Swordfishtrombones

I mean this in the best possible way, every album this guy does feels like if Tim Burton worked with Springsteen to make a soundtrack for one of his movies.

Tom Waits is not for me. I can’t possibly take any of this seriously. Still, not a terrible album. Just not something I will revisit

Not his best, 4, but still a classic

A very well respected artist. Some excellent tracks here and overall mastery of the album format. A five then? Somehow I can't get away from being a non-fan. Just not a sound I want to listen to very much. Respect Tom, but no real pleasure for me.

Not as strong as Rain Dogs IMO, but still delightfully strange and mystifying in the way only Tom Waits can deliver.

Not bad

ouais nan arrête

Le retour du mec bourré, mais je crois que j'aime un peu bien cette ambiance super chelou. mais la voix j'ai vraiment du mal les 3/4 du temps. Et quand il y a pas de chant c'est cool plutôt

an die Stimme muss man sich gewöhnen, schwanke zwischen 3 und 4 Sternen. Ist doch gut anzuhören.

Zwischen Genie und Wahnsinn

It didn't turn me off as much as some of his stuff does, but he's still not for me. Feels kinda weird to give it a 3 as it seems like you should either love this or hate it. 2.7

Nice, I'm glad I got another Tom Waits album to compare to Rain Dogs. This one is clearly good, and it kicks off the loose trilogy that continues with Rain Dogs and ends with Franks Wild Years, but here he's really just getting started. It was the first album Waits produced himself, and his wife, Kathleen Brennan, who introduced him to Captain Beefheart's music (among other things), encouraged him to take his sound and approach to a new level. That's why the vocal style is such a departure from the rest of the music - it's like Howlin' Wolf on steroids. There are still a few piano ballads and confessional songs that recall his early work, but mostly we're entering a world of marimbas, bagpipes and clattering percussion: rugged, dark, ramshackle songs that draw on Tin Pan Alley and jazzy rhythms, with carnivalesque and tribal touches that turn the album into a merry-go-round of sounds and feelings. The lyrics are far more abstract and violent here, full of oddballs, drifters and misfits. I have trouble making sense of the whole thing overall, but I really enjoy how weird and idiosyncratic this album is. It's the first album that made me truly appreciate Waits as an artist, and while it's not my favorite, it's the start of some truly fascinating and maddening music. 4 stars.

Kunst

This shit sound like a sea shanty bro. I really did not expect myself to like this as much as I did. I had heard some Tom Waits before and found his vocals a bit strange but I think that this album is proof that no other vocalist could do it like he does, great stuff. Favorite tracks: In the Neighborhood, Swordfishtrombones Least favorite track: Dave the Butcher

Don't really remember much from the first Tom Waits album I had, but I do remember it being nothing like this. I think his voice is better suited to doing weird songs like this. Plus, the other album didn't have a song that was in Robots 🤷‍♀️

I enjoy Tom Waits but this one felt like a bit of a wash of sound. Not one I'll return to. 4/10

Horrible voice.

Svingende, men grundlæggende kan jeg godt li' Tom Waits.

Not his best stuff

I’m not listening to this. I’ve listened to 3 Tom Waits albums so far. That’s 3 too many!

Nach sechs Alben für Asylum, auf denen er vor allem den Barpianisten gab, wechselte der Kalifornier Tom Waits zu Island Records. Swordfishtrombones nahm er im August 1982 in den Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood auf, produziert hat er es selbst. Nur „Dave the Butcher” entstand woanders, bei Leeds Instrument Rental. Das Klavier tritt zurück, dafür kommen Marimba, Banjo, Harmonium, Dudelsack und Glasharmonika ins Spiel. Mit dem Jazz-Songwriter der Siebziger hat das nur noch am Rand zu tun. „Underground” beginnt mit Baritonhorn und Bassmarimba und schleppt sich los wie ein Zirkus im Keller. „In the Neighborhood” ist ein verbeulter Blasmusikmarsch mit Posaunen, „Town with No Cheer” eine Dudelsackklage über Synthesizerflächen. Dazwischen steht „Johnsburg, Illinois”: anderthalb Minuten Klavier und Bass, benannt nach dem Heimatort von Kathleen Brennan, Waits’ Frau seit 1980. „Soldier’s Things” handelt vom Nachlass eines Soldaten, der im Trödel landet. Nicht alles ist ausgearbeitet. „Trouble’s Braids” dauert 1:18, „Just Another Sucker on the Vine” 1:42, und manches bleibt Skizze. Das stört kaum, weil die Platte dadurch nie stillsteht. „Frank’s Wild Years” läuft keine zwei Minuten und taucht 1987 als eigenes Album wieder auf. Wer wissen will, warum Waits nach 1983 anders klingt als davor, muss hier anfangen.

Pre Listen: Never heard of these folks. Not sure what to expect honestly, the album cover is giving jazz, but the album title is giving...something else? Can't gleam anything from the release year either, could be anything. Confused expectations. Notable Tracks: Underground - Holy fuck that's the song from fucking Robots (2005). Whatever I wasn't expecting, I absolutely WASN'T expecting this. Fuckin blindsided. Just Another Sucker On the Vine | Rainbirds - Tied for my favorite tracks. Love the jazzy, emotional sounds tied up here. Makes me feel things. Frank's Wild Years - Incredible story. Just incredible. Damn funny intermission. Gin Soaked Boy - Least favorite track. Bland blues rock that I hate. Post Listen: I think someone could've sat me down and explained what this album was all about, and I *still* wouldn't have been able to predict anything on it. I don't even know how to define what genre this thing is. Story-Telling Jazz Rock? With a heavier lean towards jazz and punk rock? With a hint of southern U.S. folk-rock? I have no clue. It was a fun listen though! I don't know if I'll ever listen to it again, but it was fun! I found I enjoyed the heavier songs with those meaty, primal percussions, and the jazzier songs the most, with the softer more story-telling rock or generic songs the least. All the stories told were pretty funny though, lots of grade-A black comedy here, done well. No song outstays it's welcome, so even the lowpoints of this album are done and over with quickly, thankfully. This album feels like what a prior album I got, 'New Boots and Panties' was trying to be. They did it way better here. I would like to witness a live performance of this album. Would be a fuckin experience. 4/5

Tom Waits is absolute class, I love all his albums.

Wizardry

Interesting, but don't have to listen again. Must have been a pet project for him.

I'm not a big lover of jazz, however this is a fun listen.

I haven't hated a singer's voice this much since I first heard Bob Dylan. It certainly makes for an interesting style even if I tremendously dislike how it sounds.

NO. I don't want to listen to Cookie Monster sing and play weird instruments. No more of this!

Unhörbar! Schon wieder!

Plenty here to push you away, off key meandering trips down dark alleys where his voice sits waiting to express... something, anger, maybe. Very experimental throughout, it feels authentic and very raw which isn't very good in the ears. There's moments where it comes together and I feel like I can see the vision, genuinly great tracks but overall I think the album misses more than it hits which detracts from the score on the whole.

Daar is je favo dronken oom weer! Maar ff, 4 albums op de lijst? Is dat niet een beeetje veel van het goede? En bij de vorige Tom Waits albums ging ik best wel lekker op de instrumentals, die allemaal ofwel een soort halve piraten vibe gaven of een doorrookte whisky bar vibe. Hier is de productie wel duidelijk wat anders, maar ik merk eigenlijk meteen weer dat mijn waardering voor zijn muziek echt samen hangt met wat de instrumentals doen. Ik ben niet zo wild van Tom Waits als zanger, kan het in kleine doseringen prima hebben, maar als de muziek erachter goed is dan is het prima te beluisteren. Tom Waits albums, het is eigenlijk voornamelijk sfeer met soms prettige instrumentals en een dronken oom die er doorheen zingt. Het is een vibe, en ik ben er na 4 albums nog steeds niet achter of het mijn vibe is of niet. Er is geen artiest op deze lijst die ik lastiger te reviewen vind dan Tom fucking Waits... FAVO: Down, Down, Down, Rainbirds

Baba catch up

Oh joy, my final Tom Waits album of this challenge, and looking at the reviews, it's clear he remains as fiercely polarizing as ever. You either love his carnival underworld or you’re ready to claw your ears off. I went into Swordfishtrombones expecting the usual vocal gravel, but his eccentric style ended up totally winning me over. He trades the standard piano for clattering junk-percussion and wonky horns, which makes tracks like "16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six" feel genuinely wild. But the best part is how he switches gears to these beautiful, sad moments like "Johnsburg, Illinois". His voice is definitely a lot, and it’s not for everyone, but there’s so much heart and weird humor underneath the chaos. It’s an acquired taste for sure, but once it clicks, it’s addictive. I’m honestly a little sad to be done with his albums, he made the whole challenge a lot more unpredictable and fun.

ow

I guess Swordfishtrombones is where Tom Waits becomes quintessentially Tom Waits. Previously, he was only essentially Tom Waits. I like it. I respect it. I do not love it.

pretty fun!! a veritable "i'm glad i listened to this before i died" album - dark, atmospheric, and eclectic in all the right ways. really liked the instrumentation on this one, too - shore leave especially was **mwah*** chefs kiss in terms of atmosphere with the xylophone and guitar. reminded me almost of an underwater themed level in a video game (or perhaps, for me specifically, rock village and the underwater precursor city in jak and daxter). highlights - undergound, shore leave, dave the butcher, 16 shells from a 30.6, in the neighborhood, just another sucker on the vine, swordfishtrombone, soldiers things

Just finished this one, and the prevailing thought I have is that I am sick of listening to Tom Waits. This is the third of his five albums included on the list (the author really needs his ass whooped for some of these choices); each listen is just as taxing than the last. At least Tom isn’t banging on metal plates in his unfinished basement this time! This album hops back and forth between experimental Halloween music and saccharine piano ballads performed by the man with the most gravelly, off-putting voice ever. Elvis Costello loves this album, so it’s a law of the universe that I hate it. Waits at least plays the piano competently, so it’s an extremely low 2/5.

This is the 999th album for me, and I kinda hope this site's developer hard-coded/queued up something good for the momentous 1000th/1001st album (I know there's more than 1001 now, but it's a milestone). This is my FIFTH (!!!) Tom Waits album, and this dude can fuck right off. I gave 3/4 albums 1*, and this one is to join that gang after 1.5 songs. 1*

Tom Waits is always a circus that leaves me equally entertained and irritated

I have no problem with his voice, it's the songs that I don't like. Five albums is far too many on the list, and here's one that no one would miss

Most people will struggle with this due to the obvious obstacle of his voice but I love it. At times discordant, at times mellow, he can’t sing, but he can emote.

Much more of the oompah, carnival aesthetic, and less of the piano ballads compared to heartattack and vine. Again, I’m not sure it’s quite for me. The pacing of the album is a bit all over the place and although it’s undoubtedly interesting as a result, much less of a consistent vibe that it gives off.

When I was in high school I did “Frank’s Wild Years” as my choice of monologue for a drama class. My teacher was… not pleased. We actually had an argument about its appropriateness AS a monologue. I think I told him it was “perfect” as it encapsulated my exact feelings about high school and his class in particular. “Don’t you know, I’d sure love to sit across the street and watch it burn, all halloween orange and chimney red?” Never could stand that dog. 5 Boolean: True

Another very good album with well written and musically arranged songs but not his best album.

This is some hipster shit. I like it.

really great album that uses some unique items in the instrumentation.

Ouch, Boots on the Ground (Massive Attack song) I love, this though was a tough swallow!

Gravel delivered song story telling.

This feels like every iteration of his style in one album and I’m not mad about it.

Good

RELEASE ME FROM THESE SHACKLES

I don't really know what to say about this. What did I just hear? Starting with the obvious Tom Waits has a very distinct and significant voice. The way he used it on this album didn't convince me 100% though. After the first listen I was thinking I like his classic piano songwriter style more than his experimental stuff. Most of the songs didn't click with me and gave me nothing in any way. But then when I relistened it a few times it kind of grew on me in some ways. First I thought I don't like the faster rockier tracks then there came a song in exactly that style and I liked it. Again first I thought I don't like the slower quiet songs then came one in that exact style again that I liked. This was and is a seriously confusing listening experience for me because I can't get behind at all what I like about it and what I don't. Some songs are just so strange and don't resonate even a little bit and some songs are pretty enjoyable and I understand the groove. The titletrack is a banger thats a fact. Strange album but in the end it caught my intention a little bit. I will eventually come back to it and give this another try. 3,1/5

I loved the name, didn’t love the album. 2/5 ⭐️ 260/1081

Fuck no

Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones (1983) I’ve owned a couple of other Tom Waits albums (Raindogs , Bon Machine and The Black Rider). I prefer Raindogs to this one. I think I admire Tom rather than love him. Definitely music to listen to after 11pm, not at 3 on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Best tracks 16 Shells…. In The Neighborhood Franks Wild Years 🐶🔥 Swordfishtrombone Soldiers Things Gin Soaked Boy Rainbirds Ok so I liked quite a bit of it but disliked a fair bit as well.. so ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Le arno américain...

Eh

I liked this more than I thought I would! The first track had always turned me off but I found th rest of it to be really creative, fun, and meaningful. He makes it work with his voice in ways that I didn't expect : )

I’m not sure why I like Tom Waits so much, but I do.

Great album. Tom Waits always delivers.

not a fan. could not listen to the full thing

Hot garbage, did not listen past the first two tracks.

Never listened to him. I get the hype

Listened previously. Expectations: High - Verdict: Masterpiece - Possibly the peak of my favourite Tom Waits era. Underground is a fantastic opener and then Shore Leave is utterly brilliant. Dave The Butcher defines the vibe of the album and then Johnsburg, Illinois is more emotional. 16 Shells From A 30.6 rocks and never fails to make me tap my foot. Town With No Cheer is heartbreaking and is following by the ironically rousing In The Neighbourhood. The next few tracks are also incredible, I particularly love the poetry of Frank's Wild Years. The title track is excellent and Down, Down, Down is another rocker. Soldier's Things immediately turns things back to pulling on the heartstrings with an incredibly nostalgic melody and lyric. Gin Soaked Boy is a suitably gin-soaked sounding heavy blues with the most direct guitar playing on the album. Trouble's Braids is hectic and sets up the final sombre note of Rainbirds perfectly. This is pretty much a perfect album from start to finish.

There's too much Tom Waits on this list. But I still enjoyed this.

There's pretty much either a love him or hate him with Tom Waits. I'm of the former, so this one is a lot of damn fun for me. Fantastic poetic lyrics, and just cataloging the different instruments that show up throughout is entertainment. Inject this odd shit right into my veins.

I would love to get into Tom Waits, since's he's an influential icon who has inspired countless artists who followed in his wake, but unfortunately my enjoyment of him is hampered by one small, nagging detail that I can't quite seem to get over, and that's that he sounds like absolute dogshit

Once I got to the second half of this I started getting bored of it. 6/10

Awful

Circus shit aka the worst kind of music.

Fuck this guy

All over the place, gritty, and not exactly accessible. I’d expect nothing less from Tom Waits, but I did like it a little bit more than I was expecting. That said, it was a low bar. Rating: 3/10 Favorite Song: Shore Leave

The older I get the more OK I see it is to find some of Tom Waits’ stuff unbearably pretentious.

Dark, yet interesting. 3,3

Big fan of Tom Waits and yet I never heard that album. Does remind me of German cabaret. Good Tom Waits stuff.

The long-lost soundtrack for the funhouse. When I think of the other albums that arrived in 1983, Swordfishtrombones is even more of a rarity, not unlike its creator, Tom Waits. His voice and his pen can totter and squeak, cajole and flatten. It's a magical ride.

This is my least favorite of his trilogy where he really hit his Weird Sweetspot, but Tom Waits scratches an itch for me that nobody else comes close to.

I can’t explain the weird immediate attraction to this album after my first listen. My initial reaction was oh ya this artist (going back to earlier this year while walking around Cambridge) and turned into wow, I really love this. I ended up favoriting 5 songs and will give it a solid 4 particularly to encourage relisten in the future. 4/5

This is a very carnival clown and a Halloween vibe type of album. And that's to say, I find this quite entertaining, but I can see why a lot of people would hate this. For me, I find it almost camp. It made me laugh. I had a good time listening to it. It's in no way a masterpiece, but it's fun. I also like the variety of instrumentation, especially when the brass comes in, it's pretty good Fav Track: In The Neighborhood

Not one to listen to, whist concentrating.

Getting into Tom Waits has been one of my biggest takeaways from this project. I've rated all his other albums on the list 5/5. I struggled with this one though. There are some good tracks, mostly from the middle onwards, but the first few tracks are so all over the place it's too heavy a lift for those good tracks to pull this together into a cohesive album.

4/10… singer-songwri / dark voice / *1983

Another Tom Waits album, ugh. It sounded just like the one I listened to two weeks ago.

The final Tom Waits already, huh? "Heartattack and Vine" was only 18 albums ago, and I have pre-written reviews for both "Rain Dogs" and "Bone Machine" in the bank. I've cleared out Waits' included discography in a remarkably short period of time. My first Waits album was "Nighthawks at the Diner", which I only pulled 102 albums ago, and I have listened to both Rain Dogs and Bone Machine ahead of schedule because I began working my way down this list by order of descending runtime. Honestly? Fuck Tom Waits. Buddy based his entire discography around imitating Trout Mask Replica and that somehow warrants having five of his fucking albums on the list. I don't even understand why his discography is viewed as being so richly experimental, either. His style is a bogged down, schlubby blues sound which is the exact same across every album. Fortunately, in my courthouse all albums are presumed good until proven shit, so I shall graciously enter this album with an open mind. 'ere goes. Yeah. IT'STHESAMEFUCKINGTHINGASLASTTIME. Well, not quite. Fortunately for me, this outing wasn't nearly as frustrating as I remember his other albums being. For one, it's more concise, and for two, the electric guitar is more of a unifying element on this album when compared to his other ventures. I do quite like the guitars of this album. They're derivative of other key players in the experimental rock field (most notably Zappa), though they're played well and contribute an interesting atmosphere to this album thanks to their bowlegged sense of rhythm. Like all of Waits' other albums, there is yet another piano ballad piece along with other strangely sentimental songs. There's also a few songs that are stretched way too thin and have absolutely nothing going on. I guess I'll never understand the intent of Waits. There's no way this is his actual singing voice and he's been playing his music straight the whole time, right? All in all, I suppose I didn't mind listening along to this album. The music is focused enough to avoid the pitfalls of Waits' other releases, and I guess I can respect an oddball even when their particular brand of strange isn't to my liking. Book time. Waits' career defining and breakthrough release. Marked a full departure from his barfly persona. "At odds with the mood of the times, the songs are mostly short, the words imagistic, the sound bent, rusted, twisted and screwed. His previously signature lush orchestration, saxophone, and plain recorded piano and guitar are here eschewed in favor of a percussive carnival whirl of pump organ, marimba, and buckshot brass. It makes for a wheezing and moaning, clanking and creaking work of darkly cinematic, elegiac, snapshot poise." Long ass quote and all, but I don't see how these elements make the album radically different, especially when they can be observed in Nighthawks at the Diner and Heartattack and Vine. "Frank's Wild Years" would serve as the foundation for a stageplay of the same name, with a soundtrack album later being released in 1987. Wikipedia says this album was the first of Waits' to be produced by himself and marked a pivot within his sound. Critics really loved it - there's nary a review below five stars, and the album has received enduring acclaim in the years following release. The album notably peaked at No. 167 in the US, No. 62 in the UK, No. 45 in New Zealand and No. 18 in Norway. Yeah, I suppose this is among Waits' more consequential releases. I cosign this inclusion.

I think this is the best Tom Waits era. The start of his weirdness. Where he became a junkyard jazz singer. Where he made his voice insane sounding. Never forget the opening track used in the film Robots. Bizarre. Dave the butcher being a weird lo fi accordion track. His soulful songwriter roots still come out on the next track. 16 shells is one of his most immediate grooves for me. There's some great ambience in town with no cheer. A great marching band ballad on in the neighborhood. The fast pace of down down down. The beautiful instrumental closer. I could just ramble track per track in and out of order but this is one of those records that sets the stage on who an artist is/can transform into. This record really transports me to a grungy port town full of life and character. I hope to see this man perform live one day.

Tom Waits has a voice you'll either love of hate, mercifully he's relatively toned down on this album (with plenty of instrumental tracks to help break it up as well). I can't say I'm his biggest fan, but this was a perfectly alright, bordering on good, album.

Hey kids! Do you want all the unpleasantness of that “experimental” music that the cool kids listen to but with a few of the sharper edges sanded down so it is fractionally more listenable?! Then try Fisher-Price-My-First-Captain-Beefheart! Operators are standing by. Everybody talks about the getting-cancelled-for-a-sex offense-to-MAGA/evangelical-grifter pipeline but what about the low-sales-to-pretentious/rebellious-teenage-hipster-grifter pipeline? “Oh darn, I can’t be a pop star. What should I do? Oh wait, I know. Pretend to be an avant garde, delta bluesman, beat poet, hobo when really I grew up middle class kid in fucking Pomona, California. Genius!” All these articles talking about how he creates this character that isn’t who he is in real life but only when he’s on stage, and how that makes him such an artist. Bullshit. It makes him a con man. And not just a con man, but a con man taking advantage of one of the dumbest groups out there. Young white dudes who are too awkward to play sports or date girls and so try to seem smart and edgy just to give them something to make them feel good about themselves. Leave those poor saps alone, Tom Waits! They’ve suffered enough.

As always so quirky. Very creative stuff, first track is amazing. Some duds on there but overall super engaging and varied material

This is #day755 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… here's to my fourth record by Tom Waits already. I mean, he's one of a kind. Tom Waits doing Tom Waits thing. And doing it entirely on his own terms. What's not to like? This is a 4 out of 5. Looking forward to #day756.

i love old alcoholic music and evil clown music so this is great

It was ok.

He has a very distinct voice, but not my preference

Wow I hate his voice so much. Made this unlistenable.

я познакомился, но вообще не мое

Difícil de descrever

Sure, technically it's music, but this guy's voice is awful.

I really couldn't wait for this to be over. Spooky and weird and too experimental for me. I do like the name of this album and its lack of spaces. Albums like this do make me love this little challenge because the reviews are priceless. KEEP EM COMING.

Rain Dogs is far superior. It honestly makes this look unfinished

No fav song

One of the first albums where Tom said “hey, let’s get weird” and a whole new world unfolded. It’s not a flawless Waits album but it’s pretty damn close. He’s really starting to experiment with his voice and other sounds to bring the creepy out. And under all that experimentation are great songs. 16 Shells, Gin Soaked Boy and the Title Track are up there with some of my favorite Waits songs. And the poetic & bizarre talk track Franks Wild Years in the middle of it all. Torched it.