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Tom Waits - Blue Valentine Audio CD

A fair review of the Tom Waits "Blue Valentine" 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: Blue Valentine
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-05-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Somewhere [From West Side Story] 2: Red Shoes by the Drugstore 3: Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis 4: Romeo Is Bleeding 5: $29.00 6: Wrong Side of the Road 7: Whistlin' Past the Graveyard 8: Kentucky Avenue 9: Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun 10: Blue Valentines

The Waits record that started it for me
He put this on and I was blown away - if whisky were music, this is what it would sound like. I first heard this record about 20 years ago, in my last year of college, when me and some drinking buddies had gathered at our bartender friend's house for an after-closing whisky drink (he couldn't start drinking til he closed shop).

I later went through all the phases - the early crooner Waits, the 1980s alternative drum-banging mind-bending Waits. And I grew out of most of it as my musical tastes changed directions. But today, I still love to sit down late at night, fill up my tumbler neat, and put on "Romeo is Bleeding" on the stereo. To me this record defines what Tom Waits has been for me all these years.
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This is one fantastic album
I borrowed it from a co-worker and he told me that if I want to hear something really different that will grow on me in time, then give this a listen. This is the first album I ever heard from Tom Waits and it is fantastic. His music is very different than any other I have heard, and his lyrics are out of this world. His voice took a few listens to get used to, (he almost sounds like Bob Dylan's current voice), but now I really like the heart and soul that pours out of his voice as he grinds through the lyrics. If you have heard of him, give this a listen, you will not be sorry. .


No matter the album, Tom Waits rocks!
From his cover of "Somewhere" from West Side Story (Maria never sounded so soulful) to the very last note of the title track, his dark & distinct voice wrings true. While i'll admit that i'm preferable to his later, more experimental sounding albums, "Blue Valentine" is another fine example of Tom Waits' ability for song-writing & overall presence. a wonderful addition to the collection of any Waits fan.


dont rush to get it
but it also has uneven songs like somewhere. hey waits fans this is a great album with some of waits best songs like romeo is bleeding. so though i recommend this album i wouldn't start here.


TRUE VALENTINE
A very good friend of mine, (thank you so very much, Mr. I never thought I would be writing a Tom Waits review but here I am. Robertson. . . ) actually bought this album for me and had it sent to my home. Well, three months later, I now own TEN Tom Waits albums. I am now of course, a hopeless Mr. Waits addict, even more surprising is that I normally listen to bands such as Tool, Rush and Black Sabbath. However, Mr. Waits simply transcends musical genres and I love him for it, he is an absolute genius who writes, sings and plays, from the heart.

The album is just so atmospheric, dense and evocative, that I never tire of listening to it. It is the kind of album into which the listener simply disappears and what a dark honour it is to inhabit this blue, smoky world. From the other worldly opening of 'Somewhere' with its bold, redemptive optimism, "We'll find a new way of living, a new way, of forgiving. . . " to the desolate, heartbreaking portrait of dark love on album closer, 'Blue Valentines' you know you are in the prescence of greatness. This is still my favourite Tom Waits album and is now one of my favourite albums of all time.

These are the songs of the lost and the lonely and tracks like 'Christmas Card From Hooker In Minneapolis' feature some of the best lyrics I have ever heard, "I'd buy me a used car lot and I wouldn't sell any of 'em, I'd just drive a different car each day, dependin' on how I feel. . . ' Beautiful.

Other highlights are 'Red Shoes By The Drugstore' with brilliant lines like, "As the rain splashed the nickel and spilled like Chablis all along the midway. . . " and "There's a dark huddle at the bus stop, umbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet. . . " There are a book full of ideas in one song.

'Kentucky Avenue' is pure heartbreak, with such an unusual angle on a relationship that I would defy anyone not to be moved by it. The closing lines, "Put a church key in your pocket, we'll hop that freight train in the hall, we'll slide all the way down the drain, to New Orleans, in the fall. . . ' are simply wonderful.

Blue Valentine really does approach perfection and cannot be recommended too highly. My love affair with Mr. Waits continues with every album, each one evokes its own character, its own world and to inhabit these worlds is just such sweet, sweet surrender. .


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.

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