Tom Waits - Frank's Wild Years
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Free Music Notes for Frank's Wild Years
Free Music Review: Innocent when you dream
Hit: 5 Stars
Wow! Here's another classic from the man who won't quit. It might take a few listens for some to get into, but God is it ever worth it! This stuff will NEVER get old.Free Music Review: What's he doing in there?
Hit: 4 Stars
First of all I would like to state that I love Tom Waits and have been listening to him non-stop for two months I own eleven of his CDs. The trilogy of Swordfishtrombones/Raindogs/Frank's Wild Years has been the hardest CDs for me to get into (Bone Machine was a natural). Alice is another difficult one. I think it is the carnival-barker-talking styles many of the songs incorporate. In defense of this work I must admit that the production and concept are very impressive. Some of Tom's best work is on this CD in particular "Hang on St. Christopher, Temptation, Yesterday is Here, Way Down in the Hole, Cold Cold Ground, and Train Song". Just a note Tom's vocals on "Train Song" are so stirring. You can hear the pain so clearly. He sounds like he is crying as he sings this song. For those people that have heard a little of Tom's work and think that Tom can't sing you need a hearing aid. His voice is extremely versatile and beautiful (listen to "On the Nickle"/Heartattack and Vine, "Kentucky Avenue" and "Blue Valentine"/Blue Valentine, "Tom's Traubert's Blues"/Small Change, "Come on up to the House"/Mule Variations as well as "Train Song" just to name a few. When I want to get really freaked out I listen to Closing Time and The Heart of Saturday Night. Love the CDs but wish he had changed his singing style prior to their release. So in conclusion I would have to disagree with some of the reviewers that state that this should be a starting point in order to discover Tom's work. I think Blue Valentine, or Heartattack and Vine might be better. Of course you could start with Closing Time or Heart of Saturday Night but beware Tom blows these works out of the water with his later releases.
I would also like to ask people reading this review to help me in my quest to discover other artist as good (if that is possible) as Tom. I have been a big fan of Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Cohen for a long time. Is there anymore artist out there that can hold up to this group? Email me klott@travelersoasis.com. Thanks and thank you Tom for I am a raindog too.
Free Music Review: Waits to the core!
Hit: 4 Stars
At the age of 20, I was introduced to the world of Tom Waits with this album. It remains one of my favourites of his. FWY did get some lukewarm critical response at the time of it's release, and there are things to be aware of before you buy it. First, if you don't like Waits, you will most likely deteste this one. And if you like, or even love Tom Waits, this still could be more Waits than even you can handle.
You see, this is an album where Tom Waits sounds like himself, and no one else. It's predecessor, "Rain Dogs", did have some radio friendly material. On FWY however, there is nothing that Rod Stewart could have turned into a hit.
The album was recorded and released in the mid 1980's. Tom Waits' calendar however, must have frozen around the year of 1955. Elvis, Beatles, psychedelia, folk rock, punk/New Wave, name any category of pop and rock music, no matter how obscure. When listening to this album, it is like none of that had ever happened.
Of all the people working in the field of popular music, Waits most definetely has the strangest, most peculiar musical taste. His favourite band is Salvation Army. Even how much he detests (and I think he does!) the development of rock music from 1956 and on, he seems to have the deepest respect for it's roots, like blues, bluegrass and jazz. Mix this up with some warped, twisted version of a Weimar Republic cabaret, and Waits' musical landscape is set.
Waits was accused for sounding like a parody of himself on this album, and really, he is a bit over the top on some of the tracks. The fact that it's a concept album, telling the story of Frank, is the only way he can possibly get away with a song like "I'll take New York".
Sure, this music isn't for everyone. But if you're tired of mainstream music, and want to hear something completely different, very talented music, FWY is warmly recommended. If you can't appreciate it, then make like a hockeyplayer and get the PUCK outta here!
Free Music Review: Challenging album, but worth it
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm a fairly recent convert to Tom Waits - my best friend gave me "Alice" for my birthday last summer, and although it initially horrified and repulsed me, I couldn't stop listening to it for months. After the first week or two, though, I realized "Alice" was destined to become one of my favorite albums and Waits one of my favorite musicians. And so it's continued.I've listened to about half of Waits' catalog now, spanning his earliest to latest work, and I have my own favorites. I love each of his different 'periods' in different ways. Yet somehow, I've found "Frank's Wild Years" his hardest album to penetrate so far. Part of the problem lies in the fact it was never intended as just an album - it's the score to a stageplay. So is "Alice," but at least with that one, you know everything connects (albeit peripherally) back to Lewis Carroll's story. With "Frank," it really feels like we need to know the story to understand the songs. Much of what Waits sings, especially in-character as Frank, is unusual and hard to listen to without giving it your full attention. This isn't a good album for putting on after a long, hard day, or fot a late-night drive in your car. It takes more dedication than that!
That said, there are some gems here: "Yesterday is Here" and "Cold Cold Ground" are both excellent; "Temptation" (despite Waits reaching the ear-splitting high end of his range) and "Telephone Call to Istanbul" are pretty good, too. I've got to say, though, that "Innocent When You Dream (78)" is one of Waits' best and most absolutely heartbreaking songs. For that alone, the CD is worth it to me. "Frank's Wild Years" isn't the easiest Waits to get into, but it's a great challenge if you're already a fan.
Free Music Review: More brilliance
Hit: 4 Stars
Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan wrote and toured behind the musical play Franks Wild Years in 1986, and this recorded album version is sort of a series of songs from it, but they don't carry the plot. It can be seen as a continuation of his first two Island albums, Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs, though it strays rather far from those records at times. Indeed, this record finds Waits stretching himself both musically and vocally. Musically, it retains the odd instrumentation and verbose arrangements of the previous two albums, but takes them even further. Waits seems here to be possessed by a streaky love for carnival music, old German music, and even a bit of Vegas-style, Frank Sinatra-esque showtunes. Some of the songs are in his familar 80's style, and rank among his best work (Hang On St. Christopher, Blow Wind Blow, Yesterday Is Here, Way Down In The Hole, Telephone Call From Istanbul, Cold Cold Ground, Train Song); some are of the wacked-out carnival music variety (Innocent When You Dream, in two radically different arrangements); and some are of the aforementioned Vegas style (the second rendition of Straight To The Top - this is the type of song that everybody always knew Tom was capable of, but never really heard - I'll Take New York.) The result is not his best album, being caught somewhere between the self-conscious ludicrisy of Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs, and his dark, brooding masterpiece, Bone Machine. Still, Tom Waits fans will want to grab it up, as it chronicles yet another unique chapter in the career of one of the most idiosyncratic and enjoyable artists of our time.