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Post by GProopdog on Sept 15, 2008 13:10:35 GMT -5
One of my favorite singers has quite an eclectic discography, so ranking these at first was a bit tough, but I think I've managed to get it all set.
(Note: Quite a few of Tom's albums aren't, in the technical sense, studio albums:
Nighthawks at the Diner: Live album One from the Heart: Soundtrack Big Time: Live album Night on Earth: Soundtrack
So I've omitted them from my list. Anyone who wants to include em can do so if they wish)
1. Swordfishtrombones 2. Bone Machine 3. Blood Money 4. Mule Variations 5. Rain Dogs 6. Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards 7. Closing Time 8. Franks Wild Years 9. The Heart of Saturday Night 10. Foreign Affairs 11. Small Change 12. Heartattack and Vine 13. Real Gone 14. Blue Valentine 15. The Black Rider 16. Alice
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Post by NardDog on Sept 15, 2008 17:01:06 GMT -5
first off I'm including Nighthawks because it is not a traditional live album(it's all new material)
but Orphans isn't really a true album to me it's a bunch of unreleased covers
1. Swordfishtrombones 2. Closing Time 3. Small Change 4. Frank's Wild Years 5. Real Gone 6. Nighthawks At The Diner 7. Rain Dogs 8. Heartattack And Vine 9. Bone Machine 10. Blood Money 11. Blue Valentine 12. Foreign Affairs 13. Heart Of Saturday Night 14. Mule Variations 15. Alice 16. The Black Rider
I like all of his albums except the "plays"(Black Rider/Alice) so the rankings aren't as representative as the Dylan or Weird Al ones
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Post by angilasman on Sept 15, 2008 18:28:25 GMT -5
I have yet to hear Nighthawks, Blue Valentine, Foreign Affairs, One from the Heart, Heartattack and Vine, Night on Earth, and The Black Rider (though I've heard several songs from them). Hopefully I'll have them soon (though I guess I'll have to shell out $30 for the out-of-print Night on Earth).
I'm not good at listing things, and I don't dislike any of his albums so far. I'd say Bone Machine and Frank's Wild Years tie for first place in my opinion though.
...and Orphans is half unreleased stuff and half new stuff.
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Post by Chuck on Sept 15, 2008 18:33:41 GMT -5
I love Blue Valentines. I'm also verrrrrrrrry fond of Frank's Wild Years, which he did on stage in Chicago (The Briar Street Theatre - where Blue Man Group now reigns) with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. The lock on the star dressing room door is busted (and thanks to the crews that work there it will never be fixed) because Tom broke it opening bottles of beer.
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Sept 18, 2008 9:01:40 GMT -5
You went and beat me to it Dr. Nelson! After the Dylan one I was thinking of doing this but I'm still working on my order! I'll post it soon.
Some thoughts:
I can't believe the Alice-bashing!
Nighthawks is in as it's new material. It's just another example of him trying out a new recording method.
Frank's Wild Years, The Black Rider and Alice are all soundtracks to plays (Frank being one he wrote with Kathleen Brennan) so if I'm including them then One From the Heart and Night On Earth are in. The latter really does play like a soundtrack, but One From the Heart works as a proper album with a narrative. In all honesty the film is based on the music Waits wrote after Coppola had fed him the loose story and most of the performances in the film are by the actors so I see it as a separate entity.
Orphans isn't in as it is a collection as opposed to a studio album, no matter how many new songs there are, a number are just unreleased old ones anyway. For me none of the CDs work as proper albums. If it were to be included then the two Early Years volumes would have to be as well. The first is essentially his first scrapped album, the second more just a bunch of demos for songs that ended up on the first two albums proper but it plays with about as much coherence as the Orphans discs.
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Post by angilasman on Sept 18, 2008 18:38:04 GMT -5
^I think the three Orphans "albums" work just fine, and I especially like the bizzare Bastards. First Kiss always cracks me up, and Dog Door and King Kong are fabulous.
...and Lucinda, from the first disc, talk about an instant Waits classic!
I've been giving Small Change some listening lately. I got it about four or five months ago but I got really sick and was in to bad a mood to enjoy it properly then. I'm also getting a hankering to listen to the first two albums, which I've rented many a time but don't own.
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Sept 18, 2008 18:39:44 GMT -5
Oh there's great stuff on them I just don't find them coherent enough to count it as a studio album, that's all! The Bastards disc really is great though!
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Post by Chuck on Sept 18, 2008 18:42:42 GMT -5
There's a best of collection, 2 volumes, that were on the Bizarre label that are very early material and very, very good.
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Sept 18, 2008 18:53:30 GMT -5
There's a best of collection, 2 volumes, that were on the Bizarre label that are very early material and very, very good. Is that the two ones called Early Years? I've got those and they're very good!
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Post by angilasman on Sept 18, 2008 19:22:46 GMT -5
I was watching a recording of the Waits concert I couldn't go to a few months ago. He was singing Lucinda, in a completely different an cool way in comparison to the album version, then halfway though it turned in to Down by the Well, then it turned back into Lucinda...
super cool
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Sept 21, 2008 12:04:31 GMT -5
Right, here goes (finally);
1. Swordfishtrombones 2. Frank's Wild Years 3. Rain Dogs 4. Alice 5. Bone Machine 6. Blue Valentine 7. Blood Money 8. Closing Time 9. Mule Variations 10. Nighthawks At The Diner 11. One From The Heart 12. Real Gone 13. Small Change 14. Heartattack And Vine 15. The Heart Of Saturday Night 16. Night On Earth 17. The Black Rider 18. Foreign Affairs
I love everything from Night On Earth up, and Big Time, Orphans and the Early Years stuff are great too. Foreign Affairs is the only one of his albums that has no redeeming features for me, I can't stand it! And as you can see the loose 80s trilogy are well loved by me. It may be the finest run of albums by any artist ever.
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Post by mrmeadows on Jan 3, 2009 17:41:06 GMT -5
Hey, Dr. Ted. . .my two favorite musical artists are Tom Waits and "Weird Al" Yankovic! Interesting that you started a topic for each of them!
I've never done this for Tom, but here are my knee-jerk rankings of the albums you listed:
1. Mule Variations 2. Frank's Wild Years 3. Rain Dogs 4. Nighthawks at the Diner (the songs are good, but his between-song banter is priceless!) 5. Small Change 6. Bone Machine 7. Alice 8. Swordfishtrombones 9. The Black Rider 10. Heartattack and Vine 11. Orphans 12. Blood Money 13. The Heart of a Saturday Night 14. Real Gone 15. Closing Time 16. Blue Valentine 17. Foreign Affairs
I agree with Trumpy that "Foreign Affairs" has almost nothing worth listening to on it (although "A Sight for Sore Eyes" is a nice little tune...the album's only saving grace.) That early/mid-70's period is one of my least favorites of Tom's, even though I think his jazzy-bluesy beatnik experiement of "Nighthawks" was spot-on. I actually like many of the songs on "Closing Time", "Heart of a Saturday Night", et al, but much prefer the stripped down "Early Years" versions to the full orchestrations on the studio albums. (In fact, if I thought the "Early Years" albums counted, Vol. 2 would likely shoot to one of the top 3 spots on my list.)
I almost put "Frank's Wild Years" at #1, but upon further reflection "Mule Variations" has nary a weak spot on it, which is why I felt I should put it at the top spot. The only song I sometimes skip is "Low Side of the Road", and even it's not that bad.
(I'm also with Trumpy that "Alice" is a superior album to "Blood Money".)
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Post by Satchmo on Jan 10, 2009 2:46:17 GMT -5
Songs:
1. God's Away on Business 2. New Coat of Paint 3. Swordfishtrombone 4. Little Drop of Poison 5. Heartattack and Vine 6. Rain Dogs 7. Jockey Full Of Bourbon 8. 2:19 9. Fumblin' with the Blues 10. What's He Building in There? 11. Get Behind the Mule 12. Buzz Fledderjohn 13. Temptation 14. Hang on St. Christopher
Albums:
1. The Heart of Saturday Night 2. Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards 3. Frank's Wild Years 4. Mule Variations 5. Heartattack and Vine
Notable mention: Wicked Grin- Technically, this is a John Hammond album, but he sings Tom Wait's songs, and Waits produced it, played backup guitar, and piano on it. If you haven't listened to it, you should definitely check it out.
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Post by mrmeadows on Feb 4, 2009 18:52:08 GMT -5
As long as it's better than that Scarlet Johnanssen thing....
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Post by angilasman on Feb 4, 2009 19:21:45 GMT -5
Since this post I've bought three of those: One from the Heart, Heartattack and Vine, and The Black Rider.
The Black Rider was good, but it's more obviously a soundtrack and not an album (others of his have achieved both).
I thought that Hearttack and Vine was the best pre-experimental Waits album I ever heard. He was great in providing more straightforward rock stuff (it's no suprise that Springstein covered a song from here).
...then there is One from the Heart, which I didn't anticipate much from to be honest. Then I got around to listening to it and it blew me away. It was one of those rare albums that jumped out at me the first time I listened to it and didn't let me go (usually I have to give a few listens before I feel that I "get" an album).
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