Heartattack And Vine

Boy, do I love Tom Waits's ability to paint a scene. This album sounds like a lovesick drunk at an all-night diner in a cold, windy city full of shady characters.

Dude sounds like that blue CGI alien in Star Wars episode 6 after George tinkered with them. Just goofy

I think it was a reviewer from the Rolling Stone who said that Tom Waits can find more beauty in the gutter than most people would find in the Garden of Eden. That is a perfect description of his sound. He is definitely one of the greatest lyricists of the past 50 years. There’s so many clever lines on this album alone. ' Don’t you know there ain’t no devil, there’s just god when he’s drunk' from the title track is the first one that comes to mind. ' you got to tell me brave captain, why are the wicked so strong, how do the angels get to sleep, when the devil leaves the porchlight on' from “Mr. Seigal” is just another. I always see a good deal of criticism about Tom Wait’s voice but it’s perfect for the subject matter that he writes about. Can you imagine these lyrics having the same kind of impact being sung by someone like Robert Plant or Roger Daltrey. His arrangements on here are spot on too. There’s a unique sound to them as well which fits in perfectly with the subject matter and his voice. I knew a few of his albums on this list but this one was new to me. I can totally see why it's included.

Awesome album. Sent me down a very long and enjoyable Tom Waits hole

Tom Waits makes Bruce "King Mumbles" Springsteen sound like a paragon of enunciation. Holy crap. People pay this guy to sing?! I mean, it has a certain kitsch but geeze. I found myself struggling to understand what the hell he was saying and I listen to hardcore metal where the vocalists are often screaming sentence fragments instead of singing. From a musicality standpoint, the songs are great and the recording quality is on point. It's just Ol' Tom's singing ... it's hard to get through sometimes. There are a few killer tracks on here where Tom's voice isn't ... as bad. "Downtown" is a great song. So is the title track, "Heartattack And Vine" (though I prefer the Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover). But "Saving All My Love For You" is almost unlistenable. And it's not the only track dragging this album's score down.

Love this. Get that his style of Bluesy jazz won't be for everyone but its the sort of album you can get lost in. The story telling, the song writing and the delivery is pretty much perfect. Waits brings the dive bars and the gutters to life, even makes them appealing at times. My only gripe is the fading out of songs and the instrumental track which wasn't needed. Great stuff from a genuine artist. 4/5

His voice would be better suited to Mongolian Throat Singing.

Like listening to a drunk muppet.

Love this. It’s about as Tom Waits as you can get. I’m partial to “Small Change”, which is far and away my favorite Waits album it sits right in the middle of my favorite Waits years (73-85), the very beginning of his discography. It’s raw, bluesy, gritty, powerful, and has that Waits twist so common of that era. He takes some getting use to, but all in all, a fantastic listen.

Excited to give this a second listen. I really enjoyed this album. It is like you get to get a look into the mind of the gutter of society, and it doesn't feel inauthentic, or judgmental - just raw. I love the bare bones music, and there is a lot of emotion in his voice, even if some can't get past it. He swings from a song about a wasted guy who got 27 stiches in his head, potentially committing suicide, or spending all of his money on a hooker - or both - running from something - or everything - to a lullaby that might be a songs that is critiquing lullabies, by also showing someone who didn't take to heart that he should have "combed his hair" - and is now in the gutter as a hobo (?) - to a heartbreaker about a breakup or a visit from a ghost. This is only the second album of his that I have engaged with, and I get the same feeling that I did after the first one I engage with - this guy is a genius songwriter. Again, I can't wait to revisit it and dig a little deeper, or have the meaning shift based on where my head is at. Heartattack and Vine: "Don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk. This stuff will probably kill you, let's do another line." "Saving all my love for you" - I imagine a drunk, fuck-up wandering around town in the hours before dawn. Love it. Downtown - 9/10 - "It's the cool of the evening the sun's goin' down, I want to hold you in my Arms I want to push you around, I want to break your bottle and spill out all Your charms, come on baby we'll set off all the burglar alarms, goin' downtown Down downtown." - Did it before Matchbox 20 "Jersey Girl" - Didn't realize he wrote it. Better, more authentic than Springsteen's version. "Til the money runs out" - hell yes. Incredible lyrics. Wasted confusion, can dig into the meaning. Did the pointed man commit suicide? Or with a prostitute? Both? "On the nickel" - a lullaby? A critique of lullabyes? By a homeless guy who maybe should have taken the little things like combing his hair more seriously? Not run away from home? Dunno - it's all of those things -and it's great. Even Thomas Jefferson is down here with him - on the nickel. Mr. Siegal - " you got to tell me brave captain why are the wicked so strong how do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves his porch light on" Ruby's Arms - Is he dead? A soldier? Is he greeting her as the wind, and taking her scarf off the clothesline? Leaving through her blinds, past the windchimes. A soldier? Or a rambling hobo leaving someone he loves, and it breaks his heart? Awesome.

Poetry. Some Dylan inspired lyrics, much darker and much more urban. Often visceral, often decadent working class drunk storytelling. Scorching vocals. Unique, creative metaphores. One of a kind.

Ok this one's really hard. I enjoyed the contrast of the jazzy and sometimes even whimsical music with the gritty skid row stories in a gravelly delivery. But while sometimes detailed, other times the lyrics were lazy and redundant and when the vocals went from gravelly to gutteral it became too much. Interesting listen though and I was intrigued throughout the album to continue listening for what was next.

Tom Waits' voice is not for the fainthearted but, when one comes to terms with it, it can lead to some pretty drastic reconsideration. On Heartattack and Vine, there are several moments of upturned expectations when it comes to the songs that seem to not bring about greatness; yet when Tom belts with the passion and conviction, it's those two things that sends the songs into a place the listener doesn't expect them to be, like with Downtown, Jersey Girl and On the Nickel. Tom Waits is an acquired taste and may not be for everyone but, when he gets his hooks onto you, it's a enthralling ride.

Tom waits for his Cornflakes, his Cheerios, his Weetos. He launches it all down his throat like your mum gobbling down uncle Mike's cock. He walks out into the on-coming traffic still in his dressing gown, his todger flapping in the cold morning mist. What's that you say, Jim? How's your nan doing? Still like a fist up her growler? Yeah, yeah mate, I'll be round later. Lend us a fiver? I'll have it back to you by next Wednesday when Rita pays me for the violin lessons she so desperately needs. She can't play a fuckin' note the poor cunt. Where's my butt plug gone? I had it an hour ago. Tom waits for Rita to come round. She loves to tickle her toes in the hours leading up to the event in the hope of getting a sausage sandwich out of Trevor. She never does. Tom cradles his young son in his arms and smokes a cigar. You like that don't you, Toby. Me and ya muvva don't like eachother anymore, but you'll keep us glued together until your infant death, which is due next week. Rita turns up, fanny hanging down round her ankles, channeling her inner Princess Anne. Tom is annoyed because he's already eaten half of his advent calendar in the time spent waiting. Rita slaps him and then beautifully plays the violin. She's been practicing. Tom realises she doesn't need him anymore and can't help but feel like he's been betrayed by his soon to be dead infant son, Toby. He snatches the fiver from Rita and stuffs it down Toby's neck. It snaps. Rita cries out in horror and runs away to Belgium's capital, Brussels. Just another day in paradise, ain't that right, Phil? Ain't that right? Toby you poor dead cunt.

I grew tired of his voice more quickly that I expected. By the end the whole album felt like some awful parody. Won’t go back

Whilst not the greatest Tom Waits album, this record defines the end of Waits' first phase, that of a singer-songwriter channelling the energy of every dive bar in the US in a piano and guitar driven Cab Calloway-esque explosion. It's not the best example of that early sound by any means, but it's still excellent and still worth anyone's time. As someone else so wonderfully said, Tom Waits finds more beauty in the gutter than most could find in the Garden of Eden.

I need to listen to it a few more times. But I believe this is the best awaits album I have listened to. There are less of the piano and string driven ballads. While he does those well, it’s not my cup of tea. I like the more jazzy/bluesy uptempo and ragged songs on here.

This might be Tom Waits's best album. His bluesy ballads are pure atmosphere and describe people and their many sufferings. It is underlaid with some music that could be great background music for a party but in this constellation forms a bond with its singer.

I didn't like the first two songs, but then the album just got better and better.

This is a classic Tom Waits album, probably one of his most accessible and definitely one of my favorites. It has all the touches I enjoy hearing in his music, without some of the abrasiveness that you find in his later works. This is the album I would probably give to a new listener of Waits, rather than throwing them straight into the more adventurous stuff. The album has a sultry, bluesy kind of sound, augmented with some really lovely piano and string arrangements. The lyrics are full of vivid, often gritty imagery, populated with the colorful miscreants and wandering souls we see in a lot of Waits' songs. But there are also some really lovely, heartfelt moments as well, with Waits' vocal bringing in a lot of vulnerability and pathos. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Jersey Girl, Heartattack and Vine, Ruby's Arms, Til the Money Runs Out, On the Nickel, Mr. Siegal, Downtown, Saving All My Love for You, In Shades

Jersey Girl: Banger On the Nickel: Another Banger You know, at first I was meh, but now I'm like yeh.

Album 29 of 1001 Tom Waits - Heartattack And Vine Favorite Track : Heartattack and Vine Honarable Mention : In Shades, Downtown, Jersey Girl, On the Nickel Rating : 5 / 5 I gave a little cheer when I saw this was my album for the day. Tom Waits is easily in the Top 5 of my favorite artists of all times. Enjoyable from the first rack to the last. It just flows and leaves you wanting more. If you aren't familiar with him...if he has one of those faces that you recognize but you're just not sure from where... take a few and give him a listen. I guarantee that you've heard plenty of his songs being done by others. He is an American original. Get to know him. Can't stress that enough.

I think I may have one of this guys songs saved. Very bluesy! I like it! Just turned up the volume a bit, this is some good blues!! He's got a great gravely voice (for a white boy :P) Man this was actually a really good album. I saved not 1 not 2 but 3 songs from it!! 5 stars.

Fantastic record, the one just before he really takes a turn! Nice mix of jazzy lounge music here it's a nice way to cap off his early years

I never thought I knew who Tom Waits was until today. After some research, I realized I know the song "A Little Drop of Poison" from the movie Shrek 2. That song isn't on this record, but it is phenomenal! This record is gold from front to back. Tom's voice is super gravelly, and rough, but it is beautiful in its own right. The best way I can describe his voice is if Louis Armstrong and Lemmy Kilmister had a baby who got really into blues rock, that would be Tom. This album has songs that are straight blues rock, as well as some that could almost be considered lounge music, and some folky ones. This is a record that immediately had me tapping my foot and bobbing my head. Tom is a hell of a poet! Some examples of his lyrics include: From the song Mr. Siegal: How do the angels get to sleep When the devil leaves his porch light on From the song Heartattack and Vine: Don't you know there ain't no Devil, That's just God when he's drunk I never realized the song Jersey Girl was Tom's. I always assumed it was Bruce Springsteen's. Tom's original version is amazing!! Overall, a phenomenal record!! This is why I love this generator! I never would have found this gem otherwise. I will definately be putting this album into regular rotation. Favourite songs: Mr. Siegal, Heartattack and Vine, 'Til the Money Runs Out, Downtown, Jersey Girl, On the Nickel, Ruby's Arms, Saving All My Love For You, In Shades Least favourite songs: None. This album is phenomenal. Not a dud in the lot. 5/5

I saw Tom Waits at Sydney’s State Theatre in May 1979, the year before this album was released. I went with my dear friend, Jackie. Waits was supported by local legend Mark Gillespie, whose gear was delayed by a vehicle breakdown, delaying Tom’s set by around 90 minutes, giving Jackie & I the opportunity to retreat to Hyde Park & get even more stoned than we already were. Subsequently, this was one of the most memorable concerts I ever attended. Waits was great, with just his piano, a double bass, drums & a horn player. It’s always been a romantic notion of mine that this album was born on that world tour.I can find no confirmation on the net, but I’m sure I heard back then that he wrote On The Nickel in Glebe. The album opens with the title track - pure 70’s Waits, when he still wrote tunes. There’s In Shades, a rare & wonderful instrumental from this period & Mr Siegal, which features terrific New Orleans piano. And each side of the record ends with great Waits ballads - Jersey Girl & Ruby’s Arms. For me, this is the last truly great album by Tom Waits. After that, experiments took over from melodies.

This is my fifth Tom Waits album in this project. I think this is definitely the seediest so far. Lots of prostitutes and whorehouses. But these characters are fascinating and heart-wrenching, the music seizes your soul, and Tom Waits voice is used to absolute perfection here. This album definitely seems like the triumphal end of Waits' early period, before the more experimental sounding albums that started with Swordfishtrombones.

There are few who could charm me this much by singing about whores and Chinamen. But Tom Waits does. I'm not sure what a fifth Tom Waits album is adding to this list. No matter. I love it still.

Wow. This may be my favorite Tom Waits album yet (and that is saying something!). I loved the variety, the piano, the organ… lots of great moments. This is pretty much what I think about when I think stereotypically about Tom Waits.

I absolutely LOVE Tom Waits. While I have other records of his that I like more or listen to more often, this one is great and it's probably one of the more accessible ones. I love the gypsy blues piano and the acerbic point of view. Beyond the great sense of sound on this record with all the different piano sounds and the guitar and the odd, spacey arrangements, his lyrical sense is wonderful and that's what really will keep me coming back to Tom Waits for the rest of my days. These songs produce a smoke-filled noir film scene in my head filled with seedy characters and stories. I feel like I should be sitting alone at the end of a darkened bar stirring a glass of warm brandy with a nail and taking it all in. In another life, in another time... that could've been just where I ended up. There's a wonderful enjoyment of the dark and unhinged nature deep within us all that Tom seems to be able to put his finger on. It makes me somehow less afraid of that part of me. He finds a way to make it all sweet in the end and wraps it up the darkness with a bow quite nicely... a ratty, beaten up bow that's been stepped one out on the street, but a bow all the same.

5 stars the entire way through.

I love Tom Waits and I can't think why. That gruff voice should grate, but somewhere in there, there is warmth and soul

I scored the other two Tom Waits albums that have come up already as fives, and I see no reason to break that trend. Who else can so completely transport you with a song? One minute you're wherever you are - the next minute you're bourbon-drunk, surrounded by cigarette smoke, and wearing clothes that haven't been washed in weeks. Magic. Fave track - "Downtown", although the title track is a contender too...

I like that it was mostly instrumental

Wow.

Ruby's Arms and Jersey Girl are gorgeous.

Lovely album - got confused because of the Screaming Jay Hawkins and Bruce Springsteen covers (that they did of Tom Waits) so I thought I had already heard it before - but first time listen, first time love - Tom Waits always soothes my soul.

Oh Tom, keep up the seedy work.

Very good, melancholic and rock and roll mixed in one album.

Everything about the composition and flow just compliments the voice.

It's a stunning and beautiful album. Many of the songs I know very well, but others are new to me. If Tom Waits is new to you, I am so sorry you didn't grow up with it on the record player as I was so lucky to do then and now too. His voice and his sound are embedded into the soul fabric of my music heart. I love to hear it. If you've never seen it, please watch this Tom Waits video as it will make you laugh and just shows his range, his depth, and his humor! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9NWUqR5w_A

Dirty, bluesy, soulful, emotional. Fucking awesome and super chill

Brilliant.

I love the Tom Waits slow vibe on this album. The tracks are musically different and Tom just can't help be a story teller. Ace stuff!

The studio album before Tom Waits started to really go... "Tom Waits"... great blues record. If it doesn't hit, listen to another and Wait(s) for it. :)

Pretty much what I said about Swordfishtrombones applies here: Not everyone is going to like Tom, but if you do you are probably going to love him. I don't know that it's my favorite album by him but I don't know that I do have a favorite. It's a great time. What a one of a kind talent.

August 10, 2021 (Aug 19) I have to admit the singing is not quite what I'd want it to be (mostly from an enunciation perspective, I like the tone), but I just learned Tom Waits actually wrote two of my favourite songs and this album shows why. Definitely a certain mood but I'm into it!

Helped me relax after a crazy day at work.

You see, Tom, you can make a good album when you aren't taking the piss.

Never listened to Tom Waits before. He's got a very characteristic deep, dirty voice. Sounds like Captain Beefheart or white Louis Armstrong. He does actually hit some higher notes and sounds "normal". There are two types of songs on this album: the slow, emotional ones with strings, piano, etc, and the swingy jazzy greaser songs with Hammond organ, double bass and such. I dislike the slow songs because they just seem cheezy to me and his voice doesn't really fit them, but I do dig the greaser songs. They do follow a noticeable pattern of repeating every four bars but adding a new instrument/altering a melody line. The album is nice and varied, the vocals are original. It's for a specific audience.

Oh, Tom Waits. Every time I've listened to one of his albums, I need to get past the shock of his voice before I can appreciate the album. That first listen is always rough. But then I listen again and his voice starts to fit his music and his lyrics. With respect to his lyrics - always pay attention to his lyrics. That's where the power is - and then his voice fits. The first time I heard "On the Nickel" I noted "pretty song, weird voice." Then I listened again paying attention to the lyrics, learning that he's talking about being homeless on Skid Row ("on the nickel"). Then you hear his voice singing, "What becomes of all the little boys, who never comb their hair? They're lined up all around the block on the nickel over there." As someone with a teenage son who often seems aimless and sometimes leaves me worried about his future, that line is devastating. And Waits' voice just FITS with these portraits of the downtrodden and the seedy underbelly of life. Other great lines: "Don't you know there ain't no devil? There's just God when he's drunk" and "I'll probably get arrested when I'm in my grave." Also, I personally appreciate the line, "Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world, when you're in love with a Jersey girl." Can confirm.🙂 Overall, my advice is get past the shock of his voice (it's better than you think), pay attention to the lyrics, and enjoy the musical ride. Oh, crap. Am I becoming a Tom Waits fan??

Sounds like Bruce Springsteen emerging from a vat of chemicals. I dig X-rated Bruce. Best enjoyed while walking through the wrong part of town with your red wings on. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Really good music from a man with a voice like gargled glass.

Instrumentals are great, very bluesy. Dudes voice sucks tho

Not sure on this. Not listened to Tom Waits before.

I didn't hate this as much as I thought I would. Musically on point and Waits is a great story teller, albeit a lot of the stories are sad, worn and bleak and seem to involve an abundance of drug dealers and prostitutes. Meanwhile Waits sounds like he smoked 100 cigarettes, swallowed a cup of gravel and then drank several bottles of really cheap whiskey before deciding he'd sing some songs. Your appreciation of this album may well depend on whether or not you can handle his 'singing' voice for forty five minutes.

On first listen, I’m inching towards “this is bullshit”, especially with an early organ-blues lawyer guitar jam that had me looking angrily towards the door in case Mel Gibson staggered in with mullet and bigotry, but ‘Jersey Girl’ is a great song. ‘On the Nickel’ too, perhaps. Distrust of sentiment and nostalgia in art is inculcated in me, as is a demand that people be authentic to themselves, but I have decided this is nonsense and people can pretend to be whoever they want to be so long as they commit. Just not sure Waits commits enough, and the music itself is unremarkable, bringing to mind a sage’s words: “jazz is badz”.

Came dreading this because I hated the last Waits album I got, but believe I intended to be the most open minded about it… so it started good, the old exaggerated voice but nothing to bad, then a nice instrumental piece, I was kinda enjoying it and then it came the third track on which he sings as if he was about to puke, fucking awful and stupid, a couple of not so horrible songs and then again that ridiculous Jersey song and then again and so the damage is done. I’ll finish with the same sentence as the last time, I hope he damaged his vocal cords while recording this shit.

After hearing the soundman of Answer me This banging on about Tom Waits for what feels like forever, this is the first time I'm listening to an album by this man consciously. A lot of lyrics about girls and prostitutes so far. And that trademark smoker's gravel. A bit too melodramatic for my tastes? His "rough and rumble" songs are better than his cheesy love ditties. 1. "Heartattack and Vine" 4:50 - Good 2. "In Shades" (Instrumental) 4:25 - Great instrumental 3. "Saving All My Love for You" 3:41 - MEH too cheesy 4. "Downtown" 4:45 - Back to some of the gravel of the first track, good. Weird golem like screech lol. 5. "Jersey Girl" 5:11 - Back to meh cheese Side Two No. Title Length 1. "'Til the Money Runs Out" 4:25 - Back to gravel, nice hammond organ bits 2. "On the Nickel" 6:19 - BACK TO CHEESE 3. "Mr. Siegal" 5:14- Ok, too many refs to whores imho 4. "Ruby's Arms" - A christmas song. No. Basically this album is a whiplash... Can only appreciate the more gravelly stuff.

Great music and lyrics, but I just can't get over his singing style. It's very distracting and oftentimes incoherent. I get why people like him, it's just not for me.

I hope he was able to get the mucus out of his throat.

Nothing I love better than listening to a man gargle phlegm while signing songs that are just layered in filth. You couldn’t pay me to listen to Tom Waits again.

I don't like blues. I don't like singers who sound like they are acting out a role. I really really don't like Tom Waits. 4/10

This is the second Tom Waits album I've had the misfortune of listening to. 0 stars if I could. 1/10.

True classic 5 star at least

This guy is an icon for the everyman. In love, in heartache, down on your luck, drunk in a seedy bar with a woman who would leave you for the first bloke with a bottle of gin. If you can't find yourself in a Tom Waits song consider yourself one of the lucky few. Great story telling, great album.

I can only imagine that this album was shockingly unlike anything else that dropped in 1980, so much so that it didn’t register the way it ought’ve. I always say, and this album only serves to put bricks in this wall, that Tom waits is the musical auter of his era and that his is the music that will escape the orbit of the current, spinning off to be what reps his time. I mean… “There’s no such thing as the Devil, that’s just God when he’s drunk”, “I shot the morning in the back with my Red Wings on, told the sun it better go back down”…From the first notes this album is gritty America of any age. Fucking fantastic!

Some people love Tom Waits and some people hate him. I LOVE him, and thoroughly enjoy his drunken drawl that sounds like a man deliberately trying to sound like a ripped newspaper. I adore the slurring caterwaul of Mr. Waits and relentlessly force this musical adventure upon my family in an effort to get them to “get” it. How can they not “get” it? Right? Right? Guys? My wife however disagrees. Anyway, she’s taken the kids and the dog which is a bit harsh I think. Not sure when she’ll be back, she didn’t say as I wasn’t here when they left. I was away in a dreamworld coloured and filled with the tales of whimsy Tom Waits has been spinning me! But I digress, five wonderful, lonely and tear stained stars!

Is it the best Tom Waits album... no. But is it still a Tom Waits album... yes.

A master class in lyric writing

Loved Tom Waits ever since I first saw him a sitting in a gutter in a Jim Jarmusch film. This album is vintage Tom Waits - it reeks of cheap sex, whisky and cigarettes

Loved it… felt like I was in some dive bar in America and Tom was singing to me.

Perfect

I loved this

Tom Waits is the shit.

Every song is so high impact! I've slowly approached a huge Tom Waits deep dive and this just got me closer. Everything I hear from him is so caliber and brimming with authentic emotion that just takes you there. 5/5 on first listen.

Tom rips out my heart and leaves me smelling of cigarrettes

I love that deep crooning voice.

Tom Waits, patron saint of the gutter drunks. I've gotten a few on this list, but I think this my favorite of his. Probably has to be, being from Jersey. It flits between marimba-filled, drunk-for-24hrs madness, to tender ballads once you sober up and the hangover disappears. Favorite tracks: "Heartattack And Vine", "Mr. Siegal", "Jersey Girl"

One of the best albums I have listened in this challenge so far. For sure I will revisit.

This is the nuts.

god I love listening to Tom Waits feels like forever since I’ve heard one of his albums - 10/10

Simply the best

5⭐️ soy fan de Tom y amo el disco Rain Dogs pero creo que este album para ser debut es mejor que mi favorito. Su voz de Louie Armstrong blanco y bruce springsteen pujando un mojon atravesado en el baño finciona con el. La cancion Downtown fue mi favorita. Y la primera para abrir el albu Fue ganadora tambien

Tom Waits - Heartattack and Vine I love Tom Waits. His distinctive voice and storytelling in the form of a song are amazing. This is his seventh album. I loved his first few more than this one, but it's still really good. Never pass up the opportunity to listen to Tom Waits! 5/5

Picture a scuzzy cartoon alligator in a rocking chair on the porch of a house in the swamp. Bottle of bourbon in hand, belting out these songs while his tattered fedora falls over his eyes. The first song had me a little unsure of how this would go, some interesting lyrics, and his singing voice made me wonder if I was supposed to take him seriously or not. But Tom manages to execute both sides of an interesting coin here: Half the songs are gritty, southeastern honkeytonk blues with some sort of loose storyline. Then the other half are somehow the most beautiful piano-and-string love ballads I’ve maybe ever heard, where genuine sincerity shines through his weathered voice. I can’t believe I’m giving this album a five outta five but I have to. Masterful songwriting. Insane vocal commitment. Clear sonic theme. Rob Dougans “Drinking Song” is a clear homage to this style of ballad too, and I highly recommend the album it’s on, “Furious Angels”

This is my second Waits album and it's also a treat just like the first. I love his ability to spin a yarn. His singing is rough but his orchestration is incredible. I don't find this quite as strong as Rain Dogs but it's still an easy 5 for how much I'll be coming back to this one.

An amazing album. I think Springsteen now owns Jersey Girl and plays a better version but the rest of the album is perfect lounge and blues.

LOVE

One of my favourites.

This little piano gremlin has done it again

You'd be hard pressed to find another artist that puts so much CHARACTER in their songs. Tom Waits, while his vocal delivery can be off-putting for some, puts more feeling into his each note than most others can muster in entire albums. His wheelhouse seems to be both New Orleans-style dreary blues and schmaltzy ballads, both of which can be found in spades on Heart Attack and Vine. But he brings such a uniqueness to them that I find them endlessly interesting. I expect to revisit this album again soon to uncover more layers of the onion.

A classic of his pre Kathleen Brennan years. The ballads are heart breakers. Tight playing and composing but with some dirt.

Tom is so sad

Jeg likte dette ordentlig godt!!

Scratches a really particular musical itch. Probably couldn’t listen to it all the time or even every day, but hearing it once in a while would make me happy

This one replaced Rain Dogs as my favorite Tom Waits album!

p467. 1980. 5 stars A voice like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. I happen to love it. Great songs, great lyrics, great production, and he keeps it short and on point. What's not to like?

Iconic voice

Hmmm...another Tom Waits album. I think this one is what I was expecting from Tom Waits. It was good.