Reviews (page 4 of 9)
I honestly think this is the most torn I’ve ever been between giving an album one star or two stars. On the one hand, about half of these songs are absolutely torturous – they sound like they could only be enjoyed by that one snarky peer who clowns on everyone else’s music taste, but listens to villain themes from Disney musicals in their free time. On the other hand, there is legitimate musical talent here if you’re willing to listen for it. I also can appreciate how many different styles Tom Waits attempted on this album, even if that destroyed any semblance of cohesion Rain Dogs had. A lot different things could be said about this album, but I think everyone can agree that Tom Waits really went for it here. He took some big swings on Rain Dogs – most of them were misses for me, but it takes balls to make an album like this and I can respect that enough to at least give it two stars. Highlights: Tango till They’re Sore, Big Black Mariah, Time, Union Square
Waits has always essentially been a storyteller, but on Rain Dogs, along w/ Swordfishtrombones, he becomes some sort of medium for the (un)reality of an America he ceaselessly aims to depict. Theatrics certainly define a major element of this masterpiece, but so does a prolific directness and a frightful realism, as if you were to meld Lewis Carroll w/ Theodore Dreiser. Lyrically, he has the ability few others have to be utterly memorable and yet invariably exciting: 'We can always find a millionaire to shovel all the coal'; 'I'll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past.' I love that most tracks do not exceed the three minute mark, w/ only two longer than four, and that its initial strangeness gives way to a gentleness and grooving perspective.
i’ve definitely tried listening to this album before because i LOVE ‘clap hands’ and [redacted] was obsessed with ‘downtown train’ a while ago. unfortunately both the opening track and ‘downtown train’ don’t appeal to me (the former being worse than the latter imo) so i didn’t try much beyond that. i’m glad i was obliged to revisit it now. once you adjust to his voice it’s great!!! i love love love the percussion on this album. in general he’s featuring all of my favorite instruments (xylophone/marimba, double bass, baritone & even bass sax, congas) which lend the songs this incredible richness that complements his vocals really well. why don’t all musicians use that stuff all the time? i know that tom waits is known for his lyrics, but weirdly—especially for me—the words were the least compelling aspect because i was SO taken with the unique instrumentation. occasionally a particular phrase would catch my ear but i wasn’t really paying much attention to them. some of the songs are a little TOO theatrical with the brass and border on cabaret or even musical theatre type stuff…idk. it didn’t spoil my overall impression of the album, i just didn’t care for them. the more ‘typical’ sounding songs (e.g. ‘downtown train’) were also kinda whatever but maybe would have worked in a different context. fav tracks: clap hands; gun street girl; big black mariah; jockey full of bourbon
this is so weird but in a good way. barring the songs that skewed a little too circus-y for me I thought this was very inventive and interesting. Fav tracks: Clap Hands; Hang Down Your Head; Gun Street Girl
Great album
Shits ass bro
Oh dear. It's one of the few albums that it got stellar reviews and five stars by critics and fans alike, and I really didn't like it despite of the fact that I like many experimental, weird and dark music. The production is great and it doesn't really sound a mid-80s album and he is an obviously talented songwriter...but I don't like his singing style and voice, and most of the songs sounded like drunk circus songs. I probably need more listens and read the lyrics carefully, but as of now it's only two stars.
I love everything about this album, and it really is a record everyone should hear. Solid five stars!
I live pretty much everything about this beautifully weird album. Favorite track: Time
Such a soulful album.
vreemde ritmes gefluisterde zang
Tom Waits is a weird dude. The best description of this album would be, "What if Jack Skellington was a real person?" And that's all you really need to know about it. This album does not disappoint. It's very good. For songs that I never realized was a cover, Rod Stewarts "Downtown train" is now the newest addition to that list. Their not all bangers, but with his unique style I feel 4 stars is the perfect sweet spot.
Wierd. Not great. Not particularly objectionable though.
Mr Waits sure is on his own track. A unfiltered one off. Always listenable, always a weird trip to somewhere not quite here. 4 Star
I want to like this very unique and strange album, and Tom Waits in general, but I find that I can't actually enjoy any of the music despite the creative talent. It's penis music.
I think Tom Waits has got to be an acquired taste because this is my 3rd or 4th album of his and I've grown to like/tolerate his style a little bit more each time. It's one of a kind. It's dark imagery and lyricism with a silly cartoonish delivery.
I have a deep love for this album. It was probably the 50th time i have listened to it and enjoyed every second of it
Top notch artistic creativity. Music, as a concept, torn down and rebuilt. More barbwire than velvet. He totally changed the way i listened to music when I first heard him. Tom will always be my number one.
Can't say I enjoyed fully it to be honest. I like the spooky vibe of Tom Waits in small doses, but the sum of the parts is far worse than the individual tracks.
That was quite surprising.
Initially I found his tone off-putting. I listened to the record a few times and while I still didn't like his vocal tone, the overall impression improved. The songwriting is good, and the performances are strong. I just don't think he's my cup of tea.
Distinct voice, some remind me of a dark carnival. I only liked the blues songs he does, not so much the eclectic talking ones
Interesting and enjoyable
This music doesn't belong to any era, listening to it now it doesn't seem to have arisen from the 80's. Didn't like Tom Waits as a kid but I can get behind this now. Dark and unusual. Favorite songs: Clap Hands, Jockey Full of Bourbon, Tango Till They're Sore
It's not mainstream stuff, but I enjoyed it. For bonus points, it's not on this album, but check out Tom's version of "The Ice Cream Man" from David Lee Roth/Van Halen.
Funny one this - not a fan of tom wait’s music really, but I like the idea of him? Why. Didn’t enjoy this album (I know, that’s my problem) he sounded drunk / drugged like he was about to kick the bucket any second
Welcome to the funhouse. Another artist with a unique point of view that translates into a moody experience.
I can't review this album. My brain is just flickering like and aging neon sign that says "OPEN" but the "O" is rarely lit so it just reads "PEN" leaving me walking Spanish down the hall to swallow the night, a saint in every dream and the donuts have names that sound like prostitutes. Not all dreams are real.
Очень странный альбом. Музыка одновременно похожа на всё и ни на что, на классический блюз и авангардный джаз. Казалось бы, обычные инструменты, играющие обычные мелодии, по какой-то непонятной причине звучат как нечто сказочное и не от мира сего. И конечно, все это связывает воедино вокал Тома Вейтса - грубый, грязный, низкий. Если вы никогда это не слышали - голос Тома звучит как кабан, которого пилят бензопилой, но в этот момент он поёт о любви. Весь альбом сопровождает мультяшно-сказочная и при этом мрачно-нуарная атмосфера. Не могу определенно сказать, нравится мне это или нет, но это стопроцентный опыт, который стоит испытать.
Dude, this guy is nowhere near as good or important as his platoon of fans seems to think. And I know that the editor isn't responsible for the categorization, but just vanilla rock? Seriously? Influence 4 (inexplicably). Hits 1 (sure, several people covered some of these songs and did well). Quality 2 (dude is a technically worse singer than Dylan). It's a no from me, dog 1.
The best
I was apprehensive about this due to it's reputation as a 'difficult' listen. Wonderfully surprised to learn that it's actually an absolute blast. No idea why anyone wouldn't like this. Remarkable that it's from 1985 - it's the least 80s sounding album ever, and could have been made at any point during my lifetime. A new favourite...
(5) Love this album. Tom sings calliope while Sad hands strum on harpsichords, and a sax screams into the city street, William Burroughsesque poetry is read like an old man reading the newspaper on the subway.
I only listened to the first two. I’m sure I can’t get into any more of it. ———————————— My non-musician scoring system. 5 - Love it. Would play anytime, buy, see live… 4 - Good music. 3 - Average playlist. Depends on time and setting. 2 - I can’t listen to entire songs…skipped ahead on all of them 1 - No.
Nice
Tom Waits is still odd but this was better than expected.
This album is all over the place..in a .... good way?
Definitely one of the 1001 albums you should hear before you die. Not because it’s conventionally good music, but because it reminds the listener that unconventional music can be great. That being said, I don’t know when I’ll ever be moved to reach for this again. ✨
hell yeah
Essa lugu on juba suht tsirkusemuusika :D Päris sürr kuulamine üle terve albumi. Mõned palad on kergemad kuulamised, aga paljuniski on muusikat, mida pole võimalik isegi süstematiseerida. Täiesti uued kõlad minu jaoks, väga põnev.
Not bad but not my type of music
Definitely not my thing, felt like an album from Captain Hook at the bar in Shrek 2
A voice like a pirate with weird lyrics
None of his best songs, but still Tom Waits. No idea what genre this falls into
tom waits oscillates between brilliant and annoying for me. thankfully this album js mostly brilliant
If the crash and honk of 1983's Swordfishtrombones upset Tom Waits fans weaned on beat poetry and piano ballads, then Rain Dogs had them crying into their bourbons. Musically, Swordfishtrombones was Waits arriving in a new town and trying to find his place; by Rain Dogs, he had made himself at home, albeit in a battered tin shack a long way out by the freeway. Whether the romantic boozehound Waits played in the 1970s was born from autobiography or imagination has long been a matter for conjecture, but he is certainly in character here. Rain Dogs tells of a demimonde populated by Chinese barflies, blind firemen, one- armed dwarves, a slaughterhouse boss named Uncle Vernon, a Puerto Rican mistress with a wooden leg— and that is just the first three songs. It is a song cycle about life on the fringes of society, were a society this unbalanced ever likely to exist. The dementia of the lyrics finds echo in the music, a rag-and-bones, Weillian clatter of thumped percussion and parping horns, beer-hall pianos, and twitchy guitars (played chiefly by Marc Ribot, though Keith Richards guests), accordions, pump organs, and banjos. The fragile “Time” evokes Seventies Waits,”Blind Love” is as close to country as he has ever come, and “Downtown Train” was tamed by Rod Stewart, but Rain Dogs is defiantly liberated from compromise and convention. Naturally, it turned into his biggest selling record, since when it has become a staple in press surveys listing the best albums of the 1980s.
Wow, this album is polarizing! A lot of love and a lot of hate. I come down more on the like side of things. I generally didn't know what was going on, and it's like half-listening to that crazy uncle that you enjoy even though everyone says he's a lunatic. And every now and then you just have to smile at whatever the hell it was he just sang.
Previously rated: Nighthawks At The Diner (4/5) Bone Machine (3/5) *********************************** There's some really unique sounding stuff here. You get used to his super-raspy singing. I didn't know he wrote Downtown Train. It's quite a bit different than Rod Stewart's version. I like it.
Not my style
Funky but hard to get used to and at times it’s not musical enough for my taste - as many other Tom waits albums are for me.
I only knew tom trauberts blues by Tom waits. It was always an interesting song with a confrontational voice. But this record, I was not prepared. It feels crazy but in an awesome way. I was never bored during listening. It doesn't become stale, toms voice adds complexion and the instrumentation is crazy in a good way. Interested to see if there is more Tom waits on this list.
Liczba i rozpiętość skojarzeń, które miałem słuchając tego albumu są niesamowite. Jestem przekonany, że wszystkie wspomniane utwory inspirowały się Waitsem. "Cemetery Polka" - "This Is Halloween" z "Nightmare Before Christmas" "Midtown" - Muzyka z "Cowboy Bebop", zwłaszcza "Tank!" i "Bad Dog, No Biscuits" "9th & Hennepin" - kino noir "Gun Street Girl" - Red Dead Redemption 2 W niektórych momentach słyszałem manierę śpiewu, która kojarzyła mi się z Jamesem Hettfieldem z Metallici (wspominał, że Waits był dla niego inspiracją). Waits czerpie z tak szerokich źródeł, że w jednym albumie zawiera niemal całą kulturę amerykańską, zwłaszcza tę z nizin i peryferii - New Orlean brass, blues ("Blind Love"), country (znowu "Blind Love"), rock&roll ("Union Square"), szanty ("Singapore" to perełka). Niesamowita rozpiętość inspiracji i wpływów, a jednocześnie teksty oraz niepowtarzalny głos i maniera śpiewania Waitsa spajają to w fantastycznie konsekwentną i jednolitą całość. Americana at its finest. Umiejętności narracyjne i poetyckie Waitsa są nie do przecenienia. Jeśli Bob Dylan dostał Nobla z literatury, to Waits też powinien (na marginesie momentami miałem skojarzenia z prozą Hemingwaya, kiedy słuchałem tego albumu). Inną cechą, która mnie urzekła, to barowość tego krążka. Słuchając połowy tych utworów widzę zadymione, ciemne wnętrze brudnego baru z rozstrojonym pianinem wciśniętym w kąt. Myślę, że można by napisać rozprawę doktorską na temat tego krążka. Jestem pod olbrzymim wrażeniem. Nie to, żebym nie słuchał wcześniej Waitsa, ale kojarzyłem głównie "Little Drop of Poison" (thanks, Shrek - swoją drogą, wnętrze tej knajpy z filmu to dokładnie to, o czym pisałem dwa akapity temu) i "Clap Hands". Waits stworzył własny gatunek muzyczny, jego styl jest tak oryginalny i niepowtarzalny, że stanowi oddzielną kategorię sam w sobie. Przeglądałem recenzje innych i są to niemalże same piątki i jedynki. Z dużą przewagą piątek. Co uważam za jeden z wielu wyznaczników sukcesu i artystycznej wartości tego, co zrobił.
too wierd
Not my cup of tea at all
Some experimental songs are a bit forgettable but overall great album 4.5*
I actually enjoyed this quite a bit
“Oh here we go” I thought on the first track. I respect the vision but this kind of music will never implant in my head as being “real”. The over the top vocals just make me envision this as background music to TV show montage, or a goofy joke, not something you’d sit down to to enjoy listening to. If that makes any sense
I quite like this. Weird, varied and fascinating. It makes me want to listen to it later on, to really get into it. A little too long, though. Best track: Hang Down Your Head
Had a friend obsessed with this album when we were younger. I remember finding out that Tom Waits wasn't a real drunk and being disappointed. Anyway, there are some killer songs on the album. Waits can write really good music and sometimes performs it ok. Other times he sounds like a vomiting dog but it still works ok.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1001 ALBUMS- # 80 A poetic cavalcade of off kilter cabaret jazz-fused blues rock, as only the gravelly Waits could execute to such entertaining charm. His ninth album, Rain Dogs is widely regarded as one of Tom Waits’ best, how it blends songwriting, theatricality, grit, and experimental sound. He mixes found/percussive instruments (brake drums, marimbas, unusual rhythms) with piano, accordion, horns, guitars, etc. The textures are rough, raw, chipped, but also very detailed. Lacking a defined genre; there’s blues, jazz, a lot of Americana filtered through Waits’ own carnival‑freak‑show sensibility. Songs might sound like cabaret numbers, mournful ballads, crazy polkas, or street‑corner shanties. 🎧 Classic Track: Singapore 🎧 Deep Cut Gem: Time 🎧 Personal Favorite: Clap Your Hands 🎧 Memorable Standout: Gun Street Girl The album is in many ways a portrait of misfits, drifters, people on the margins. Waits writes about displacement, alienation, being lost (emotionally, socially, geographically). The album’s title “Rain Dogs” is a metaphor; dogs in the rain that can’t follow their scent home, implying loss of bearings. Themes of urban decay, late nights, broken dreams, survival. The characters are often broken, or tired, or wounded, but they endure. There’s humor, too – dark, strange and ironic, while some of the songs are more wistful or tender (“Time”, “Downtown Train”) contrasted with the weird, punk‑cabaret, street‑raw ones. Letting the listener feel both beauty and ugliness.  🖼️ Album Artwork: No that isn’t Waits canoodling! The atmosphere Waits creates is immersive, he doesn’t just sing; he builds worlds — alleys, bars, train terminals, made up of sound. There is contrast throughout; because the album flips between rough, disordered tracks and quieter, more stripped‑down moments, it feels dynamic, unpredictable. Tom Waits’ voice here is more character than just instrument. It’s weathered, theatrical, expressive. It conveys more than lyrics alone. Pushing boundaries, avoiding getting stale or just repeating himself, Rain Dogs feels like an artist taking full ownership of his weirdness and crafting a signature sound.
This was great! Much better than the previous Tom Waits album 1001 Albums suggested. Will listen again.
Classic deep voice Waits
Let Tom Waits take you on this weird, emotional and beautiful adventure. You'll laugh, cry and gasp.
Really unique. Wasn’t a fan of all the songs, but some were really great
Hadn’t realised how much influence on bellowhead he had - fantastic listen
5 Some days I love tTom Waits nd some days I don't want to listen to him
Unlistenable voice. Is he a Disney character? Is this serious music? This isn’t serious music. This is anti-Beatles, no one ever took inspiration from this garbage.
Nah
This is definitely worthy of that reputation as a quirky spooky record but it also has a lot of emotional impact especially on the back half of the record. The songwriting here is top notch and Tom's performance makes it a special record
This is the first Tom Waits album I really listened to, and it's one of his very best.
Fun, weird Tom Waits. Cemetery Polka is definitely a highlight.
Never been a fan of Tom Waits. I appreciate him as an artist, but he’s not for me.
I didn't click with this one I'm afraid, it seemed a little light weight for a Tom Waits album.
I feel like you either appreciate this album deeply or you don’t. I do. I really do.
I think I just don’t like his voice and tempo
It’s unique, some of the songs are pretty clever.
What's not to love. This album has it all to feed your ADHD. Sea shanties. Blues from the soul. Quirky cadences. And songs that sound like what I imagine how people who choose to live outside in an urban jungle under steely structures and concrete matresses feel ...the really disheveled, eyes wide, haven't eaten for days ....
There were two whole songs I knew from this album. None of the others really added anything to my life.
Unique sound. Belongs in a Tim Burton movie
this had some really entertaining elements, i enjoyed the nasty sailor shanty vibe of the first few tracks, felt like i was hearing a drunk gypsy wander through nawlins at 3am looking for a hooker however it kept going far too long and his voice became comical, almost batman-like and i started wondering if this could be batman's creative outlet, moonlighting as tom waits.
I felt like most of these songs are a great example of what would happen if the singers from the Haunted mansion ride at Disney met with the people who play the instruments for the background music on SpongeBob. Or if the claymation characters of the Nightmare Before Christmas started writing music after listening to surf music. Or if that drunk dude with one eye behind a piano in New Orleans just started winging it I've never heard anything like it, if you don't count the score to every Tim Burton movie. This album has all sorts of accolades and people telling us this is important music. To that I say, huh, really? I can't hear it's influence on most anything I've listened to, besides possibly a Avenged sevenfold song from 2008, which I'll admit is a banger. What would you call this music? Extra dirty and sopping wet blues? Music you can only really sing when you don't have all of your teeth? Yesterday I cosplayed as Jack Sparrow and woke up with pink eye? You would think that I would be a perfect candidate for this music, I don't have a great relationship with my father, I grew up in a city deeply afflicted with meth, and I have a pocket knife for reasons I don't want to talk to you about. Even still I only found it mildly charming during certain moments. There's a time and a place for this music, and it's probably a low budget haunted house. Oh sweet reader, do you remember when I said I'd start listening to music to try and appreciate it for the art? I lied
Good for pirate sex. Downtown Train makes me excited to dance at my wedding. 8/10
I'll say that I didn't hate it it just is very different than what I usually listen to? Diamonds and gold or clap hands was probably my fav The way I can describe this album is greasy man who I would try and stay away from... his singing is just not for me but it was an interesting album 2.5/5 -- 2/5 6.55/10
I want to give it a 5, but there's a few too many throwaway ballads in the second half. 4.5
My second favourite Tom Waits album, got a bit of everything on here, great lyrics and melodies. Love, love, love
This shit is so weird
A Tom Waits album I didn’t hate or love That’s a new one as he normally only ever falls at one extreme or the other
This is probably the first album of this journey that I would say that I don't like. I think some of the later tracks like Union Square, Blind Love, and Downtown Train are very good, but overall I found this one unpleasant to listen to. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to enjoying this album for me is Tom's vocals. It seems he is one of the artists where his voice grates on me and it detracts from the rest of the music. However, I would also say I am not the biggest fan of the instrumentals either. A lot of the songs kinda sounded they came out of some Banjo-Kazooie game, and it was quite the juxtaposition with the tone of the lyrics.
4/5
Ziemliches durcheinander an Musik. Manches ok, manches nervig. 2/5
Buen disco, pero con canciones muy duras como es tipico en Tom.
1. Singapore - 2 Yarrrrr! You're a pirate! Song sounds much like that if you know the song I'm referencing. Not greay vocally. Instrumentally very boring. Could be easily confused with a 90s Disney track. 2. Clap Hands - 3 Instrumentally more interesting but still lacking compelling lyrics. 3. Cemetery Polka - 1 Yarrrr! The pirate returns! Awful sounding track. Like one of those tracks that you'd hear in a musical that would lose all the parts of the audience that are there and not personally head-over-heels for musicals. 4. Jockey Full of Bourbon - 1 You can't make out half the lyrics he whispers them so quietly. Breathy song more than singing. 5. Tango Till They're Sore - 1 Lyrically it falls in and out of pace consistently. If AI were to make a song about New Orleans, this would be the result. 6. Big Black Mariah - 1 I have no idea what those noises are at the start of the track. To be fair you can barely make out what the lyrics are once the singing does start. Really bad vocal sound. 7. Diamonds and Gold - 2 The pirate returns and again sounding like he's speaking through a 1930s radio. Not an inspiring track lyrically. 8. Hang Down Your Head - 4 Budget Bruce Springsteen. 9. Time - 2 Way too repetitive a track, especially in the chorus. Instrumentally there's not really anything there to critque since it's a lot slower and softer a track. 10. Rain Dogs - 2 Song is way too slow pace it comes off as strained as the vocals. Really poor overall. 11. Midtown - 5 Decent jazz tune instrumentally, even if it feels like a public radio or coffee shop vibe. 12. 9th & Hennepin - -1 Absolutely awful track. It's not even a singing track, it's a talking one. Pointless piece of music. 13. Gun Street Girl - 4 One of the better tracks on the album. Better writing and better beat with an interesting collection of instuments. It's still not anything great but it's 100% a welcome change. 14. Union Square - 3 Better but still not vocally sounding great. Instrumentally it's decent. 15. Blind Love - 2 Budget and bad Bruce Springsteen. Way too repetitive lyrics. 16. Walking Spanish - 6 Terrible lyrics. Sax is amazing on the track but the brass is the only redeeming thing. 17. Downtown Train - 2 It's a return to the budget Bruce Springsteen after a song reprise. Lyrics again just repeat the same line over and over again monotonusly in the chorus. 18. Bride Of Rain Dog - N/A Track is too short to be rated. 19. Anywhere I Lay My Head - 0 You can't make out what he's signing because his voice is just way to hoarse. Just listen to this track. If you like it, you'll like the album; if you don't skip listening to it. Average Rating: 2.11 Adjusted to 5-Point Scale: 1.05 Rounded Down: 1 Star
Wonderfully weird. Enjoyed it a lot.
Halloween movie music? Weird, I like it
2 stars. I like his voice but didn't care about the lyrics or sound.
Out of everything I’ve heard so far from Tom Waits, this is one of my favorite albums. The album sits solidly on a blues foundation but is also experimental, quirky, and features playful instrumentation. It’s produced in a raw, stripped-down, and gritty way, and when you add Tom Waits’ gravelly voice on top of that, it gives the album a lot of texture. I don’t think this is an album for everyone, but for those who can appreciate it, you’ll hold on tight to this one. It will definitely be a good album to revisit in the future.
It sounds like a very classic halloween character decided to make a music album. Its… weird but not horrible? Mastering is shoddy, depends on the song. Sometimes it's decent, sometimes the vocals are masked by whatever the drums are doing. Some songs sound kinda like blues while others I can't even describe.
Oh boy, he’s back for the second time. Tom Waits strikes me as a pretty cool guy, but man is his music one massive mixed bag. I can understand the appeal of his deep, gravely voice, but do we absolutely NEED 5 entire albums of this?? It’s just not for me, which doesn’t automatically make it bad, it simply is what it is. To his credit, I think I enjoyed this more than Swordfishtrombones as a whole. “Clap Hands”, “Jockey Full of Bourbon”, and “Gun Street Girl” all stood out as pretty good to me. So there’s enough to save it from getting a 1. Unfortunately, the majority of this album is just something I would liken to bad circus or pirate music. I don’t absolutely despise it, but I for sure don’t like it very much either and likely won't be coming back to it any time soon. It’s another Tom Waits 2/5, a tradition that I foresee continuing with his other 3 albums. Really it’s just more of the same from him, about what I expected.
Listening to Rain Dogs makes me profoundly happy. The world would be such a better place if we’d all just take some time to love the wonderful carnival of Tom Waits’ mind for awhile.
Favorite Track: Singapore
Heel apart album.. gaat echt alle kanten op. Van lekker blues vibes naar tim Burton movie soundtrack achtige nummers. Al met al geef ik het een 3, maar denk dat geen een nummer echt een 3 was. Het was of een 2 of een 4. Interessant to say the least.
I didn’t hate this quite as much as I thought I would. It started out decent and then I swear his voice got worse with each and every song. I’ve always hated his voice though.
Am I missing something here? This album seems to be really lauded and I didn't enjoy it at all.
i dont get it at all. tough listen
Good. Pirate vibes but definitely a good listen all the way through
We’re all as mad as hatters here. . . Probably my favorite Tom record. Every song is great.
A good number of songs are clearly showing his writing genius. But there are just a lot of ones I can’t really dig. The voice isn’t for me.
Me and Tom just don’t get along
I really enjoyed this
I felt like I was stuck in an old time cartoon for a spooky house with those dancing ghosts. This one was better than the first one.
For me, some high notes and some low notes. Big fan of the bluesy, Big Easy feel. Probably an album I won't revisit much, if at all.
pretty good i guess
My personal favourite Tom Waits album. Have thrashed and will continue to thrash into old age
Had fun with a few songs but it felt like this album really dragged on and I can’t handle his voice for that long
3 Tim Waits has grown on me over the months with this list, however, there are simply too many of his albums on here. Pick one!
You've just failed to roll your 4th pumpkin roll cake and while that pain will never truly disappear, this album is certainly enough of a distraction to help you forget for a while. 4.5
I can't get past the voice.
Pretty terrible and long.
0/5 This whole album is disgustingly awful to listen to. Tries to cling onto the 20's/30's music style, but misses the sophistication. This is proper trash.
Verkligen en favorit! Alla dessa genrer, alla dessa "instrument", allt sammanhållet av Waits groove. Jag tänker att om Harlem, New York 1980 skulle klämmas in i Auguststrasse, Berlin 1920 så skulle det låta så här. Smutsigt, men bubblande av liv.
This guy is weird man! I dig it 🤙🏻
really bizarre album, a bit fringe and closer to outsider music than not... tom waits is cool man i love that hes famous for being a weirdo haha
Okay, but I had "Swordfishtrombones" just recently. A bit redundant, no? Same review applies.
Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum. Was this intended to be a parody of pirates and their shit shanties? I just don’t get the appeal of this man and what he inflicts upon peoples ears.
434/1001 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Dark and avant-garde, almost a sea shanty vibe. It’s easy to picture a dark wet street in a big city with people of the night acting out their lives. Definitely odd, but fascinating at the same time.
Non un gran fan del blues ma c’è qualche chicca
Hard listen, all songs sound the same with a sprinkle of circus music.
I know people around here have a hard on for all things Tom Waits, but let's face it: his "music" is fucking weird.
Polarizing for me, loved some did not others.
Gun, bayou feel
Clearly he inspired later Dylan , who at least delivers the gruff delivery with some grace.
Why does this guy have so albums on this list? This one is marginally better than the other 2 ive heard so far but the bar is pretty low. Just one of these albums would be enough to explain this guy
i throw out the word Worldbuilding every now and then to describe particularly aesthetically cohesive or space-carving music but it scarcely feels less theoretical than on this record, with which even a cursory brush feels like ur wandering up and down a single street in the world's smallest, seediest port town. instruments weave in and out of the tracklist like reoccurring characters, like ah marimba always a pleasure to run into you, oh wow its banjo its been forever since i last saw you. to say nothing of tom's many voices (he always sounds like tom waits ofc but his versatility is underrated)! ive previously found the length of this a bit much but it felt perfect this time...long enough for sprawl, but short enough to not require the biggest mental commitment in the world. many of my fave pieces of art are simply Places You Can Go. time and downtown train always melt my heart
8,47
I like voice and sound. Good, I don't have to focus on the lyrics.
Couldn't get into this
This list really likes Tom Waits and I think he is fun but I don't think he should have that many albums on here
I mentioned on his last album we reviewed that Waits is really music I have to be in the mood for (or at least open to letting it change my mood.) When I am in the mood for it (often drunk,) it is fantastic. An entire album of it, sitting at my desk, at work, does not seem like a fair environment to listen and assess. But we play the hand we are dealt. This is one of his better albums. And I learned for the first time today on Wikipedia that the guy on the cover is NOT Tom Waits.
Love em or hate em, this is probably his best album and was my initiation into his strange world. A bit scattered, but this covers a massive swath of his entire career.
Weird, theatrical, and full of character—but not really my thing. I can appreciate the creativity and storytelling, but the sound and style didn’t click with me.
tom waits is always an interesting person to listen to, music wise. this album is probably the most bonkers i've ever heard from him. compared to his usual raspy-voiced blues music, this album is pure... avant-garde. we've got odd percussion, marimbas... seems like he just had a massive chest of instruments and he just pulled out whatever worked in the moment. this album sounds like a back alleyway. one that smells like a bootyhole. this could be the perfect music for either a halloween costume party or a smoke session that lasts till 3 in the morning. if you're the poetic, drunkard type and you really wanna test your ears, give this one a try. an acquired taste for a lot of people, including myself, but it's still pretty solid and complex. there's some stuff that really tugs at the emotions. this album isn't supposed to sound pretty.
Now I see why people like him! I somewhat enjoyed it too. But I found the first part of the album more engaging than second. Nice listen, though!
Ну очень необычная манера исполнения, пока не понял, насколько нравится (или не нравится). Временами интересно слушать, временами немного режет слух. 6 из 10 и это, вероятно, не окончательная оценка.
it was a bad day and an even worse album
It's Tom Waits. Always a 5 in my book. Can I get a 6? This is an interesting album with Keith Richards joining on a few of the tracks.
It’s the early 80’s, I’m drunk and wandering downtown looking to bum a cigarette from a corner Gypsy palm reader.
A crooked, slurred, meandering funhouse journey. The soundtrack of motion sickness. Perhaps one too many dings and clangs for my taste, but I respect the artistic vision.
Long but pretty good, somber. I think too much Tom Waits leads to waking up drunk in the gutter. Top tracks: “Downtown Train,” “Clap Hands,” “Singapore”
i don't get it. not my thing. wouldn't seek it out.
--Singapore...we get thrown into the deep immediately. lyrically it's...uh...problematic --Clap Hands...I don't know if anyone out there thinks Tom Waits has a "good" voice, but he knows how to use it. Hypnotic --Cemetery Polka...Don't love it but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the Unicorns built their entire sound around this track --Jockey Full of Bourbon...love it. this is everything --Tango Till They're Sore...this album is an absolute vibe --Big Black Mariah...fits the vibe but I'm not feeling this one --Diamonds and Gold...same as above --Hang Down Your Head...surprisingly sweet. Maybe too sweet? It's still nice --Time...timeless and sad --Rain Dogs...meh --Midtown...interlude --9th & Hennepin...a poem. damn, his voice is menacing --Gun Street Girl...better than 95% of the country/western music released today --Union Square...a fun rocker --Blind Love...a more classical singer could provide a decent cover, don't care for it as is --Walking Spanish...nice and funky --Downtown Train...I do prefer the Rod Stewart cover --Bride of Rain Dog...sure --Anywhere I Lay My Head...this album has great stuff but it's quite long. I'm too exhausted to even try to appreciate this track
This...felt like a waste of time.
# Album Name: Rain Dogs # Artist: Tom Waits # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Honestly, this was a fucking awful album. How this guy has so many albums on this list blows my mind. # Top Tunes: None # Would I listen to it again? No
Edna Million in a drop dead suit, Dutch pink on the downtown train
Not for me
Yeah I do not like the gruff shouts of Tom Waits over often discordant tones. "Midtown" notable for having the most discordant tones, but no shouting.
i didnt get the chance to take notes but thank you thomas waitison
Hmm - I've tried, honestly I have but finding it hard to like it. I appreciate it but not really my bag sadly.
Nobody else quite sounds like Tom Waits. It's always a refreshing listen, and I enjoy and respect it, but I think it's not a sound I could ever truly love. I'm never going to want to throw on Rain Dogs to chill out to.
The roughest voice in the history of music but he hits so well.
I sometimes wonder how some people get record contracts. Waits does some interesting and thought provoking material. I like some of his novelty songs. This album is okay too many songs that are not that good drag it out.
You know what, I'm gonna be a contrarian, to myself, and give this a decent score. I really enjoyed the music, and I won't submit to my own annoyance at Tommy's singing voice. Funny enough, I would quite enjoy if he did basic spoken word poetry. But incorporating music starts to grind my gears. To be fair, he's probably a fun hang, and has so crazy awesome stories.
Ass
That sounded like a parody of a villain in a video game that they make sing before a boss battle. Dude sounds like he gargles with rocks
🫠 I don't need anymore of his music
I don't really get people who genuinely like this. hard to listen to his voice. Music grew on me a little but not enough to make me want to listen again.
Decent album
Weird but good. I feel like I’m going to say that a lot
Interesting album, but a bit uneven. There were a lot of cool tracks, but also some duds...I think that gravelly voice works really well but can also be grating at times.
Whoever listens to this recreationally needs to be investigated. 1/5
Genre: Experimental Rock (Singer/Songwriter) This was a very interesting listen. I want to say this is my second time trying this out, and I don’t think I found it more enjoyable than the last, but I understood it more. Sort of a series of musical vignettes, different characters, different forms of sleaze and grime taint them all in unique ways. All are brought to life by Tom Waits incredibly unique growl. It’s for some. But not for me. Might go back to relisten one day and appreciate it more. 3/5
I already knew I loved this album. Weird and complicated, a bit cabaret, a bit macabre, but not in an embarrassingly shlocky "Amanda Palmer" kind of way. And what a voice. A lot of people try to do this kind of thing, but very few do it well.
Tom Waits isn’t for everyone, but he is for me. The eccentric instrumentation, voice that perfectly matches the characters in his songs, the emotions it pulls from deep in the cockles of my heart. I don’t know, maybe something like that. But man do I love a Tom Waits album.
Un desarrollo del estilo marcado en el anterior disco. El rugido de la voz sigue siendo imponente, transmite muchísimo. 6/10
Un peu surprise pour la noix au début de l’album mais quelques jolies découvertes
Rain Dogs is an absolute journey. There is a lot to take in here and you’re not going to take it all in on one listen. Tom Waits isn’t for everyone, he’ll I’m not gonna often throw Waits on myself but I always appreciate his grittiness and commitment to do what he does, he sings like a man who went mad at sea and that’s awesome. Is Rain Dogs his most accessible album? I haven’t listened to his whole catalog but I’m fairly certain he never went straight on contemporary. I really enjoyed Bone Machine as well but I’m confident this is my favourite release from Waits. This album is a box of whiskey soaked poems with some jazz, blues, rock and folk all tossed in and shaken up. Out came the rollicking tidy mess that is Rain Dogs and it’s fucking weird but fucking great too. 4 stars
Is this a joke? Does this guy actually get paid to produce this rubbish? Zero stars if I could.
I found this more interesting that I thought it would be. Not bad but not great.
How does one rate an album that treats the line between breathtakingly beautiful and god-fucking-awful like a three-year-old with a coloring book? There’s a legit GOAT-level blues album hidden somewhere in this mess.
I don't like Tom Waits' voice, it drives me bonkers but I'll say in the context of an album, it's pretty great. I would put this on again and the songwriting is great!
Not really my type of thing
This is one of the best albums I've ever heard in my life. I'm a fan of Waits, but this is the first time I've listened to this album in its entirety. It's chaotic in terms of genre. It describes the lives of strange characters and paints raw and dirty picrures of NYC lost souls. Just incredible. 5/5
Can't...even...listen.
Downtown Train is a classic. Pretty sure I used to have this album many moons ago. Tom Waits being his ultimate self.
When Tom Waits is at his best, listening to an album is more like watching a film — and I don't mean to suggest this sounds like a soundtrack. I mean the production and arrangements and performances and lyrics paint such vivid pictures and are so immersive, it goes beyond a mere listening experience. This is Waits at his best. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this.
Due to traveling, i didn't have time to listen to this one today, but this is my favorite Tom Waits album, so I can go ahead and confidently give it 5 stars. He gets everything right on this one.
became listenable for a minute about halfway through and then became weird again
3.5 I was already familiar with this album, like would be too strong a word. I think I like Tom Waits in smaller doses, this is too long for sure. 'Hang Down Your Head' and 'Time' I especially enjoyed
I hadn't actually sat down and listened to this heard before and I was stunned that I've been playing Jockey Full Of Bourbon in jam sessions going back decades and never heard the original recording or even realized it was one of his. What a great tune and very fun to play. This album sounds like it's just over the crest of his transition from Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter to whatever the hell you call the uniquely crazy jazz he and his wife have been concocting these past 40 or so years. The crazier he gets the more I like it, and so to me this is probably a good point of entry I would recommend to civilians.
I'm a pretty loyal Tom Waits fan, but I'll admit it's a shame that there are so many of his albums in this collection (five all told), as it kind of dilutes his appeal even for me, and I can't imagine non-fans' reaction to yet another Tom Waits album. Of the three I've heard so far (this one, "Nighthawks at the Diner", "Bone Machine"), this is by far the best, and while I can see keeping "Bone Machine", I'd easily axe "Nighthawks". But no one asked me, I know. I was really impressed how strong nearly every track on this album was, and I particularly enjoyed the opening pair "Singapore" and "Clap hands", as well as the title track and "9th & Hennepin" (mainly because I liked the Minneapolis reference). And impressive how many people have made covers of his "Downtown Train", although it feels like his is in many ways the best version, complete with a video that includes Jake LaMotta. I also enjoyed finding out that Keith Richards played on three of the tracks ("Big black Mariah", "Union Square" and "Blind love"), and that this led to Waits' contributing on The Rolling Stones album "Dirty Work". And even though it didn't seem like one of the stronger tracks on the album, I was also struck by how much "Time" sounded like a Leonard Cohen song. I can definitely see why this album was ranked among the greatest albums of the 80s.
I enjoyed this mostly for the Brecht influence--it would have made a great opera. Also liked the mix of sounds. Not really my thing but well-done.
RAIN DOGSSSS. absolutely impeccable. a 9 but closer to a 10...
Grappig, al na een paar tonen vond ik dit erg 'Disney' blijkt dat het dwergenlied van sneeuwwitje van Tom Waits is. Best rauwe stem, niet vaak zin in, maar wel een goede cd
Niezłe, oryginalne. 4/5
Definitively an acquired taste. Not great by any means but wierd and experimental and I love Tom's raspy voice cause it give it an extra level of mystery. I love Tom Waits but objectively its not great just diferente and works for me
Dette er rare greier. Men jeg liker det...tror jeg? Litt mye pling plong-tendenser da. Men gøy? Jeg er forvirra.
You probably know this but Tom Waits defies explanation. Maybe he’s like coffee. Tastes terrible at first but overtime you begin to love it, and I do. There is so much Americana here, but told from the upside down. And then there are moments of absolute beauty that you have to look for. It’s also worth noting this was released in 1985. Completely out of step with anything that was going on at the time. It’s definitely the best thing Keith Richards was a part of since Exile on Mainstreet.
Classic Tom Waits. Not my top favourite but him but I don’t think those are in the project (Blue Valentine and Frank’s Wild Years) and this is close enough.
Tom Waits is a fascinating artist. I've heard some of the early Tom records, and its a devastatingly good combination of dive bar, beat poet jazz/blues with that raspy voice of his that only gets more raspy as the years of smoking pile up on his voice.
Я слышал о Томе Вэитсе до этого дня, но не слышал его музыки Альбом Rain Dogs очень хороший и интересный Эта хорошая спокойная музыка, местами наглая, но очень живая! Я скажу, что альбом мне понравился, но не зацепил, да и равнодушным он меня не то, чтобы не оставил Но это не значит, что он плохой! Альбом шикарный Мне больше понравилась вторая сторона альбома, нежели первая Любимые песни я выделить не смогу :) Но мне очень понравилась песня "Downtown train"
I mean you know how I feel about Tom Waits. And this has the Cemetery Polka!
When I’m around much cooler people than me, I pretend to like Tom Waits, but really I don’t. I mean, I get it, admire it even as a curiosity and a cultural relic but I don’t really enjoy the experience of sitting and listening to it. Unlike Bukowski or Carver, artists who are sometimes mentioned in the same breath with Waits, I don’t see the beauty here amongst the squalor.
Did not like this as much as I thought I would. It was alright.
I didn’t immediately love this album. It took like two full run throughs to fully digest it. This is a super long album. Which I think sort of hurts it. But to start with the positives, this album is so atmospheric. There’s stories and poems, and there’s so much creativity and originality in this album. I just adored the first 2/3rds of the album. That’s really my only complaint is I think the length of this album hurts it alittle. The last 1/3rd of the album I think is the weakest portion. But I can’t stress enough how much I loved this album. This album would be perfect if they just trimmed like 5-6 songs. Like anything after midtown, excluding union square and anywhere I lay my head, could get subtracted and it wouldn’t hurt the album, it would only focus it more and make it better. Seriously though this as close to 5 as you can possibly get!
Vocals killed any interest in revisiting this album. The instrumentals were somewhat decent, but that vocal work was awful for a majority of the album.
Liker konseptet og stemningen, men blir litt fôr ensformig i lengden.
Best tom waits album, which means it’s average 3/5
12/07/2025 I can't give him more than this, his music just baffles me and I'm not sure if I actually enjoy it.
This album is a fever dream. I love it! The title track was standout for me, although I also loved Singapore and Clap Hands.
This is such cool Album!
Quirky album
Different and enjoyable. Theatrical and imaginative.
I feel like I liked every song. The voice is strange and strange at the same time. Some songs were so strange that they didn't flow well with the other. But you know the good thing. My music app has given me more music that is really cool now that it has noticed I listened to Tom Waits.
At first I didn’t get it, but by the end I was onboard
Really cool stuff on here but not an album I can listen to all the time. There are other Tom waits albums I enjoy more. I do like it a lot and I think it's one everyone should hear at least once but since I can only listen to it sometimes I feel it's probably closer to a 3.5
Tom Waits can be overrated at times but this is a genius album
I actually really like this album - what a fun, funky, weird, creepy vibe.
I struggle with Waits. I don't feel like I'm getting it. Clap Hands is a great song though.
Holy fuck no thank you
Perfect
His voice always startles me when I start to listen, but it works with some of the creepy songs on this album. Gun Street Girl made me think of Ex's and Oh's, while Cemetery Polka made me think of The Nightmare Before Christmas. This album is all over the place and so far, my highest-rated Tom Waits album.
Fav: Rain Dogs Least Fav: 9th & Hennepin Wouldn’t be surprised if Tom Waits was a pirate in a past life
Intriguing album! Tom Waits is a rare poet with some incredibly unique and fanciful rhymes. I remember not liking him as too folksy and weird from his previous SwordfishTrombones album. But for some reason I liked Rain Dogs forty years later (other than Midway and Bride which are just out of tune jazz, luckily both are short.) Gun Street Girl, Clap Hands, and Singapore make for a solid threefer. I will be revisiting Swordfish and listening to the trilogy. This album is just strange enough to come in at (3.8*s) In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Sounds like Tom crawled off an old salty ship after a long voyage, slept in an alley in the rain with only a piece of cardboard, smoked a carton of cigs, downed a bottle of rotgut, spiked a vein or 2, and made his way to the nearest dive bar to sing all about it...and I liked it! I was not bored or tired of his short yarns and bluesy pirate music. I really can't say any song stood out, the album just rolled along like a rusty old jalopy. The man has a good amount of work so I will be playing it on shuffle to get more exposure. Rain Dogs gets 3.2 stars from me.
I've been generally aware of Tom Waits and his unorthodox music for a while but never actually spent the time to listen to more than a couple of songs. After a listen to Rain Dogs my mind is kinda blown. I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't this and I mean that in a good way. I see this is classified as experimental rock which I guess sums it up pretty well as it doesn't really fall into a lot of the traditional genres. I was surprised how much I enjoyed Tom Waits and his weird vocals. The music was fun and unique from start to finish. There was something pirate-y about this that I dug. Tom Waits seems like he has indulged the weirdness and created a musical scalawag persona that I'm interested in exploring. I'm going to have to open a bottle of rum and dive into his collection at some point in the future. 3.52 stars
This is the first album I was recommended and each song is very different than the others. This album spans a lot of different genres, from Jazz to Country. I’m not too familiar with UK culture in the 80’s, but this didn’t resonate with me much. I think the way I’ll rate each album is by comparing the number of songs I’d listen to again to the total number of songs, then converting them into the rating system. I’ll list each song I enjoyed and add the “rating” at the bottom. Tango Till They’re Sore Big Black Mariah Time Gun Street Girl Blind Love Anywhere I Lay My Head 6/19
I started off thinking this was all vaguely ridiculous but by about half way through I was thinking 'I'm a Rain Dog too'. Always great to hear something that you've written off for years without ever really giving it a try and be pleasantly surprised. Lesson learned not to prejudge based on what you think something is rather than what it actually is. I have a lot of Tom Waits to catch up on.
So you all get bent out of shape over the Residents record, but this album, which can be considered a stylistic sibling on a lot of tracks, gets high marks. Make it make sense. Anyway, the best part of this record is that there are so many songs that clock in at less than 3 minutes, which, I’ve discovered, is exactly the amount of time I can stomach a Tom Waits song. Of the Tom Waits records on this list, this is his best. I hate his music with a fiery passion, but even I can tell this is a creative peak.
5/10 El principio del disco es insufrible, es muy dificil acostumbrarte a la vos de el. Un poco mucho. Tiene cosas desde lo percusivo interesantes y sobre la 2da mitad se clava unos temas salvadores, donde se le agarra más cariño a la lirica y la manera de cantar. "Hang Down Your Head", "Walking Spanis", "Dowtown Train" y "Anywhere I Lay My Head", los mejores.
Rain Dogs? More like Warthogs Why does he sound like Pumbaa from The Lion King! 2 ⭐️
I really couldn’t get on with the singing or lyrics, though musically there were a lot of really interesting ideas. I’ve read and can hear that it’s an acquired taste, and believe that’s possible, but there’s just too much good music at there already I don’t have to train myself to like. My gut reaction was that it’s a 2. but I recognize it’s well put together and found the music interesting enough to bump it up to a 3.
Terrible, sounded like a nightmare before Christmas soundtrack and not in a good way. Very weird songs.
As my dad says, there are some Tom Waits tracks that just sound like he's reciting poetry while banging pots in the background. This, however, is everything that makes him great - the lyrics are evocative and create characters and stories that are so intriguing. The guitar playing is great and adds to the atmosphere and storytelling without being overly flashy. Really great album
I feel like this starts and ends incredibly strongly - Singapore, Clap Hands and especially Anywhere I Lay My Head are special songs. The rest is good and it's a consistent vision, but those ones tower above.
Not much more to say about the twisted and conflicted demon that is Tom Waits. Back-alley Shakespeare takes us on a journey to the darkest depths of NYC nightlife and sleaze, to the score of proficient worldly influence, multigenre demonstrations and really zany instrument choices. Rain Dogs is peak Tom Waits, not all his albums give off this vibe. But his work on this one remains iconic and prolific.
What am I? A pirate?
Incredibly creative and evocative.
Goofy ahh cartoon music
Liiitt for langt og i litt for mange retninger utover b-siden, men helt klart en meget sterk skive
Compared to Bone Machine it's... well I didn't know what to make of it initially but after my second listen I think what struck me is how much these songs can get stuck in your head and become just catchy, or at least to me. It wouldn't surprise me if down the line after working thru his discography I'd be into this album more
Wow wow wow wow wow. Get on board and go for a ride!
Decent
Interesting, diverse.
This album had me one minute then lost me the next - Big fan of the songs with the small town but something's not quite right vibe, not so much on the spooky scary skeleton songs.
Surrealist art has always been controversial. When it comes to something as universal as music, even more so. Regardless, said weirdness is what makes me love Rain Dogs. It is a bizarre piece of surrealist poetry, where Tom shows us around a fascinating and strange world, alongside some of the most unique instrumentation of any album I've ever heard. It's lyrics are instantly memorable, his voice perfectly fitting, it's melodies hilarious and fun. An absolute masterpiece.
Weird as hell, but never boring
Masterpiece.
Eh
An album full of barroom atmosphere, crooked anecdotes, and the darker sides of life. Waits paints vivid portraits of lost souls and back alleys with his raspy, theatrical voice and a jumble of junkyard blues and twisted melodies. There are definitely moments of intensity and character, but over time, it all starts to blend together. It’s like being stuck in a bar at 4 a.m. with a man who doesn’t know when to end his story. Moody, yes. But also tiring. There’s little hope in Waits’ universe, and for me, that makes the album more admirable than lovable. 3/5
Not terrible
Just don't understand why anyone would listen to this.
Some of this is alright, but the other parts are shit, and that's what will stop me from revisiting this at a later date. Also, can someone please get this man a Strepsil?
Just went on a deep dive of Tom Waits. He’s still alive?? Weird guy who’s done all sorts and I’m here for it
Tom Waits touches on every genre and influence but simultaneously creates a genre all his own. His voice, while always touched by that gravel and grit ranges from raucous to tender and everything in between. Highlights for me are Clap Hands, Big Black Mariah, Time, Rain Dogs, and Hang Down Your Head.
Rating: 4/5 Short Review: This album sounds like a broken calliope rolled into a dive bar at 2am and started confessing secrets to a sailor. It’s junkyard poetry, gravel-voiced lullabies, and cabaret noir wrapped in one lurching, beautiful mess. Favorite Track: “Clap Hands” It’s all bones and smoke and whispered warnings from under the floorboards. Like a lullaby for people who’ve seen too much. Consistency With Me: 9.6/10 Rain Dogs is what my internal monologue would sound like if it smoked unfiltered cigarettes and hung out with Bukowski. Fragmented. Dark. Sentimental, but too weird to admit it. It’s the codebase of melancholy wrapped in circus greasepaint.
Weirdo musical vibes, kinda reminds me of the jungle book or something. Not for me.
An album full of fun sounding music which I found to be more enjoyable than Bone Machine. high 3/5
Waits is the main and this is among his finest!
Tom Waits' voice is weird but almost Springsteen like on certain songs. excellent songwriting but hard to get over the strange vocals sometimes
One of kind voice and peculiar percussions…Waits is…Unique.
Nisam ovo baš mogla slušati, smara. 1/5/, 1/10
Ooooooo I do like this. This is a goodun. I've been meaning to check Tom Waits out properly for too long now. This is my sort of jam. I love this old school Jazz/blues funeral sound. Buckle up for this one though, It's 19 tracks. It does a really good job of keeping you interested and listening though. I don't mean its long, most songs are 3 minutes long tops, but it jumps from one song to the next pretty quick. I've always enjoyed this style of music so to me this was a pretty damn good album. Love the vocals. Love the music. Definitely adding this to my collection.
disney villain ass music
Someone has a hard on for Tom Waits. There's too many of his albums on this list. Same thing with David Bowie, same thing with Dylan, same thing with Pearl Jam, etc. Not everyone has a stiffie for Tom Waits, and when there are too many albums on the list for being good, then none of them are good. The thought is 'uhh, not another Leonard Cohen album...' After the third shitty Tom Waits album, nobody has any patience for Tom Waits (pun intended). But this is the outlier, this is the album that everyone should listen to. Look, 1001, you can afford to retool, to be a little selective. There's plenty of other worthy music that should be on this list and five Tom Waits album is too many. Just, please keep this one.
There's nothing quite like Tom Waits. That voice... But the general funky percussion dirge of the sound is interesting. Despite being interesting, I can't take it (paired with his gravelly grumble of a voice) for a full album. It's like descending through New Orleans and going down to Hadestown. And down. And down. And down. But at last, after five albums (at least 2 too many), the Waits is over. With apologies to my college roommate, Tom Waits is another artist the 1001 has way overexposed me to who I will be avoiding for the foreseeable future.
The voodoo witch doctor (I picture Dr. Facilier in Princess and the Frog) vibes are strong here. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's interesting, but almost an hour of it is too much.
Bad music. Poor vocals. Sometimes it works, but not often.
Could not access on Tidal. Interesting vibe!
This is not my favorite Tom Waits (I prefer the very early and late albums), but I still found it enjoyable and got sucked into the rainy day atmosphere. Honestly, I would probably give this three stars as a Tom Waits album, but I think it's a four overall (especially compared to some of the albums I've had to listen to).
I appreciate what this is but it isn’t for me.
3/5. Tom Waits is very interesting and intentionally so. I believe he makes a certain kind of music, partly because he thinks it sounds good but also because he knows some people won't think it sounds good. Granted, I do like Waits but I think this album needs to grow on me. Seeing the 10/10 scores and being hyped up when it would show up on this list considering I've listened to all his other albums on here, it kind of left me underwhelmed. Like one of the draws of Tom is the weird aspects of him, and all of the songs on here didn't hit that same energy as his other stuff. I guess this is one more "accessible" which reaches a larger audience. But that feels like a downside. It was an okay listen, I'll have to relisten again. I enjoyed the album, don't get me wrong, just didn't feel like his magnum opus. Best Song: Hang Down Your Head, Clap Hands, Jockey Full Of Bourbon
An excellent ecclectic album. Very high 4* 4/5
I did not use a private session for Spotify. Back in the day this was a favorite of mine for rainy Saturday mornings. I love is voice, the intensity of his voice, and the chaotic nature of some of the songs.
This is the 123rd album I’m rating. Adding to my Playlist - Singapore, Clap Hands, Cemetery Polka, Jockey Full of Bourbon, Tango till they're Sore, Big Black Mariah, Diamonds & Gold, Hang Down Your Head, Time, Rain Dogs, Midtown, Gun Street Girl, Union Square, Blind Love, Walking Spanish, Downtown Train, and Anywhere I Lay my Head. Not Adding to my Playlist - 9th & Hennepin. All in all I liked 18/19 songs. Tom Waits is great except for the spoken word parts because that is just awful.
Love this, good ol’ Tom Waits. Vaudeville, carnivalesque, weird and wonderful. Voice like a leather belt soaked in rye whisky for a year then thrown onto a gravel road and run over by a line of big rig trucks. This is great, with some really great songs.
This was perfect for this rainy may day. 5
Just not a tom waits guy
Makes me wonder how I am not famous musician if this guy is a famous musician
I have always loved this album
His best album I've heard so far. That's saying something. 🤡 music
3.5
Actually OK, I really don't like TW's voice and, although the music is OK, the voice ruins it. This album manages to pull it off, the voice works and the album is deep and interesting.
This is what I’m doing this project for. Absolutely completely different, utterly unique, rich, dirty, a whole visual world you can picture created through music and sound. Reminds me of Nick Cave. Absolutely fantastic.
I absolute love Tom Waits's voice. It's gravelly quality makes it very unique, and I could listen to him all day. That being said, these songs weren't my favorite. I still think it's good, for the most part, but there are a handful that just weren't all that great lyrically or music wise. That being said, this is still a solid Tom Waits album and deserving of being on this list as one of his best.
Tom Waits dragging his heavy voice through a carnival junkie melodies. Not for me but good for what it is
I am not the biggest Tom Waits fan, but it is still a very interesting and unique album. All of the songs feel really dirty and gritty, so as the album goes on it can feel a little one note, but it is still a good note. Low 4.
Some good tunes, 19 songs is quite long, cracking voice
Tom <3 <3 <3
Rain Dogs might be as near to accessible as Tom Waits gets, which is to say, not very. It sits in the middle of an acclaimed trilogy, between swordfishtrombones and Franks Wild Years. We’re in the sleazy underbelly again, Waits’ natural home, rubbing shoulders with the human flotsam in a thousand corners of New York. Musically he makes raids on many genres mangled them all nearly beyond recognition. The opener Singapore is a kind of demented sea shanty, complete with wind and rain atmospherics on the outro. Time is a stripped back early hours highlight. Extra credit must be given for the line, “All the donuts have names that sound like prostitutes,” on the spoken 9th and Hennepin. Downtown Train is a great track though in many ways it’s the most conventional in the album; it could almost be a Springsteen song. This is core Waits. Here’s the long form lyrics listing oddly named characters doing incomprehensible and often unspeakable things with or to each other under the influence of oceans of bourbon. You won’t come away whistling tunes, though you might begin to feel that you’ve led a rather sheltered life. “I’ve seen it all”, he intones, and listening to this album it’s hard to doubt it. Fun fact: this album features Keith Richards on several tracks, most audibly on the folk tinged Blind Love, my favourite track in the album. Chris Spedding guests on the opener.
A wonderfully broad swath of genres that envelope a grimy and expansive soundscape. It channels the dirtbag spirit of Bukowski with the unflinching eye of Steinbeck, performed in the trashcan of Oscar the Grouch.
It's tough to review Tom Waits as a fan. It's all weird as hell and unique; that doesn't mean it's good but I have a hard time saying it isn't. Clap Hands has always been one of my favourites of his. This is a good album. You probably don't need so much Tom Waits on the list but I like when it shows up.
So much Tom Waits. First impression on this one is Tom Waits is compiling audio into an album because he wants to. There doesn't seem to be any chasing a buck or algorithm. This one is an audio experience, like some form of gutter blues grime opera. I gave this around 3 listens. I don't have any complaints, and enjoyed the ride each song took me on.
Well, this is better than the first album I heard from him. Much better! It’s like Leonard Cohen got weird. That’s what it sounds like. This is weird but good. 7 songs in and I’m ready for something else but for once this isn’t a knock against the album. It does seem to be repetitive, if you could possibly make this type of music seem repetitive, Nick Cave does. Choice cut: Clap Hands
Community theatre ass album
A great piece of experimental folk music, suffers from many slow sections of overly simple instrumentals and a few times where the mixing and/or the vocals are pretty subpar (hence the 'experimental' moniker, they took risks and they often paid off but sometimes did not work) but as a whole it absolutely earns its legendary status.
Terrible unserious clown music. I know he’s influential, I just cannot for the life of me understand why.
took me a long time to get this one but i think it goes hard, makes me feel like a dark floating baddie, like fog, but very hot, and like gold, like a bunch of horses running, and like boats flying in the sky
Interesting listen. Some song were really good, while other too out there for my taste.
let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair!
Folky country. Nice.