Tom Waits - Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]
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Free Music Notes for Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]
Free Music Review: It's Tom Waits, and therefore excellent
Hit: 5 Stars
Nobody does grizzled and world-weary quite like Tom Waits, and coming off 2004's incredible Real Gone, the mammoth three-disc collection Orphans is yet more proof of his bizarre genius. Even putting aside the abundance of great music it contains, it is, if nothing else, a fitting tribute to Waits's persistently uncommercial, marketing-be-damned approach to his music. Comprised of a whopping 54 songs (both Waits originals and covers) and clocking in at about three hours, Orphans is vintage Waits from beginning to end-unvarnished, unconventional, and uncompromising. Given the enormous amount of variety to be found here, everyone's going to have their personal favorites, but whichever tracks one prefers there's no denying that Orphans makes the perfect testament to Waits's endless creativity, stinging wit and gritty, PhD-in-life sensibility.
Waits has long been a a man of many personas-demented carnival barker, old testament prophet, Jesus freak, depression-era bluesman-and even more than his more traditional albums Orphans shows off his chameleonic nature to the fullest extent. With its ample available space, Orphans allows Waits to induldge in genre exercises ranging from rockabilly (Lie To Me); to baroque pop (Little Drop of Poison); to swamp blues (Buzz Fledderjohn); to gospel (Lord I've been changed) without ever sounding like just an imitator of his varied influences. That said, Waits is still at his best when he dwells in a musical territory all his own, be it noisy, free-form experimentation or more reflective, sparsely instrumented balladry.
Each disc brings with its own unique feel, with the first one feeling the most like a proper Waits album in the vein of such all-encompassing classics as Rain Dogs and Bone Machine. Waits gets his classic-rock fix taken are of early with the scorching Low Down, whose big, brash guitar riffs wouldn't sound out of place in the '60's. The clamorous percussion and dizzying time signatures of Fish in the Jailhouse should please fans of Waits's more eccentric side, or just those like this writer who crave something abrasive and weird. Providing a sharp contrast to these tunes, but still very much in line with Waits's overall approach, are the downcast resignation of the bluesy, guitar-driven Road to Piece (a seven-minute examination of the conflict in Israel) and the closing lament of Rains on Me.
The ballad-heavy second disc, while occasionally a tad forgettable, is still home to some of the most brilliant material of Waits's career. The triumphant Take Care of All of My Children is driven by a stirring, martial drum beat, while the following Down There by the Train manages to expertly combine sadness, regret, and hope through Waits's singularly poetic lyrical imagery ("There's no eye for an eye/There's no tooth for a tooth/I saw Judas Iscariot carryin' John Wilkes Booth"-brilliant). In somewhat of a curveball for Waits, Never Let Go is inspiring and poignant in its straightforward message of devotion. There's also a great, booze-sodden lament in Goodnight Irene, which finds Waits's nicotine-stained voice at its most raw and unhinged.
The third disc is a nod to every side of the schizophrenic last two decades of Waits's career, with unstructured noise explorations (the mutant jazz-blues-rock workout Heigh Ho is hard-edged and ominous even for Waits) to a slew of spoken-word pieces to some more tender ballads. Waits starts off the disc by breaking out his classic rasp on the delightfully malevolent What Keeps Mankind Alive, and backs himself up with some inspired vocal beat-boxing on the Spidey's Wild Ride and King Kong. The latter track is especially interesting, with Waits's pained wail augmented by some ear-piercing guitar squeals and a subterranean bass line as he declaims the tragic story of, well, King Kong, with all the gravity of a character delivering the closing monologue of a Shakespearean tragedy.
Free Music Review: Unearthed
Hit: 5 Stars
Well, Waits has finally emptied out the orphange. Then burnt it to the ground. Torched it. Holding court like a manic Fagin, Waits sets loose enough Oliver Twists & Artful Dodgers to live up to it's title.
Thoughtfully sequenced over 3 discs, Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards says it all. Starting off with the demented Rockabilly of "Lie To Me", Brawlers lies somewhere between 1999's Mule Variations & 2004's "Real Gone". Highlights include the take-no-prisoners, "Fish In The Jailhouse" & a cover of Leadbelly's "Ain't Goin' Down To The Well" that defies easy categorization. Also notable is the gutter Gospel of "Lord I've Been Changed" & the rousing hobo ballad, "Bottom Of The World". While the heart of "Road To Peace" is certainly in the right place, this overtly political treatise quickly wears out its welcome after 1 listen. But despite the monotony of "Peace", things like "Rains On Me" & his barnstorming turn with The Ramones' "Jackie & Judy" are guaranteed to have you coming back for more.
If the unholy onslaught of "Real Gone" alienated any fans of Waits' softer side, Bawlers more than makes up for any ruffled feathers. "You Can Never Hold Back Spring" beautifully harks back to Waits' earlier work while rousing ballads like "Never Let Go Of Your Hand" rank as some of his best. No one spikes a dirge with bittersweet heartbreak like Waits & the likes of "Little Drop OF Poison" & "It's Over" are classics, pure & simple. For those who've heard Johnny Cash's version of "Down There By The Train", fans can finally hear the song in it's entirety. Perhaps Cash felt silly singing "Humptry Jackson" or "Gyp The Blood" but it comes at the expense of, "and Charlie Whitman is holding on to Dillinger's wings". Along with the aformentioned, the world weary "Goodnight Irene" & "If I Have To Go" are sure to make Bawlers the disc that gets the most play in the collection.
By & large Bastards consists of Waits' signature spoken word pieces & some truely ecclectic covers. Brecht/Weill's "What Keeps Mankind Alive" seems tailor made & his take on "Heigh Ho" is the stuff of legend. Here Snow White's cute little friends come off more like pissed off trolls ominously digging their way into hell. Jack Kerouac has always been an acknowledged influence & with "Home I'll Never Be " & "On The Road" Waits presents 2 dramatically different renditions of the same song. Both are indispensible. As is his turn on Skip Spence's apocalyptic, "Books Of Moses". Only Daniel Johnson's "King Kong" is the least welcome. Along with "Road To Peace" it ranks as the most monotonous number on the collection. And if the instrumental "Redrum" sounds like a bunch of kids messing around in Waits' garage---well, that's exactly what it is. As for the spoken word pieces, "First Kiss" is sure to keep you coming back for more. Among the few original songs on this disc, "Altar Boy" gloriously harks back to the drunken heydays of "Piano Has Been Drinking". Elsewhere, "Dog Door" & Spidey's Wild Ride" could've has easily slipped off of "Real Gone". If that weren't enough, Waits has a few hidden surprises in store, sure to appease fans of Nighthawks At The Diner.
All in all, this is the Waits equivalent of Johnny Cash's Unearthed. The motherlode. Move over Teddy Roosevelt, time to chisle Tom's craggy mug up next to the Man In Black on Mt. Rushmore.
Free Music Review: Indispensable "odds and ends" collection up from the underground
Hit: 5 Stars
My opinion is that Tom has 4 different phases in his recorded career. Closing Time/Heart of Sat. Night is the young folkie finding his way, Nighthawks to One From the Heart were gin soaked tales, Swordfishtrombones-Big Time captured Frank and his wild years. After this, you had a mix of all kinds of side projects, showing up on Primus' recordings, and in the middle of this particular journey, jumped ship from Island to go to Epitaph; Bone Machine and Mule Variations and Real Gone read like one story, Alice, Blood Money, and Black Rider read from a different one, but they were riding side by side over the same period of time. Orphans is kind of the bus stop in a one stop sign town, the connecting point to this more recent journey.
Was this put out due to the Tales From the Underground fan mix? Maybe, but I think he tried to make this as cohesive as possible so it stands on its own, but Tom provides a one stop for those odds and ends that wound up on other recordings (and other labels... the advantage of owning masters is being able to put a collection like this together which would've been impossible otherwise).
I'm hoping he puts something together with the live recordings over the past 9 years. Some of the tracks on here are live favorites that get their studio recorded debut.
You'll never hear "Heigh Ho" the same way again... as sung by Grumpy? "Little Drop of Poison" will be familiar to fans of Shrek 2.
If you like Closing Time, this one wouldn't be for you. If you like Small Change but don't have Mule Variations or Rain Dogs, get Beautiful Maladies and Mule Variations. If you became a fan from Mule Variations, you have this already.
Free Music Review: Worth every greasy penny
Hit: 5 Stars
This was the cherry on top of the bad year dream, the diamond in a pile of bat crap, it rocks, it croons, it weirds you out, it shows, on the third disk that even his oral and comically unscripted moments keep drawing you back to our most beatnik beat generation bad side of the tracks poet laureate of all music. (Of course he's nowhere to be found in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-If he would have died after his first three albums, he'd be there at this very moment, Joan Baez teary-eyed proclaiming the glories of what we never got to hear after those three albums. Sniff, Sniff.(edna million in a drop dead suit...)
But let us enjoy. He's at his finest. The first disk has him rocking out in almost bang-a-gong fashion and with his voice never being more gravely and snarly and right on out of tune, it's probably his best side of the musical tracks he's ever been on. And it doesn't let up from there.
Disk Two is more eclectic and soft, the power of the lyrical genius of this man shoved gently in between the other two disks with a potent barroom quality that has to grow on you a little. All great things have to grow on you a little-otherwise they wash off too easy and don't leave a scar.
You get scarred by the great Mr. Waits and it never fades, it just grows more incandescent each and every listen.
I just wish he got out of the house more. Dammit. Oh, he'll go to Europe and LA and the Netherlands (Who wouldn't?)
When you gonna show up West of East St. Louis (Just about a block?)
Come on up to the house, Mr. Waits. (I got a neighbor with one eye and a short leg...)
Free Music Review: It wouldn't be Waits if it all meshed together perfectly.
Hit: 5 Stars
In a word, I would describe Orpans as 'amazing'. With a composition style that matches his voice, however, Waits puts together a compendium of work that isn't for everyone. Let me clarify what I mean: I don't believe that there is a such thing as a casual Tom Waits fan. You either love him or you loathe him. Outside of a couple of songs that have made movie soundtrack appearances, and a cover version of his work done by Rod Stewart, there isn't too much that he has put out that garners a whole lot of commercial exposure. An unfamiliar buyer would probably not pick this up. So far as "fans" who may be critical, what else would you expect? If you were expecting a perfect flow, or Easy Listening, then of course you will be disappointed. But, then, you probably aren't familiar enough with Waits to be able to appreciate what he does here.
What has he done? Assembled an incredible array of style and poetry that may be unparalleled by anything, save perhaps the Beatles White Album. It is not really possible to describe the range of Orphans without writing a dissertation, so I won't attempt to. I will say this: go with your gut. If you are a true fan of Tom Waits, then buy it immediately (...if you haven't already). You will not be disappointed. If you are new to Waits but are interested in his work, then I would recommend Raindogs or Swordfishtrombone as a better starting point. If you are someone who would describe yourself as a fan of conventional melodies and songwriting, who has never heard of Tom Waits, but has just heard a song that you liked on a college radio station, then I would advise you to stay away from this.