foofighters7

Anyone else think Tom Waits is an underappreciated genius? He has never had much success with the public, well not as much as he should. Many critics love him though.

And he has a new album coming out.

Anyone seen him live? I want to so bad!!!

Favorite songs anyone?

mine is probebly- I Hope That I Dont Fall in Love With You

and who here jumped out of their seat at Shrek 2? hehe

fnordboy

Tom Waits is definitely a genius, and he is (for the most part) unerappreciated. I have never seen him live, but I want to badly.

There are a few Waits threads on this board.

Hmm. Favorite songs. I love everything on Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years. I don't think I have heard a song of his that I didn't like though.

Lokimok

Tom is definitely a favorite. Maybe second only to Bob Dylan. He was just on Letterman Tuesday night. I was very surprised to see him backed by 2/3 of the Blues Explosion. He's doing a few concerts in Europe in November & there is a rumor that he may tour the US in the spring.

It's way too hard to pick a favorite song, but favorite album would probably be Rain Dogs.

I didn't see Shrek 2, but I was really unhappy when I found out he had rerecorded a song for the soundtrack. It seemed hypocritical from someone who is always criticizing artists for selling out & suing companies for using soundalikes.

DJLinus

Best. Song. Ever. (Or at least one of the best...)

Jepthah

I've heard most of his new album--available on VH1 with some unfortunately erroneous tracks; and yes, he is a genius and proves it again. Can't wait to purchase the album next Tuesday.

foofighters7

I think Little Drop of Poison is from another Soundtrack before Shrek 2. I actually loved his lil cameo. Its cute, and of course only Waits fans would get it.

SPOILER


fits quite well he is the pirate piano player. hehe, well maybe not him, but sure looks like him. hehe


Yeah Was great on Letterman, and his last appearance when Blood Money/Alice was out, was very good too.

Great Actor as well people!

Hollowgen

i'm digging the new album. i'm (hopefully) lucky to live here in WA, since he's playing his only show in the states here.

anyone been to a waits show? love to hear what it's like...

Jepthah

Just do whatever you have to to get tickets. You'll never regret it.

I saw him on the Mule Variations tour in '99...let me put it to you this way. Any artist who can get a group of hipster Los Angeleno adults to laugh uproariously between songs, AND sing along like they're in church--all the way up to the 'cheap seats' in the balcony--is doing something right.

scarredgod

i love tom waits, almost everything hes ever recorded. i think he really got into full swing during the Island years with swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs but i think Bone Machine was his masterpiece.

i havent seen him live and i dont know if that will ever change. he has one US date and one canadian right now. in all honesty, listening to recordings of the past few tours, i was less than impressed and i dont know if the time, money and effort to travel to another state for one of his shows would be worth it. i just dont like these new versions.

im not a huge fan of the new CD either, it has moments but theyre few and far between. nevertheless, he is indeed a genius.

Lokimok

I sort of agree with you on that '99 tour. I think the lack of a horn player was a big loss. & he was supporting one of his weakest albums. The incredible Marc Ribot is supposed to be playing guitar on the upcoming tour. His presence should elevate the shows. Tom's concerts tend to sell out in about 34 minutes so I'll probably never see him either. I hope I like the new album more than you do.

Little Drop of Poison was from The End Of Violence soundtrack. Whenever I would listen to it I would think of Tom being a great voice for a cartoon character. He re-recorded it for Shrek 2. I didn't know he was actually a character in the movie. Does he have lines? I might have to change my opinion of the whole thing - though I REALLY don't want to sit through Shrek 2.

Supermallet

Waits is one of my all time favorites. Didn't realize he had a new album out. I will be sure to get it and hopefully I can snag some tickets to a show.

Edit: No, no tickets to a show. I didn't realize the tour was in Europe first.

ViewAskewbian

I am a huge Waits fan with all his studio recordings and a few live and rare tracks I hunted down over the years. I tend to enjoy his earlier, jazzy stuff from the 70s more then his experimental work and find Nighthawks at the Diner to be one of the best albums ever. Those who have yet to hear it should race to pick this up. Down By Law has a great acting performance by Waits and his scene with Iggy Pop in Coffee and Cigarettes is, I think, the best in the movie.

"They don't have any of HIS songs on here either!"

Scorpio

Tom Waits is easily one of my top ten artists of all time. I did not even know he had a new album coming out until I had Letterman on. I can't wait!

mike harnish

I love Tom Waits! I saw him live in Kansas City in the late 70's, I think. A friend had tickets, but I didn't know him then, so the concert was kind of lost on me. I've been kicking myself ever since, because I wasn't up on him at the time. You don't get many chances to see him live. So, I've got to try to see him again, now that I'm really into him. I've got all his official albums, and around a dozen bootlegs. Couldn't name a favorite song--there are just too many.

You know, Tom Waits is a good example of someone who should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame--it's a no-brainer--but isn't, and probably never will be, I guess because he's not commercially viable and widely known enough. But, hell, he was in the top 100 artists of all time when VH1 did one of their list specials a few years ago. And, as I remember it, that list was supposedly voted on by other artists and journalists. So, he's well-respected by his peers, but isn't in the Hall. Maybe he doesn't give a shit about that kind of thing, but it pisses me off that he's not even being considered, apparently. Like with all such things, the Hall of Fame probably comes down largely to politics--Tom won't play the rock star games--and money--he's not made enough money for the powers that be. Ok, I'm done venting. Thanks for listening.

Realy looking forward to the new album!!

conscience

Tom Waits is a genius.

He scares me, breaks my heart, and lifts me up with his music. Sometimes he does all three in some of his songs.

I have wanted to see him live ever since I got into his music.

Words cannot describe how awesome he is. And he's a great actor to boot!

conscience

Closing Time is such an excellent debut album. Everytime I listen to it, I cry my eyes out. Whenever I am depressed and I need some time alone with myself, I put this cd in the player and just lay there in the dark and cry my pain out.

Martha always gets to me.

foofighters7

In Shrek 2, he is and isnt a character in it. They clearly do a character that has some looks to Waits, and he sits down at the piano and starts into Little Drop of Poison. A Truly Great scene. Hilarious and a gift to all Waits fans, who never see him in the mainstream.

And btw Shrek 2 was a great lil film, and I can understand why he would lend his talent to it. Hilarious very well done film. I am a film addict. I love foreign films, independent, and classics. But I can tell you, if your not seeing Shrek 2 because you think its a kids movie,or simple hollywood mainstream, you just need to see it. Good funny stuff.

MurraySiskind

Martha . . . I can barely listen to that one, it kills me.

auto

Love the new album...but did anyone notice the way the tracks are numbered on the back of the cd sleeve is out of sync with the actual record. You think someone would check these things!

BTW, what did he play on Letterman?

cfloyd3

I have posted a few times on the board showing my admiration for Tom Waits. He is music to me, take it all away and I would be happy with just Tom Waits discography for the rest of my life.

Real Gone is excellent, especially Make It Rain, Don't Go Into That Barn, Day After Tomorrow. Atleast those come to me right now.

I have never seen him live unfortunately, but I have watched Big Time now more times than I can count.

jay77: He played Make It Rain on Letterman, if you search a bit on the net you should come around the video, a fan site had it up for a little while there. Quite exciting to see him out there.

On kind of a funny note on release day I just walked up to people I knew and sang Make It Rain lyrics right in their face. Perhaps were odded out since it the way the song starts out but it pleased me.

DJLinus

Picked that album up from the library today.

(I had first heard "I Hope..." on a college radio show years ago and immediately had to find out who did it. Looking forward to hearing the whole album.)

The Cow

Step right up, step right up.
It's only a dollar, just one dollar...

It's been several years since I have seen him, but I very much recommend his live show if you can catch it. Good stuff!

Tom Waits

Jepthah

Everyone in the U.S.'s copy is like this. The printers must have gotten to work before the sequence was finalized. It would be interesting to try programming it in the listed order. Here is the actual track order on the CD:

Top of the Hill
Hoist That Rag
Sins of My Father
Shake It
Don't Go Into That Barn
How's It Gonna End
Metropolitan Glide
Dead and Lovely
Circus
Trampled Rose
Green Grass
Baby Gonna Leave Me
Clang Boom Steam
Make It Rain
Day After Tomorrow
Chick A Boom (secret/hidden track 16)

conscience

Let me know what you think about it.

It used to be my favorite, but has now been surpassed by Small Change. But I have never heard a bad Waits album so I don't have a least favorite (and Closing Time is in no way bad.)

foofighters7

Dont know if anyone else was able to make it to the Seattle show of Tom on Monday, but if you didnt it was fabulous!!

I wish he would have did a few songs I wanted to hear, and just to play more, but hey he cant play all night,,or can he. hehe

Anyone else go?
I flew from Indiana to Dallas, Dallas to Seattle to see Tom, and it was worth it. Awesome stuff.