Rain Dogs

Gruff oddball nonsensical noisy Tom Waits in parts and melodic, beautiful and tuneful Tom Waits in parts. An interesting experience to listen to this. Rounding down from 3.5 to 3 stars though.

#281 Heard Before? Many times. Notes: - I'll make my usual complaint about a two-albums-per-artist limit, but noting that this is the one Waits album that should for sure be here, even though Swordfishtrombones is my personal favourite. - i think the biggest miracle of Tom Waits is that he managed to innovate not with new and cool sounds and ideas, but by scavenging amongst the discarded and unfashionable. Verdict: If you can't find yourself in these songs you need to get out in the rain with the rest of us dogs. Listen Again? For sure.

Maybe I'm just in a good mood today, but the further into this project I get the more I respect people like Tom Waits who do genuine play with their sound a produce music that is interesting to listen to, even when I'm not always interested in it. Like, if I have to listen to 5 (FIVE) Tom Waits albums, at least they all sound different enough to keep ms engaged.

This is not Tom's best, but his seconds are better than most of other's best.

Enorme disco pop. Me ha encantado por su sonoridad, guitarras y melodías. Me ha servido para reconciliarme con Morrissey

An album of misery played out as if it was a Broadway play. Look. This is a bunch of pirate shanty’s whisper spoken by a guy who can’t sing. This is really just theater of the absurd. Some of this music could fit perfectly on a Residents record if Tom’s vocals were pitch shifted. It is mind blowing to me that people would pay real money to someone who is putting there self-therapy to rather crappy music. Worse is that some critics believe this is genius. Genius in the world where this record is considered good is also a world where music containing the sound of sharts over a blues beat would also qualify. C’mon. This is not serious music for serious people. It is just not that interesting and Tom’s vocals are wearisome. Like Bob Dylan, Tom is from a generation of musicians where the novelty was that they could make something musical. That’s a pretty low fucking bar. Now 16 year olds are more talented than these sad sacks. 1/5

The second half of the album got better

One of my all time favorite artists doing what he does with perfection. 9th and Hennepin about mpls, right where the state theater is downtown. I worked at the state for two years as a bartender in the mid 90’s- I spent a lot of time around there. And at famous First Ave rock club a few blocks away. It was a rough area in the 80’s - and again recently with the fentanyl fold. But my favorite song on this album is Anywhere I Lay my Head. Also, downtown train. Theres no bad songs- they are all standouts.

You're joking. A FIFTH Tom Waits album. None of them have been good. I will never understand this.

I don't get it. Nice voice though. Springsteen or Cohen at times. Probably should listen to the lyrics more. 2 rats

Sounds like the soundtrack to an unmade Terry Gilliam movie.

Did I enjoy this album. I'm not really sure. But I did appreciate it. Lotta pirate vibes here which don't usually exist in the music I choose to listen to.

I love and hate this album so much. I love how bold, expressive and mental it is. No cares about what should or shouldn't be done with his music and I wish all music could be the free. That being said, I've never fully fell in love with it, it's missing something, something that brings all the kooky-ness together with a performance that ties it up

I thought Randy Newman was clown music when I was young and naive, and now I understand it’s this man and I am all set

I can't even.

You’ve got to work with this. It opens with a nightmarish sea shanty and there’s strange journeys into the fringes of society powered by accordion polkas but he genuinely loves these characters and there’s a tenderness to it

I like the grit and bluesy stuff. Circus music not as much.

It’s too weird but I get it

I will never understand why anyone would willingly listen to a drunk and constipated cookie monster stumbling over an easy listening Radio station. Time is the only thing I would consider a 1 everything else is worse.

Big Tom Waits fan but had never listened to this one before

Singapore - 4/5 Clap Hands - 4/5 Cemetery Polka - 3.5/5 Jockey Full of Bourbon - 4.5/5 Tango Till They're Sore - 4/5 Big Black Mariah - 4/5 Diamonds & Gold - 4/5 Hang Down Your Head - 4.5/5 Time - 4/5 Rain Dogs - 4/5 Midtown - 3.5/5 9th & Hennepin - 3.5/5 Gun Street Girl - 4/5 Union Square - 4/5 Blind Love - 4/5 Walking Spanish - 4/5 Downtown Train - 4.5/5 Bride of Rain Dog - 3.5/5 Anywhere I Lay My Head - 4/5 If Tom Waits can do anything, it's providing a wide breadth of genres where he can bark like a carny in a cabaret talking about the seedy underbelly of whatever place he's in. He's always been within the realm of experimental music, but his inclusion of a more Springsteen-inspired sound really makes this the best album of his I've listen to so far. It's still weird and deranged, but that's what you're getting from him if you clung onto his oddball style. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: Jockey Full of Whiskey, Hang Down Your Head, Downtown Train

Tom Waits is growing on me, I like the general ambience and themes of this, and his lyrics are often amazing. But I'm still generally at a point where I'm glad it exists, but it's a bit too spiky and weird for me to enjoy listening to it more than a couple of times.

Didn’t realize tom waits is part Dylan, part Bruce, part Tim Burton movie character. Surprised at how much I was pulled in and mesmerized by this album.

Rain dawgz is a ***** album for me. I’m totally knocked out. I knew nothing of Waits’ work beyond his versions of “Down in the Hole” and “Jersey Girl.” I’m tempted to pause the 1001 to see what other dark pearls he has left for us on the turning night alleys. He is clearly at least part carnival barker. The weirdness of the polkas and shanties first evoked a smirk, but the more I listened I felt drawn in, like I was getting a glimpse Of something that might be madness or might be genius, but that I probably shouldn’t be listening to. By Big Black Mariah I was totally mesmerized. Hang Down Your Head and Time are two that rival Springsteen in my mind, just amazing. Time brought a tear to my eye. 9th & Hennepin is a Raymond Chandler fever dream. This is my kind of weird shit. Love it.

This carney son of bitch made a profound borderline perfect album. The vibe is somewhere in between Gris Gris and Bruce Springsteen. The dash of Keith Richard’s goes a long way as well. 5 stars 9.2 out of 10.

Rain Dogs sounds like the music playing under a bridge in the bad part of town, where a secret carnival is being run by pirates, drug addicts, bootleggers, and assorted degenerates. It's a bizarre, grotesque, occasionally terrifying world, but somehow one you can't help wanting to spend more time in. There's something about songs like "Singapore" and "Rain Dogs" that reminds me of the first two Doors albums. They evoke that strange, sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you encounter something so absurd that it becomes genuinely unsettling. You don't know whether to laugh, run away, or join in. It's the musical equivalent of stumbling into a traveling circus where something has gone horribly wrong. And yet, despite all that menace, the music makes you want to jump out of your chair and dance the Mamushka. But underneath all the weirdness is something deeply rooted in the American musical tradition. "Big Black Mariah" and "Gun Street Girl" have this primitive Mississippi Delta blues quality, recalling Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, only twisted into something darker and more sinister. There's Appalachian folk music, New Orleans jazz, country, vaudeville, and the ghosts of a hundred forgotten musical traditions rattling around in here. It's as though Waits has excavated the entire history of American music from beneath the floorboards of a condemned saloon. And the characters inhabiting these songs are just as fascinating as the music. Rain Dogs feels like an American folk tale told from the perspective of the people history forgot. The bootleggers, vagabonds, sots, criminals, thieves, and assorted lost souls who lived on the margins of respectable society. These are the people whose stories never made it into the history books, but whose lives became the stuff of folklore. There's something almost mythological about them, even as Waits portrays their world as filthy, desperate, and absurd. What's remarkable is how effortlessly Waits can pivot from this grotesque carnival atmosphere to moments of extraordinary beauty. "Time" and "Hang Down Your Head" are absolutely gorgeous songs, with a tenderness and melodic sensibility that recall Dylan and the Byrds. Strip away the theatrical growling and junkyard instrumentation, and you discover a songwriter with an astonishing gift for melody and emotional storytelling. You can also hear why Bruce Springsteen was drawn to Waits and ultimately covered "Jersey Girl." They share a fascination with the forgotten Americans, the lonely people living on the fringes, and the romance and heartbreak buried in ordinary lives. Where Springsteen often imagines his characters searching for escape or redemption, Waits seems perfectly content to sit beside them at the bar and listen to their stories. "Blind Love" might be the standout track for me. What an absolutely beautiful song. There's a soulful, country-inflected quality to it that feels straight out of the Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny universe. I hear shades of the emotional territory Bruce would explore on Tunnel of Love, Human Touch, and Lucky Town. It's romantic, wounded, and deeply soulful, the kind of song you could imagine Southside and the Asbury Jukes playing in some half-empty Jersey Shore bar at two in the morning. It's almost startling to encounter something so achingly beautiful in the middle of all this madness. And that's ultimately what makes Rain Dogs work so well. The strangeness isn't merely an affectation or an exercise in musical experimentation. It's an entire world, one that feels simultaneously imaginary and completely authentic. The bizarre carnival music, the sinister blues, the drunken sea shanties, and the heartbreaking ballads all belong together because they're telling different stories about the same forgotten people. It's the sound of American folklore filtered through a fever dream. The Doors running away with a traveling circus, discovering Howlin' Wolf and Bob Dylan along the way, and eventually winding up drunk beneath a highway overpass. And somehow, against all odds, it's beautiful. 8.1/10

At the surface it’s very ugly but it pulls you in

gets better, starts a tough listen

Wacky and weird in places, and some nice mellow moments too. Maybe Mr Waits is growing on me after all. He’s definitely a unique performer.

So far Tom Waites albums have been quite a difficult listen. Some albums have been truly awful or just difficult to understand where his art came from, and this is no exception. But with this, there are some great melodies hidden behind the wonkiness and discordance. Rain Dogs appears to be his most coherant and accessible release to feature in this list so far. Another few plays may bring me to a point where I can appreciate the stories in the lyrics too, but I have no idea if I have the patience to do that. But on first impressions, it is a tour de force which grabs one's attention from start to finish. Bravo Mr Waites.

Enjoyable

Some of these songs are a torture to listen to, while others are certainly worth the pain.

I think this was my FOURTH album from Tom Waits. It’s not a verb I use lightly, but I hated the others. Naturally I suspected I would hate this too, but I gave it an honest go. Yeah, I hated it.

Every song is like a scene from a movie or something. It’s apparently supposed to be about disaffected people from NYC but there’s jangly showtunes, pirate music, spoken word- it’s all over the place. This is outsider music I guess, not really made for me. It’s different, I can give it that. But that makes it really hard to rate. ⭐️⭐️

The second album in an apparent trilogy (in between Swordfishtrombones and Frank's wild years) which represented a change on songwriting and recording style for Waits. This album really takes you into his world of characters and stories, veering between Kurt Weill, dirty blues and the occasional bit of New Orleans funeral band. Downtown train became a big hit for Rod Stewart four years later but there are other songs of similar stature in and amongst the oddities, shorts and vocal extremities. It's quite a refreshing sound for 1985 and Keith Richards' presence gives Waits even more credibility than he already has. A really good listen.

I love tom waits! his sound is unreprodiuceable

another concept album? this time sonically just ain't really my thing

i like it, kinda experimental, however it doesn't fit into my idea of autumn music, so im leaving it be until spring

Big D Randy ass music

Huh

album poznat otprije! maestralan! otkriven nakon preslušavanja »bone machine«, što je bio moj prvi susret s waitsom. moram priznati da mi je taj album nešto draži, no ovaj je glede kvalitete na podjednakoj razini. izvrsno, izvrsno! [odslušao i napisao 14/10/26]

Well, it's better than Bone Machine. Cemetery Polka is a rather unusual song. Weird lyrics throughout this album, puts me in mind of Tim Burton. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Waits has an undeniably cool/unique/weird voice, and I don’t know what other kind of music I’d rather hear him sing over, but I just don’t want to listen to this sort of music for more than like 30 seconds at a time. There were several parts that were so goofy that I laughed out loud. It’s cool that Tom Waits is out there doing his thing and making unique music like this, but it’s just Not My Thing.

Loved it. It is inspirational as fuck in the sense that makes me create weird, strange and unhinged art.

Contained rain, dogs, drunkeness, various firearms, some nursery rhymes perhaps not suitable for nurseries, and an emotional support drummer.

No. 438/1001 Singapore 2/5 Clamp Hands 4/5 Cementary Polka 2/5 Jockey Full Of Bourbon 3/5 Tango Till They're Sore 3/5 Big Black Mariah 3/5 Diamonds and Gold 2/5 Hang Down Your Head 3/5 Time 3/5 Rain Dogs 3/5 Midtown 2/5 9th & Hennepin 2/5 Gun Street Girl 3/5 Union Square 3/5 Blind Love 3/5 Walking Spanish 3/5 Downtown Train 3/5 Bride of Rain Dog 2/5 Anywhere I Lay My Head 3/5 Average: 2,74 Tom Waits doesn’t make my favorite kind of music. But I got to give it to him, that he is always an unique & interesting listen.

Da strangeness

An album I have liked for a very long time. It's still brilliant, a lot of tracks, but each is a short journey into a new world. Plus Rain Dogs is an absolute banger of a song. 5 Heard before? Yes Owned: Yes, 111/442 (25%) Will I get: Already have

This is such a classic, often considered Waits’s finest work. There’s nothing I can write here that would bring anything new to the discussion, but I will say this: with Rain Dogs, Waits finally created something precise and special. Having evolved from an observational piano man into a weirdo extraordinaire, he set out to catalogue all kinds of early American music and twist it into something his own. Expect to hear everything from Tin Pan Alley blues to sea shanties, accordion-led polka, ragtime piano, prison chants, early bluegrass and so much more. It’s a treat to listen to: diverse vocal styles, organic playing on a wide range of instruments, and even everyday objects used as percussion. It also features great musicians like Marc Ribot and Keith Richards, which makes it a wild ride of sorts. Every time I put it on, I feel like I’m sneaking into a secret concert in a speakeasy or a dodgy sailors’ bar. It’s a true homage to the freaks, vagrants and folk heroes of any city, anywhere. The cryptic lyrics only add to the mystique, and I discover something new with each listen. I like Bone Machine just a tad more, but I don’t think he ever made anything more accomplished than this. It’s truly original, innovative music that still sounds fresh today, despite being an ode to the ghosts of the past. 4.5 stars.

Clap Hands is incredible. I liked Heart Attack and Vine better as an album. Some of Rain Dogs tracks felt over the top and almost cartoonish, as opposed to gritty. It was neat to learn that Downtown Train is his song. PS Album Generator, I’m good on Tom Waits albums…

A masterpiece cobbled together with dustballs and broken windows

Furchtbar!

O sea, en cuanto a letras estuve bueno, perono me gustó lo sonoro. 2,5/5.

Still don't really get this album. It's weird as hell, but I guess cool?

Sucks

Dreadful. Ever get the feeling you've been had?

実験的なのにまとまってる！みたいな感じを期待したんだけど、まあいろんな音楽の要素を取り入れてるっていうのはわかるし、上手く取り入れてると思う。でも、あんまり僕には良さがわからない。調べれば調べるほどこの曲はこの人の最高傑作だ、とかそういう意見ばっかり出てきて正直僕が悪いのかもしれない。まあでも僕はこの声といい曲の構成といいあんまり好きではなかった。

Loved this - transportive, rich, and cohesive yet varied.

Jarring

OK

It's actually pretty swingey and pretty varied.

I’ll put this on the jukebox next time I’m at the tavern during a storm and I’m talking to a grizzled sailor with a peg leg.

Tom ain't for me

What am I hearing. I’m so confused.

Tom Waits sure is an experimental artist and I deeply appreciate his work but this album really isn’t it .

Just straight, unadulterated dogshit. Absolute ass.

Loveeeee the vibeeeee so much... His voice is so scary but i love it

Rad 3.5/5

This is probably the best Tom Waits album I've ever heard. The songs aren't so much an assault on your senses as they are the musical ramblings of a junkyard poet. I loved the imagery of "9th & Hennepin". I loved that "Downtown Train", which Rod Stewart covered, was originally a Tom Waits song and sounds so much better coming from Tom Waits. Just an amazing album, and we need more musicians willing to be brave and a little chaotic. My Rating: 10/5

Okay

I have loved this for a long time and still listen to it often. I love the percussive menace of Clap Hands, the jarring funkiness of Jockey Full of Bourbon and the sheer beauty of Downtown Train. Rod Stewart's version of that was nowhere near as good, but he can be forgiven for thinking 'Waits writes great songs but surely I can sing them better than he does'. That's an understandable mistake, which ignores the fact that Waits is an excellent songwriter but an even better arranger. No-one does his songs better than he does. As for his voice - it can certainly be a barrier but I actually think he is a great singer. A great singer with a terrible voice. There can be such a thing, can't there?

objectively it's probably a 3.5-4 but i'm rating it a 3 because i know i'll probably never listen to it again. you know?

I expected to hate this, but didn't. I wouldn't say I liked it, but I didn't hate it. However, like the little girl in the meme, I don't want to listen to Cookie Monster any more.

I’m always here for some Tom Waits. The vivid lyricism, the jangly instrumentation, the circus/carney/hobo feel. It’s all magic to me. Bonus: my wife walked down the aisle to a live version of jockey full of bourbon.

7/10 Starts of engaging. The album does overstay its welcome though. There is only so much Tom Waits a person can take. Highlights: Singapore Cemetery Polka Downtown Train Clap Hands Jockey Full of Bourban Big Black Mariah

I was recommended to listen to Tom Waits before and there was only one or songs I enjoyed on that album. I’d have to give this one another listen but he’s just a bit odd

***An easy listening album

Not bad. I enjoyed his vocals, but this is another one that I'm not going to return to. ★★★

Oh no. Oh noo. What is this. Oh my god. Looney tunes Mickey Mouse music. Now what in the world is this. I cannot wait to hear what the second song on this album sounds like. God what the hell is on this list. Holy shit how long is this. God I just don't think I have the proper taste to appreciate this. I'm sure it's groundbreaking or sonically insane but it's it's just horrible. It's just background pirates of the carribean music. It's the type of music jafar and hades and fucking ghengis khan were listening to. I can't do this I'm sorry. Emphysema? I know that one. Just screaming genuinely. Playing the accordion and clinking bottles together. My god this is so bad. I know I say this about a lot of album but this truly is just noises. Hold on is that a normal song I hear?? Even the normal song is just kinda meh. No one gaf. Honestly quite Bowie-esque if Bowie sucked. Why is there a spoken word poem. What are we doing. Son I'm crine. And naturally a shitty instrumental. What are we doing here?? Fuck off. Favourite: Tango Till They're Sore/Time Least favourite: 9th & Hennepin

Tom is always good for a wild and woolly ride, like a Herkimer Battle Jitney bouncing down pothole-filled dirt road in the mountains. Blind Love is a real standout song. Overall a really good experience.

I don't even know why I signed up for this. Another album that gives me the ick.

Esse álbum me passa uma sensação de cidade pequena, as vezes um pouco rural. Muito legal musicalmente. Celest Phoenixcall.

11/16/26. The more I listen to Tom Waits, the more I become a fan. Certainly a unique artist and eclectic style. I’m sure many people don’t like his voice but I find it intriguing, mainly aided by the music.

You can't compare it with anything. "Midget's funeral" music. Love it

This is Tom Waits' last album in this project. And for me, it's the best one. I really enjoyed it, and I'll definitely listen to it again. 5/5

The musical equivalent of being in a carnival’s fun house. What did I just listen to

Not for me, and really shouldn't be for anyone

Not my fave Waits, but the bar is very, very high.

Tom Waits? What is he waiting for?

I have never heard of Tom Waits or this album, but I was definitely surprised by it. Based on the release date, album cover and title, "Rain Dogs," and the previous albums I listened to, I was expecting something a little more rock heavy and alternative. What I found was a mixture of old dirty blues, sea shanties, and a whole lot of other influences. There is a lot of musical competence here, but I found myself most shocked with the fact that I couldn't explain clearly what the sound of these songs were. These songs give you more of a feeling rather than a thought if that makes sense. Also, every song I heard reminded me of the seen in Shrek 2 where the king goes to the Poison Apple to find a bounty hunter. Captain Hook is playing a song when he walks in. I was shocked when I found that it was indeed Tom Waits playing/singing in that scene. Just a fun fact. My favorites were "Time," "Gun Street Girls," and "Downtown Train."

3.4 2x it's good and enjoy his voice and lyrics, just dont see myself revisiting it soon

Apparently a lot of people enjoy a performer who rasps and growls through all of their songs. I'm not one of them. To the albums credit, I could get on board with most of these songs if they were performed by someone who could actually sing.

Why does this even exist?

Prima gezongen en gespeeld, maar het is mij iets te jazzy.

ew

Interesting but probably won’t listen again

Definitely talented individual , but I like Tom Waits in small doses, not 19 songs worth

Perfect for the first real rainy day after summer

Not far off throat singing. Very good though.

Very interesting