my opinion, the first truly great Waits vocal performance - where he really gets a handle on his very peculiar gift - are all reasons to buy this disk.