Tom Waits Ranked
All I've listened to the past two days has been Tom Waits, and it's high rtime I publicly declare rmy favorites of his. |
| 1 |  | Tom Waits
Closing Time
5 stars.
My absolute favorite collection of Wait's songs. A perfect introduction to man's
softer side; this is a must have, for both the biggest Waits fans to the semi-kinda-
heard-him-once-or-twice fans. |
| 2 |  | Tom Waits
Rain Dogs
5 stars.
It's his most well known album for a reason. Some of the best experimental
instrumentation in the history of modern music, and the songwriting is just
unbeatable. This is probably the best place to start for any Waits virgins. |
| 3 |  | Tom Waits
The Heart Of Saturday Night
4.5 stars.
Another album that is much subtler than his later work, especially in terms of
vocals. Drunk On The Moon is still one of my absolute favorite Tom Waits songs. |
| 4 |  | Tom Waits
Swordfishtrombones
4.5 stars.
The first album to see Waits really change his sound and be more experimental.
Not quite as refined as Rain Dogs, but an incredible album nonetheless. |
| 5 |  | Tom Waits
Mule Variations
4 stars.
It's rare that a record is released 26 years after an artist's debut and is still
among his best work. A softer Waits album, but the songwriting on Mule
Variations is stellar. What else would you expect from him? |
| 6 |  | Tom Waits
Bone Machine
4 stars.
Another of Tom's 90's releases. It's a record that plays with a lot of different
elements that Tom used throughout his career. |
| 7 |  | Tom Waits
Franks Wild Years
4 stars.
Probably one of the darkest, strangest of his albums. Not recommended to people
who aren't familiar with Waits. |
| 8 |  | Tom Waits
Nighthawks At The Diner
4 stars.
Nighthawks At The Diner is another album reserved solely for the mega fans.
Tom's first Live release, it's filled with humor and chit chat as well as fantastic
music. To quote the opening track,
"I'm so goddamn horny, the crack of dawn better be careful around me." |
| 9 |  | Tom Waits
Small Change
3.5 stars.
Some more early Waits, not as good as The Heart of Saturday Night or Closing
Time but definitely still worth the listen. |
| 10 |  | Tom Waits
Bad As Me
3.5 stars.
I was pleasantly surprised when I heard Bad As Me. It's clearly not Waits' best
work, but for him to be able to release one of the better albums of 2011 38 years
after his first album is quite a feat. |
| 11 |  | Tom Waits
Alice
3.5 stars.
Another of Tom's more recent releases. It has some fantastic songs on it, don't
get me wrong, but to me it's just not at the same calibre as some of the his
earlier work. |
| 12 |  | Tom Waits
Blue Valentine
3.5 stars.
Not Tom's worst album by a long shot, but it's still a bit much for my taste. The
cover of West Side Story's Somewhere always seemed unnecessary. Still has
some great stuff on it though. If anything, Tom Waits is one of those rare artists
that hasn't really released anything absolutely awful. All his stuff is redeemable in
some way, and that's partially why he's always been a favorite of mine. |
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