Fretplay.com Tom Waits CD reviews Tom Waits guitar tabs Tom Waits CD reviews Tom Waits tabs Swordfishtrombones


Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones Audio CD

A fair review of the Tom Waits "Swordfishtrombones" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Tom Waits reviews here, or go back to the Tom Waits tabs.

Tom Waits Band: Tom Waits
Title: Swordfishtrombones
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-06-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Underground 2: Shore Leave 3: Dave the Butcher [Instrumental] 4: Johnsburg, Illinois 5: 16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six 6: Town With No Cheer 7: In the Neighborhood 8: Just Another Sucker on the Vine [Instrumental] 9: Frank's Wild Years 10: Swordfishtrombone 11: Down, Down, Down 12: Soldier's Things 13: Gin Soaked Boy 14: Trouble's Braids 15: Rainbirds [Instrumental]

Frightening
Thankfully (mercifully) many of the cuts have long long instrumental introductions such as 'Dave The Butcher'. It's hard to imagine that a vocalist with a voice as bad as Tom Waits can make a career selling records. The opening cut, 'Underground', will be enough to frighten most listeners away to begin with. To call this 'music' cutting edge progressive alternative experimental is like dropping a can of paint on the sidewalk and calling it modern art. The 'music' (noise) on this disk is different. But that doesn't make it music. I generously gave it 2 stars for the high pain threshold of the backup band.


Seminal
. In terms of American music, Swordfishtrombones is probably the most important and original album made in the last 30 years.


Has to be one of pop music's most underrated albums
Let me say this album is something of a minor miracle. I used to love this album in the late 80s and early 90s, but recently started listening to it again after a long hiatus (my wife hates TW, it ended up). It's hard to describe how evocative it is, but there is something about the coupling of the musical production and the lyrical imagination that is pure magic. When Waits creates the character of the American soldier on shore leave, who talked baseball with a lieutenant and shot billiards with a midget until the rain stopped, who bought a razor and some gum and knife and a t-shirt with horses on the front, the ambiance is enhanced by the clinging cowbells, thumping bass and other musical innovations that bring this scene to an almost theatrical life.

Unlike today's iPod culture which encouraged the consumption of "singles" and "favorite hits" without any kind of extended context, this album should be consumed and enjoyed in its entirety to get the full effect. "Frank's Wild Years", "Gin Soaked Boy", "In the Neighborhood" etc certainly hold up on their own, but as an ensemble they are tantamount to major artistic achievment. .


Swordfishtrombones
regardless of which day it is I do feel that it is among the elite in Waits' cannon. Tom Waits-Swordfishtrombones *****

My relationship with Swordfishtrombones is as follows; there are days where I will feel that this album is Waits' best, then there are other days where I think it is just another one of Waits' great albums but certainly not is best. If it is not the best it is for sure one of the best he ever released, and is with out a doubt the second best he released during the 1980s, right behind the amazing Rain Dogs.

This was a departure for Waits away from his almost crooner style he had created for himself. During the 1970's he was very much the musical equivalent of Charlie Chaplin. A tramp if you will. The lyrics are still the same; that whole beat writer meats Bob Dylan in the town cafe, but it is the music, the junkyard flavor of instrumentation that is so different. Instead of the basic jazzy out fit he lobbied for break drums, and glass harmonicas to name just a few. But more then that is the strange time signatures he used that would make even the great Frank Zappa scratch his head in amusement.

Songs like the albums opener 'Underground' and 'In The Neighborhood' come like a complete culture shock almost to the fans of old Waits. The amazing title track sounds fresh and new yet it still holds on to the Waits material of the 1970's. 'Gin Soaked Blues' is a rough electric blues, while 'Soldiers Things' is downright melancholy. 'Franks Wild Years' was a sign of this and the next two albums, and 'Down, Down, Down' is pure bliss. But perhaps it is the genius of '16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six' that most makes the album. Eventually the great Bob Seger would cover this but not to the same accord. Waits' original version is cool, and chilling. The strongest track off the album easily.

Swordfishtrombones was Waits' tribute album to the great Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. He did a swell job I must say. This is truly for those looking for something a little different but still intelligent. Swordfishtrombones is a true classic.


Robots
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.


You can see a complete list of all Tom Waits discography, or go back to the Tom Waits tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]