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Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]

Tom Waits - Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet] Audio CD

A fair review of the Tom Waits "Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]" 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.

Band: Tom Waits
Title: Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]
Rating:

Release Date: 2006-12-05
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Lie To Me 2: LowDown 3: 2:19 4: Fish In The Jailhouse 5: Bottom Of The World 6: Lucinda 7: Ain't Goin' Down To The Well 8: Lord I've Been Changed 9: Puttin' On The Dog 10: Road To Peace 11: All The Time 12: The Return Of Jackie and Judy 13: Walk Away 14: Sea Of Love 15: Buzz Fledderjohn 16: Rains On Me 17: Bend Down The Branches 18: You Can Never Hold Back Spring 19: Long Way Home 20: Widow's Grove 21: Little Drop Of Poison 22: Shiny Things 23: World Keeps Turning 24: Tell It To Me 25: Never Let Go 26: Fannin Street 27: Little Man 28: It's Over 29: If I Have To Go 30: Goodnight Irene 31: The Fall Of Troy 32: Take Care Of All My Children 33: Down There By The Train 34: Danny Says 35: Jayne's Blue Wish 36: Young At Heart 37: What Keeps Mankind Alive 38: Children's Story 39: Heigh Ho 40: Army Ants 41: Books Of Moses 42: Bone Chain 43: Two Sisters 44: First Kiss 45: Dog Door 46: Redrum 47: Nirvana 48: Home I'll Never Be 49: Poor Little Lamb 50: Altar Boy 51: The Pontiac 52: Spidey's Wild Ride 53: King Kong 54: On The Road

Greatest Virtues, Greatest Weakness
Its ambition, musical diversity, and artistic accomplishment make it stand out and demand listeners reevaluate what they think music is. Tom Waits' 2006 opus is an order of magnitude removed from much of the downloadable crap coming out of American music factories these days. But its virtues feed into what is doubtless its greatest weakness: it is unbelievably long and demands listeners with sturdy constitutions.

Each of the three discs is unified by some theme, expressed musically rather than lyrically. Disc 1, Brawlers, is comprised of blistering bluesy tracks like those that made Waits famous back in the Eighties. Disc 2, Bawlers, is more sentimental and folksy, harkening back to his Grammy-winning "Mule Variations. " Disc 3, Bastards, runs the gamut of experimental sound reminiscent of "Alice" and "Blood Money. "

"Orphans" is 56 tracks long, and each disc is packed to the limits of a CD. Though they don't necessarily come together to comprise a whole like a concept album, they are a unified musical experience spotlighting the range of human emotions as felt by a musician. And not just any musician: as always, Waits' mind runs very differently than yours or mine, with deeper insights and more tumultuous feelings.

Waits plays with sound in a way not everyone will like. Most tracks are filtered to sound like someone's collection of treasured 78 RPM records; listeners weaned on CD-quality sound may dislike this muddiness. And the Tin Pan Alley ethos that informs the instrumentation is not one that young listeners are accustomed to. But these elements create the illusion of a bygone artist reminding us of truths we didn't know we'd forgotten.

Tom Waits albums have become perilously few and far between. Once a one-man revolution factory, sightings of him have achieved the rarity of UFOs. But that makes albums like this one only that much more valuable. If we don't know when we'll hear from him next, four hours of pure Waits gold is worth the effort of listening. It's really, really long, but it's really, really good.

The best batch yet
I've been listening to this for over 2 years now randomly on the ipod shuffle. For the ages. How could the creator of career-making albums, Rain Dogs, and Swordfishtrombones make a better record? Why would he even try? The king of Independents and alternative music could easily rest on his laurels, watch his kids grow up, and make an occasional album to pay the bills. . . Instead we get this magnum opus of 54 crafted songs that run the gamut: alt. , gospel, early rock-n-roll, gutter underground rock--you get the point. Probably the true inheritor of the beat movement; his images are priceless, poetic lines innumerable, leaving us with 3 discs desert island worthy. Now this one he has no chance of topping, right?.

something for the fans, and something for Tom's own creative needs
He always challenges his listeners in complex ways. I admire Tom Waits for his continuous pushing of the envelope. At the same time, I will admit that his innovations can become excessive and abrasive. He continues to produce great work amidst those cuts bordering on mere noise, but sometimes I miss his Asylum years personae. I am happy to say that he returns in top form(s) here, and the sheer range of these three discs gives a little gift to every kind of Waits fan--including those, like myself, who hold a special place in their hearts for the Waits of the early years.

Disc 1 is more rock and blues influenced stylings, and it's my favorite of the three. Particularly interesting is one long track on the Israel-Palestine conflict that manages to be insightful and message-filled without sounding preachy and while carrying a quite catchy tune. Disc 2 gives us great ballad work, especially on Down There by the Train (which, with no disrespect intended, Johnny Cash never did justice to). Disc 3 is all the avant-garde stuff, including a few spoken word pieces. Waits creates two very different songs here with the same lyrics, and a story he tells near the end about a mother who lost her son is just . . . well, classic Waits.

This album above all shows how much Waits gets his fans. He returns to many styles we haven't heard from him in a while, but with the creative sensibility and viewpoint of the Waits he's become--a little crazier, and with far more pack-years in him.

Other seller
Shipping was not as fast as an Amazon purchase. This was my 1st time using another seller for a used item (CD box set) and even if one of the cd is showing finger prints they are playing ok.

Fascinating
One can relive those days vicariously through the artist's catalogue for Elektra/Asylum (plus the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's ONE FROM THE HEART), but Waits has rigorously steered away from that previous incarnation since then, recording some of the most willfully idiosynchratic music since Captain Beefheart hung up his skates, as well as some of the most heartfelt songs--you know, with verses and choruses--anyone's ever written. The old version of Tom Waits, with the jazzy backdrop, lush orchestrations and tales of down-and-out losers and hookers in the dark bowels of the barroom night, seems assuredly gone forever at this point. ORPHANS has a lot of both, being a compilation of songs leftover from the sessions for his albums, contributions to tribute albums and soundtracks, fully-realized Waits versions of songs he's written for other artists, and a bunch of brand-new music in the bargain as well. Waits has helpfully sequenced this collection into a CD of loud 'n raucous stuff ("Brawlers"), a CD of ballads ("Bawlers") and a CD of completely unclassifiable material("B**tards), and a lot of it is great. The things that aren't you can skip over effortlessly, because there are enough gems to choose from on each disc, and, in a strange way, the collection serves as a good distillation of how Waits has morphed as an artist from 1983's SWORDFISHTROMBONES onwards. Even if you can't listen to the whole thing in one sitting (at least I can't), ORPHANS is as rewarding as any of Tom Waits' regular-issue albums, postcards from somewhere over the edge. . . . or maybe just around the block. Real good.

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.