Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
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Free Music Notes for Swordfishtrombones
Free Music Review: Cutting brass
Hit: 4 Stars
Waits continued to refine-by-expanding his particular brand of bar-room eccentricity with this impressive triumph of gritty artistry which finds the doomed crooner substituting fuller, albeit stark instrumentation over his typical piano-man setup.Free Music Review: Robots
Hit: 4 Stars
I got this CD because i love the movie robots and i learned that "underground" is from this CD, his voice is so unique and every song is different.Free Music Review: Cool New Waits
Hit: 3 Stars
While there were hints of an experimental Tom Waits on "Blue Valentine," this was the first album where I found myself thinking that I was listening to a totally reinvented Tom Waits.Nearly twenty years later, I still feel "hot & cold" when I listen to this release. I think the lyrical Waits reaches incredible new heights with tunes like "Frank's Wild Years" and "In the Neighborhood." Musically, the album lost me at times. There are brief pieces like "Johnsburg, Illinois," a haunting romantic bit with a ghostly chill to it, where Waits' new musical paint job works well. But much of the album drags with what sounds to me like too much experiment, too little music.
If you're one of those Tom Waits fans who likes both his pre and post 1970s sound, and want to grab one CD that captures both sides of Tom Waits, I would pass on Sworfishtrombones. His follow up, "Rain Dogs," captures the essence of all Tom Waits; eery artsy tunes with enough melody to still be music.
If it's vintage Tom Waits lyrics you're fishing for, Swordfishtrombones is well worth a listen. The music, to my ears, tends to drag. While I'm not close-minded to offbeat and experimental art, I'm not a passionate fan. Take this into account: if you are a bit more open-minded than I am, this CD might be just the pick for you!
Free Music Review: The Missing Link, so to speak
Hit: 3 Stars
There is one constant in the last 3 decades of Tom Waits' career: he has peddled his astounding wares outside the mainstream of popular music. His style, however, has not been constant, but evolved from an anachronistic, lounge lizard, hobo promoter of the down-and-out dreamer (i.e. the perfection of "Small Change") to what he is today (i.e. the perfection of "Mule Variations"). Now, in between the two lies the transition, which can be compared to the awkward stage of adolescence. Ok, you can see where I'm going with this: "Swordfishtrombones" is the gangly, unsure, disproportionate, pimply, 13-year-old with braces phase of his catalog. It's hipper and more experimental than what came before it, yet it is still finding its footing compared to what came after. In "Swordfishtrombones" there is much to love, and there is much you will tire quickly of. Some of the songs that are throwbacks to his previous style seem forced, uninspired, and brief and the three instrumentals are pure throw-aways. But in defense of the CD, there is still beauty and strangeness among the songs and it is an interesting documentation of how he got from "Point A" to "Point B" in his musical journey.Free Music Review: BLUESY TALES OF LOSERS
Hit: 3 Stars
For someone who prefers Waits' singing voice on those big tuneful ballads, this album is a bit of a shock. In The Neighbourhood, although a spectacular example of aforementioned style, is the only representative on Swordfishtrombones. With its beautiful melody line and gripping chorus, it ranks with other Wait greats like Old 55, Saving All My Love For You and I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You. The rest of the album is an exploration of his talking vocal style, with jazzy or bluesy arrangements providing the backdrop to his Beat poetry. Of the three instrumentals, I prefer Just Another Sucker On The Vine with its lovely interplay between harmonium and trumpet. The gentle Soldier's Things and Town With No Cheer are also lovely ballads, but with a lounge jazz feel.
Many of the songs have a theme of travelling and being out of place and out of time. Swordfishtrombones is certainly a very accomplished album on which Waits honed many of his inimitable styles, but besides Neighborhood I do not find many of the songs personally appealing, thence the three stars. For those of his fans that like his rasping voice and spoken style, this is a five star album.