Rain Dogs

Tom Waits is not for me.

I hate that this album was so good. Not a fan of Waits in any way, until now. This album builds and builds. The first two tracks sound like hot garbage but then the rest settles in to groovy backwoods burlesque. The first tracks make sense now too. The real star is the production that somehow made Tom's spitting and farming into the mic sound great

Wow that was an odd one. This album sometimes feels more interested in being quirky than it is being, well, good, but it’s a legitimately interesting brew of jazz and blues and rock with an unmistakable mood and approach. Lyrics are strange but help build the seedy old-school America atmosphere, and the same goes for Waits’ warbly roar of a voice. I didn’t enjoy it much, but I appreciate it. Best song: Tango Till They’re Sore

Some interesting sounds and songs.

A lot of charter not very catchy

Tom Waits is not really for me. But I liked this more than some of his other stuff.

3.5 definitely. such an awesome sound from the 80s

When the first song started my reaction was "....what?". And to be honest I think this fits more like a soundtrack to a movie, rather than something to put on and listen to as a typical album. Despite this I think it took me on an interesting journey. Really made me picture being on an old steamboat at dusk at the turn of the last century, in some tropical place, hanging out with various dubious people playing cards and smoking cigarettes. So even though this might not be something I would just put on and listen to, I still enjoyed it for what it was and I'm glad I heard it. But due to this it's also hard for me to rate it much higher than 3 since I wouldn't say I "liked" it as I usually like 4 star albums.

Weird album but that's Tom Waits for ya

Listened Before? N Super interesting and eclectic. I’m familiar with some of his later work but never listened to the records that made him known. This one was, I felt, a bit weird but very artistic in a good way. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Jockey Full Of Bourbon

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. This album is kind of if a pirate met the Dr. Demento. I'm not sure what they were smoking on Midtown.

Not really a fan but it was at least interesting.

Creative mixture of stuff...all over the place. Poet like Cohen and sometimes reminded me of Springsteen. His voice raspy was sometimes hard to listen to. I really liked about half of this album. It would have been great if they left off the other half.

This whole goddamned town is ready to blow.

Sehr experimentell

Tom Waits is definitely an acquired taste, but after a while, you'll be glad you tried it. Especially good when accompanied with whiskey.

Very odd but likeable. A much needed palette cleanser after John Coltrane.

Þetta er eitthvað. Flottur hljóðheimur og stemning, en ég er ekki alltaf í stuði fyrir þessa stemningu. Kannski við fimmtu hlustun.

It was a nice listen. Sometimes I lost interest, and sometimes his voice was a bit much for me, but I still liked it. A solid three. My favourite song was Hang Your Head Down.

Hang Down Your Head Time Gun Street Girl Downtown Train 4/19 Only liking 4 of the 19 tracks may be unfair. I cannot say I’ve actually actively listened to Tom Waits before today. I knew he existed but couldn’t name anything by him. Listening to this makes me want to explore his music more. It’s weird and quirky. I’ll give this 3 stars but it’s more like 3.5.

You can smell the cigarettes and bourbon on this album. Hence the song Jockey Full of Bourbon which was a standout along with Union Square. Waits knows when the songs have run their course which is a lesson Bob Dylan doesn't understand. Not every song is good and it is slightly uneven but it's a decent listen and I'm willing to explore more Tom Waits.

Another Tom Waits album. I think this is the last one on the list (thankfully). This one has a number of songs that felt more like tone poems. There are a few times I can feel Waits channeling that inner Springsteen, and then there are those songs where things kinda go to crap. Instrumentals like "Bride of Rain Dog" felt like they didn't really go anywhere because they were so short. They were more of an interstitial thing. Doubtful many people pick those as their favorite tracks on the album. After listening to 5 different albums of Tom Waits, I can't say I'm a fan. I respect his work in that it is so different from the stuff I listen to, but his voice is just so... toneless and animalistic. Very growly. I need a melody in there somewhere, and he just can't seem to carry it from song to song. I never know what to expect. So, yeah. Still not a big fan, although I probably would pick this one amongst the others I have heard if I had to say which one I liked most. But that's REALLY not saying much.

Sorry Tom, I thought you and I had something going there. And then the first track Singapore opens sounding super weird and a lot like the album Swordfishtrombones (which I did not like) - complete with slide whistles and me thinking he sounds like the Cookie Monster again. I've softened on old Tom so even at the second song Clap Hands I thought not bad. But it was a constant yo-yo of weird and decent, with a few real strong tracks - Big Black Mariah (very rocking, I guess thanks to Keith Richards), Hang Down Your Head and Time (both beautiful, and the former sounds like Downtown Train, which is his best), and Downtown Train (others sing it better, but his lyrics and composition are beautiful). And that's one thing with Tom Waits, his lyrics are always top notch. I'd love to see all of his albums redone by strong vocalists just to hear those words come to life with a soothing voice. Anyway, I won't give it a 2 but I can't give it higher than a 3.

Very intriguing album but too much for me to process with just one listen. Not like anything I have heard before with it's changes in styles and disgusting (but great) vocals

Interesting but ultimately not as much fun as I thought

In it's entirety, it's not a bad album. Tracks such as "Time" and "9th and Hennepin" were good; however, I've felt that Tom Wait's voice is definitely an acquired taste. I would probably revisit a few tracks from this album on my own.

ágæt

Uniquely odd voice. Grew on me. Sometimes sounded like Mr Krabs singing the greasy spoon song. But it grew on me. Liked it by the end. Long album. Guy could sing old north wind from over the garden wall

Everything but the lyrics kicked ass. Lyrics did not fit at all. Awesome hearing bass marimba in rock though.

With rasping lyrics and idiocentric beats, Rain Dogs is a weird little album. Every song has a different vibe, some of them will enter my every day rotation but some had me tempted to skip.

This album just feels so random. And a little piratey at times? It’s definitely cool and musically very interesting. I just probably won’t ever listen again. It is an interesting auditory exercise.

3 1/2

Singapore and Cemetery Polka are awesome, but they rest is very mediocre.

Listened to on 2/22/23 3/5 Favorite song: Downtown Train This album was like strange, spooky Halloween music but was also wildly entertaining and very unlike most of the music I’ve listened to

Unique voice, but I just can't get over the feeling that he is putting this all on. So cannot wholeheartedly enjoy this

I was really surprised by this because I have made my disdain for Tom Waits pretty clear but this album was actually pretty fun. I think it's more of a high 3 than a 4 but it's still the best Waits album I've gotten so far (and hopefully no more unless they're like this). I liked gun street girl and the rest of it had a kind of unique fantasy blues kind of vibe.

Ok not my style

Really good album. Great voice and lyrics. Enjoyable all round

gleb might be waiting but i think tom arrived on time. 3.5

gleb waits. gleb waits for some good music. gleb listens to rain dogs. gleb still waits.

I enjoyed this but it isn't something I feel is listen to repeatedly.

Is this Monkey Island? Muy buen album conceptual.

It's OK but I much prefer his barfly period to the Beefheart one. The songs aren't really that much fun to listen to, and it's not as clever as it thinks it is, a bit one-note in theme and sound. Contrast to e.g. Closing Time which is up there with the best ever

Better than a lot of the shouty Tom Waits stuff I've heard

weird geezer

It's magical when someone is able to create something novel. We all have access to the same raw materials, techniques, and tools after all. But somehow, sometimes, someone is able to combine them in a way that creates something so entirely new that it changes how people approach their own creative process from that point forward. I'm not going to claim I'm a huge Tom Waits fan after listening to this album. I still struggle to relate to the allure. But I do think this album delivers as novel of a musical vision as any of the greats. The whole album evokes imagery of a gritty world filled with hard lived lives, viewed through the blurred lenses of hungover eyes.

I already knew and liked “Clap Hands”. I thought this was a little too repetitive and the growling got annoying by the end, but I still like the style.

Noget af en blandet landhandel - men fungere sgu meget godt alligevel

Some great jazz and blues number but most tracks very Avant Garde

Quirky yet approachable, with some really interesting sounds, vibes and the occasional cut-through song. Not sure when I’d ever think “now that’s what I want to hear tonight”, but I enjoyed hearing it. Another 3.5 from me.

Don’t get me wrong - I love Tom Waits. The concert I saw him give at the State Theatre, Sydney, in 1979, was one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever attended. But that was 70’s Tom. From Frank’s Wild Years onward, I’ve had to deal with a different Tom. The problem for me was that he just stopped writing tunes. I own Rain Dogs, but I don’t think I’d played it for a couple of decades. It hasn’t improved with age. There are only a couple of throwbacks to what I consider his golden period - Walking Spanish is the best thing here by a mile & ranks among his best talking songs; 9th & Hennepin is also terrific, but very short; while Downtown Train was always a good song & was covered by quite a few. The rest are just okay. There’s little else here that really grabs me.

Like a novelty record, enjoyed it at first, soon got tiresome. 3.2

notes - experimental rock semi concept album - tom waits 9th album - features keith richards - ive never really been able to get into tom waits but i feel like maybe i’m just missing something - characteristic smoky baritone voice - some songs on here have what i would vcall a circus sound but twisted fav - jockey full of bourbon - Loooove the groove and performance on this song least fav - singapore - One of the noisier tracks, doesn’t do it as well as others later on - Bit of a litmus test for how you’ll feel about the rest of the album 3/5 - I can appreciate the artistry behind it but its not something I would choose to listen to

Just weird enough for me to nod my head and go hmm at the end in a good way

Music was good, but eventually I got tired of Toms singing.

3.8/5 I think Waits is a fun songwriter, but I do not really vibe with the folk-jazz-cabaret style of his music

My first impression is that Tom Waits is an acquired taste. This album is so different from Closing Time which is the only other Tom Waits album I've listened to. Rain Dogs gets a little to experimental and that's coming from someone who listens to Zappa. The album grows on you as it progresses and it just takes a while to cross the threshold. It's definitely worth a listen but probably not for everyone.

Weird and interesting, but I think hearing it once is enough for me.

Am a bit conflicted about this one. It is unique and awesome, but also a bit gimmicky and I get tired of it at the End of the whole album.

Cool album but a bit hard on the ear after a while. I prefer the somewhat more 'friendly' Tom Waits music

Quite alright. So much gravel. Too many songs. Would have been a tighter album if it was a little shorter. Downtown train was pretty good

Not at all what I expected but a very fun listen. Lots of catchy tunes.

This is one wild motherfucker. I enjoyed the dense variety of the instruments, with some tracks being borderline demented circus shit. Tom's voice is very hit or miss to me (and probably many others), but even when I wasn't feeling the vocal performance, it still worked very well compositionally with the music.

Growly, masculine, vocals. Sometimes ballad-y, sometimes jazz-ish.

Music from the fucking upside down dimension or something. Tom Waits is a scary individual, wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley. There's a lot of good songs in here - "Clap Hands" is great because it sounds like Breaking Bad music. "Downtown Train" is like Bob Dylan if he was good. Nevertheless, I found myself exhausted by the end. While not a particularly long album, it's 19 songs long (a lot of songs - more than 6 songs, for example) and a big chunk of it didn't stick in my brain at all. I'll probably return to this.. needs about two or three more listens, but a strong 3/5 for now.

Pretty good.

Bluesss

Not my genre but good

Halloweenie

Unique voice, really interesting listen

Another album I can tell is very talented. Nothing like I’ve ever heard but some of it is a little slow and torturous. I do like the polka, German, very out there styles of mixed sounds and styles. Keith Richards is awesome. Creative and deep voice and lyrics. Almost just too weird to handle

robots wooooooo

Not exactly my favourite Tom Waits album, but a good listen nonetheless. Downtown Train is definitely the best this album has to offer.

Starts slow, defenetly dinnertime music

Some other review said this was weird Halloween music, and I agree, but in the best way possible. I actually quite enjoyed how weird this could get, but blues still isn't for me, so some of this album was a bit repetitive. Excited for other Tom Waits albums, though.

Dankzij deze lijst wat meer Tom Waits gedraaid en ook dit album was ook weer de moeite waard.

Ik kan dit zeker steeds meer waarderen.

Ik ben niet echt een Tom Waits fan, maar dit album vond ik behoorlijk goed te hebben eigenlijk.

I liked a few of the songs, particularly Time and Hang Down Your Head. Interesting to listen to once, but I'm not sure I'll listen again.

Mr Waits has quite a few albums on this chart. Well done Mr Waits. Unfortunately, whilst pretty good and spanning many years they are all pretty samey. I have listened to 3 of them now and they are indistinguishable. Bluesy, sleazy, smoke filled bars with gravely voice, milkbottles and brokendown pianos.

I do still wonder if Tom is taking the piss

No es mi disco favorito de Tom Waits, pero tiene ese temón del piano borracho

Tem seu estilo marcante mas não me agradou muito de ouvir

Donkey Kong type beat

Interesting, not great. kind of reminds me of Prine compared to Dylan. No real standout songs, but a few could possibly grow on me. Not a huge fan of his voice.

Someone I really admired as a teenager loves this album so I was hyped when I saw it this morning. However, as soon as it started, I knew it wasn’t for me. I appreciate the artistry and especially the lyrics (“I’ll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past”) but I cannot get past his voice. Giant deterrent for what is otherwise brilliant stuff. Disappointed.

Certainly very interesting. There's a few weird experiments (Cemetery Polka), but most of it is a weird folk drunken minstrel style in Tom's gravely style. Had no idea that this was where Downtrain Train came from. Impressive.

A surprising 2.5 from Bill. She quite liked the songs but does not like his voice. Shannah convinced he has a pirate alter-ego. Really enjoyed it. 3.5. Great album reckons Conor. Possibly his best. 3.9/5 3.3/5

Some really odd and hard to listen to songs, but then some greatly great gems, but I guess that’s Tom Waits! A man of many sounds.

Yet another wonderfully unorthodox and at times even weird Tom Waits album. Kudos to him for having and sticking to his own style. This album however I found a tad bit too long and lacking any stand out songs, making this album only memorable due to Waits' unique style and not due to the individual songs

cool album, clearly on the same theme as sworfishtrombones, still very experimental with some songs more fitting in a movie about dwarves but very nice nonetheless

Not good enough in English to appreciate this album.

nja, nåt har den ju. men det är för knas för mig

3, he has a way with words

After 2, 3 Tom Waits songs I am good

Like "Bone Machine", but better. My third Tom Waits album in a span of like two weeks? An interesting guy. This is his best that I've heard so far, and I think a little more exploration in his discography (particularly the '80s part) might get me into his sound. Apparently, this is the second part of a trilogy. But as of now, I have to dust off the sands in my ears first.

Bom.

Overrated, if you ask me. (So is Swordfishtrombone, but that’s another matter altogether)

In theory 4 in practice 3

Tom Waits is a guy who is so far off the beaten path that I guess you have to accept the bad weird stuff because it also allows him to come up with the good weird stuff. There's plenty of both here. Best track: Tango Till They're Sore

Creepy

All over the place, kinda creepy in parts

I mean if you like grumbly meandering lyrics akin to a drunk dude screaming at you Ton Waits has you covered. It was alright.

Well it was interesting to say the least. I think I don't really get it. It sounds like a carnival villain soundtrack. Wanted to like it more.

One has to be in the mood for Tom Waits but I can’t describe the mood. Today I wasn’t in it. However Clap Hands, Jockey Full of Bourbon, Time, and Downtown Train are good tunes nonetheless.

Very experimental and pretentious. I can see how this piece in specific can be very influential for alternative rock musicians, but I personally don't like it. "Hang Down Your Head" is a great track though.

Better than I expected

The music is always interesting and the lyrics are full of great imagery but that voice...ugh.

Aika moista. Saundien omaperäisyydestä ja loistavasta tunnelmasta hatunnosto, mutta ehkä vähän liian löröä että oisin tykänny kauheesti.

Waits menee edelleen siihen luokkaan, että tajuan loistavuuden, mutta ei vaan täysin omaan makuun. Täytyy tosin arvostaa miten originellilta tää vieläkin kuulostaa. Ja monet rennommat ja groovaavat biisit toimii hyvin, esim. Clap Hands, Jockey Full of Bourbon ja Gun Street Girl. Sanotaan 3.5/5.

The last third piqued my interest in a major way. Everything else is weird in a good way, but also a bag of vignettes. Waits's voice is compelling, but many of the song

Eccentric. Definitely not for everyone. Very strange indeed, but kind of enjoyable…tread with caution though!

Iz jebene paštete više.. Cemetery Polka do be hittin different tho

Wtf... Esto si no me lo esperaba. 3

Not my style, but enjoyed some songs (Singapore and Clap Hands most notable to me)

i listened to this a long time ago...reactivating! this was very...masculine. i don't know if i got it

Interesting... Bit of cajun sound to me

also Tom Waits ist bestimmt sehr gut, aber meins ists einfach nicht. ich find seine art zu singen nervig, erinnert mich an Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, wo er den Vampir singt.

Ganz Besonders und einzigartig. Tolle Soundkulisse. Komm mir vor, als würde ich einen Tim Burton Film ansehen. Ganzes Album bissl anstrengend

Weird album, not bad

6/10

I get it, but it’s not for me.

It's a little long, but the more I listen to Tom Waits, the more I like him. Not going to get heavy rotation, but always glad to see him pop up.

meh? 3/5

Grâce à une suite d'accords tous plus cacophoniques les uns que les autres, Tom Waits et sa voix d'ogre drogué parviennent au long de ce nouveau one-man-show à nous arracher un sourire de temps à autre.

Je tiens à alerter toute la population du générateur: je pense que Tom Waits a été enlevé par Robert, et remplacé par une doublure. En effet, grâce à une analyse pointue, j'ai pu remarquer que la voix de Tom Waits a complétement changé. De plus, Tom Waits nous avait habitué à de francs rires lors de ses interludes poilantes, rien de tout ça ne nous fut proposé au cours de cet album. Il est temps de se mobiliser pour tenter de retrouver le véritable Tom Waits.

Experimental, very experimental not for me

What a strange album... it reminded me a bit of the musical Hadestown at times. What an interesting voice! I don't think I'll return, but it definitely made for a change. I liked 'Jockey Full of Bourbon' and 'Downtown Train', but my top pick is 'Gun Street Girl'.

6/10

Great music, very nightmare before Christmas like.

Fond memories of this album in a Tokyo laundromat. Cup of noodles from a vending machine. Clothes sloshing away. Headphones on riding that downtown train. I always do the Rod Stewart double with that Tom Waits song. The world is a great place ;)

Pirate music

No tan fan, hay cosas que se oyen muy bien y me gusta que tenga una voz y cante tan particular, pero no es para mí Tom Waits. Eso creo, quién sabe en unos años. En fin. 7.5/10

Interesting album with his raw talking voice style of singing.

Not sure what to make of it. Some tracks were really good. I liked his gravelly voice, other tracks I didn’t like so much. A have gh 3*

Good stuff. I personally prefer his older stuff most of which would be a 4 so it only gets a 3 on this occasion.

Ajudou a conhecer mais músicas dele.

Слишком сложно для меня.

better than the other waits one. fucking long though.

Pretty nice

Great rich gravelly voice! Good storytelling. Diverse mix of song styles.

I think this is the first Tom Waits record I’ve ever fully listened to. I liked it just fine, but I can’t imagine just falling head over heels for music like this. Are there super passionate Tom Waits fans out there? People who put this on in their car and sing along? I assume there are and I would like to meet one of them just to talk about that experience. So yeah. I liked it fine. Had no idea he’s the original pen of “Downtown Train.”

Songwriting was solid, as I’ve come to expect, and the instrumentation made this interesting. Still, I think I just don’t like listening to Tom waits, and the energy on this was so low, the instruction was so heavy that everything felt like it was dragging itself along. 5/10

I don't know how to feel about Tom Waits these days. 6

Great voice

Weird Pirate-esque, carney influenced, underbelly inspired album sung in gruff, deep, smokey and slightly raspy barks. He reminds me of a washed up, drunken semi-old seadog

Admittedly naive/ignorant of Waits prior to Heartattack and Vine, I left that album wondering if it was a character or sort of an acted out performance. Shortly into Rain Dogs I'm now convinced that's the case but just as I'm starting to immerse myself into this new performance it inexplicably shifts gears and by the end of the album I feel like I'm back at HA&V. And that's not a bad thing, but I'm again left wondering if there's something else going over my head. Also learned about the origins of Downtown Train, which makes so much more sense as a Waits song rather than Rod Stewart. Worth a listen, but to me the entirety of the album doesn't have the same appeal as HA&V.

Ok, so I was down on this right from the start, mostly because of the last one. But I thought this one was far better and actually enjoyable! He still has that distinctive voice but it's understandable and comes across here as an interesting style compared to annoying in the older album. Nice variety of music, good storytelling. Solid 3. Which is actually a bit problematic as it seems I felt compelled to give the last one a 3. So now they're both a 3 even though this one is far better. I wish I could change the Heartattack and Vine rating to a 2 now.

Interesting but not really enjoyable.

The album sounds like Leningrad's band.

First track is the maddest shit Ive ever heard. So weird and genre bending but it kinda works, absolutely bizarre though. Thinking a 3 so far.

Der Schräge Kram vom Tom ist mal lustig, zum Einpacken der Wohnung wars etwas viel zusätzlicher Stress ;)

This sounds like Waits could have developed some of these songs as a great concept album but for some reason he didn't. Which is a shame because most of the tracks are such a pleasant listen on their own; but like this at times it just feels a little too long and overfilled. Particularly liked: Jockey Full of Bourbon

Had potential may grow on me with time

I struggle with Tom Waits, and this album in particular. I like it well enough, and can see why people really like it, but I find Tom pretty annoying. His voice and character come off pretty insincerely and honestly fairly grating. The more traditional songs (Time, Hang Down Your Head) here I do like and think his low gravelly voice fits nicely. It's the more cabaret/show tune type songs that I find pretty tiresome. I am glad this was on here because this is now the third time I've heard it and helps confirm this one won't do a ton of growing on me with familiarity.

sounds like New Orleans blues/jazz. a few catchy tunes

Vintage Waits

I liked the "villainous music" approach. Sounds a little childish but fun. 1/3 of the tracks sound like dull fillers

I like how crazy the lyrics are, and the music is pretty good. I didn't love it. But I made it through the whole album. I liked the track "Rain Dogs". I disagree that this is a must listen, but also I have no idea what it's history is or how it inspired other artists.

Weird dude

So much back and forth in the vibes. Definitely not a cohesive album in the way I'm used to, unless the theme was supposed to be "captain ahab's idiosyncratic thematic cacophony"

Growing on me like a rash. Will return to this one periodically - I enjoy Waits' "sand in the sandwich" voice, and can tell it has much more to offer upon repeat listens. 6/10

Rock, blues, folk. Sorprendente. Interesante

7

Not a a huge fan

Ok. Not something I would normally listen to. I think a a quiet boozy pub would fit this well

Discordant pirate jazz. Need to listen again probably but I found myself not hating it as much as I expected

Feels like the soundtrack to an Oddities show. Tom Waits is another singer-without-voice, except that I've always found it more appealing than Cohen. Most of this album is worth listening to again, but a couple of tracks are pretty meh...

This one is strange, it feels like the music doesn't work and initially i didn't like a lot of it but some of the tracks just work

Very entertaining but also quite philosophical.

Doggy

Cool album like always from Tom Waits. Some songs are little hard to listen. Not for everyday but for some occasions is perfect.

Wtf! This is weird stuff, not at all as expected by the cover. Some of it wasn’t too bad, most was very weird

look, tom waits is unapologetically himself. i can tell he's an expert in whatever genre this is, and that this is a layered, complicated album that rightfully has many fans. but god, does it sound like dog water to me. side note: how is it possibly i got TWO tom waits albums directly in a row? literally, what are the chances i'd get a swamp witch double feature? if you need me, i'll be floating facedown in a polluted bog.

I was not sure of this at the start but as it got going I got drawn in and the second half was much stronger than the first. Loved ‘Gun Street Girl’. 2.5

I have never really got on with TW but this album is more listenable than the others I’ve tried previously - a solid 2 stars. Tom.

This has such a strange vibe to it. It reminds me of a Disney villain but without the personality that makes a Disney villain a Disney villain. In Clap Hands I was just waiting for him to turn around stroking a cat. Tango till you’re sore had those same vibes. Big black Mariah sounded like a rejected July talk song. Time was actually nice and slow. This is the first one I think I liked. Gun street girl was also ok. This album was just overall very strange. I didn’t hate it, I just didn’t like it. There were definitely bits I enjoyed more than others, especially in the back half of the album. 2.5/5 ⭐️ 164/1089

Really odd. Sounds like a Halloween film soundtrack. Haunting, eerie, strained vocals at times. Unique but not in the best way. 2.5/5

You'll never ever convince me this man's music isn't a practical joke or some kind, like when Garth Brooks pretended to be somebody else. "Downtown Train" fucks, though (when somebody else sings it).

Knee deep in muck

Sounded like Captain Jack Sparrow had made an album about carnival buskers. Wasn't enamoured.

still what? but a little better than the first one i got here......i guess....i don't know

This is the 3rd Tom Waits album I listened to and I still don’t ‘get’ it. He writes interesting lyrics I guess and has a unique voice, he is talented for sure but his work is just not for me.

Maybe it's art to someone, it's just annoying to me.

Bit pretentious

I know he is a legend and all that but his style is not my favorite. Probably don't like him for the same reason I don't like Bob Dylan. The lyrics are great but I prefer a more singing approach. The music is good but nothing that really blows me away. Overall not bad but not something that I would listen to again.

No. 1.8

I liked maybe half of this album, but only kinda. Most of it sounded like something you'd hear while watching violently drunk clowns doing a very raunchy burlesque show.

Didn’t leave any impact

Just don’t care for this guy’s style or sound.

I just don’t like this guy. It feels like he’s having a joke I don’t get but suspect is at my expense.

Very unique, may need to revisit

Muy raro disco, recién el 6 track me llamo un poco mas la atención por ritmos mas conocidos con big black mariah en un sonido mas rockandrolero pero lo demás me deja que desear. Es un disco medio de sonidos para una actuación de circo o lo que escucharías en una pelicula de piratas mientras no hay accion. No es algo que escucharía nuevamente. son 2 los puntos para no ser malo

Can we stop w/ Tom Waits now?

Weird, but not weird enough to be good

How are there three of these on the list?!?! Downtown Train saved the 1 star rating.

01) Singapore - 6,5 02) Clap Hands - 6,5 03) Cemetery Polka - 3,0 04) Jockey Full of Bourbon - 6,0 05) Tango Till They're Sore - 5,0 06) Big Black Mariah - 5,5 07) Diamonds & Gold - 5,5 08) Hang Down Your Head - 6,5 09) Time - 6,0 10) Rain Dogs - 5,0 11) Midtown - 3,0 12) 9th & Hennepin - 2,5 13) Gun Street Girl - 5,5 14) Union Square - 6,0 15) Blind Love - 5,5 16) Walking Spanish - 5,5 17) Downtown Train - 7,0 18) Bride of Rain Dog - 1,0 19) Anywhere I Lay My Head - 5,0 TOTAL: 5,05 (51/100) Current ranking: 802/865

Not his best work...

Wow. Reminded me of Glass Animals + Tom Cardy + absurdism. Felt like I needed to be on a fair amount of drugs to really appreciate this.

I was genuinely not prepared for what I got here--did Cemetery Polka inspire Runscape's composer? One must marvel at the infinite possibilities of artistic creation and experimentation. Especially when I don't get it!

His music is just so weird! But strangely kind of fun.

I hated this slightly less than I typically hate tom waits

Absolutely hate Tom Wait's voice, it really takes away any enjoyment I might have from the instrumental. I get what he was going for, but just not my thing. Maybe I would like this more if it were Halloween. I always end up not liking artist with several albums in this challenge, so until we meet again Tom Waits. Favorite Track - Singapore Least Favorite Track - Blind Love ⭐️⭐️

Tom Waits is definitely an acquired taste. This sounds like a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta done in New Orleans blues style. Not really my cup of tea. 2.5 if possible.

This was tough to listen too. At its best Tom Waits' voice sounds like Howlin' Wolf but at its worst it sounds like Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas. Given this, I thought the strongest tracks on here were the bluesier songs and the weakest were almost all of the others. Most of the songs on here sounded like musical theater but maybe that's because I can't believe this is someone's real singing voice. I feel like this is what those who don't like Bruce Springsteen's voice think it sounds like but I think they are a world apart in quality and skill.

Nah

I swear, sometimes he sounds like a hurt animal. I really like so much about him but I just can’t get around that voice at times. 2.5

I just cannot get into this guy. Sometimes there are moments where I think there’s a chance, but then he comes in with his raspy and disconnected voice and then we’re back to square one. Power to those that dig him.

Wayyyyy tooo long this - Tom is a weird guy

The Venn diagram of Tom Waits music, bad Bruce Springsteen impersonators, and axe murderers is a circle. I just do not understand the appeal of this man. When he sings normally it’s actually good, which is why “Time” is my favorite song on the album. Also liked “Downtown Train” even though it was a chaotic mess. This was probably my “favorite” Tom Waits album so far, but the bar is in hell.

I do not like this. Tom Waits is not for me. I do not understand how these albums end up in this list.

You can’t just mumble ‘bout a one-legged clown in a rainstorm And call it symphony cause the city cascades when wet A growl is just a cough looking for a melody to call home, And noise don't get soul just ‘cause you scraped it from a shoe Now I just need to down a bottle and throw a box of instruments down the stairs, right?

I don’t like it. The music is definitely unique, but it still ultimately feels like a singer-songwriter album. Yes, the instrumentation is very unconventional, but the album as a whole still retains that minimal, relaxed, vocal-forward vibe most singer-songwriter records have that I don’t enjoy. There was just nothing to get excited about. 5/10

I have mixed feelings about this one. There were a couple of fun tracks that I enjoyed listening to, but it felt overall a bit lengthy. It's a solid 2 (and a half!) for me.

Atmospheric music (Jazz and its infinite sub-genres) filled with figurative rambling that rarely goes anywhere... That's Tom Waits. His weirdness does on grow on you...like mold. You can keep cutting it off to get to the tasty cheese beneath, but ultimately it just keeps growing back, until eventually everything great about the cheese is completely subsumed in decay. Sounds kind of like a Cirque Du Soleil musical routine only without the extreme gymnastics to entertain the eyeballs. If I have to engage in Tom Waits odd ballery, that is easy on the figurative language and hard on the ears, I prefer to listen to BONE MACHINE. Otherwise, not really a fan of Tom Waits. Honestly when I need that kind of avant garden jazz, I'll just listen to Angelo Badalamenti, or otherwise, I'll just listening to scores from Cirque Du Soleil albums. You get the weirdness, and because they are often singing in French or Hungarian, I still cannot make out anything they are singing about. Otherwise, too much poetry, not enough music. Only track I truly enjoyed was "Downtown Train", and only when others cover it. Sincerely, this is the kind of music that I might enjoy in a live setting, but I would seek to listen to at home. A novelty live act thing to do once every few years on a lark, rather than a diet that brings pleasure at home.

Couple of good songs

I don't know what kind of circus pirate 50s surf music this album is going on about. Interesting? Certainly. Listenable? Debatable. I'm just confused about this one.

Tom waits is weird and talented, but this was not enjoyable to listen to.

2 stars because I love tom waits other stuff

Tom Waits har mye bra i repertoaret, men det her fikse æ ikke. Mislike dette av samme grunn som æ mislike Kaizers.

*Some of the alternative blues with the raspy voice is good *Overall I have never liked Waits' vocals and this does not help *At times if feels like an attempt to do a Trout Mask Replica type album, but its not even close to that level of interesting music

pretty funky. had a cool grumbly voice but didn’t love the lyrics.

This one seems too gruff and annoying for my taste.

Not my jam

Good

Bit unsettling to listen to. It clearly succeeds at what it’s going for, but I couldn’t get past Waits’s vocals. Sounds like Bruce Springsteen smoked a carton everyday for 5 years. Some of the songs themselves would be good had they been done by someone else. One song in particular I really liked but needed a cover version to be able to listen to.

A struggle for me. Feels a bit emperors new clothes - what am I missing? I generally don't listen to lyrics so the genius of the lyrics is mostly wasted on me.

Horrible mixing vocals are scary. Stop growling in my ear. Weirdly some songs are somewhat nice without vocals, while others are genuinely bothersome

Jockey Full of Bourbon and Downtown Train are two of the best written songs

Okay, Tom Waits

First track and I’m already thinking this is going to be a struggle to get through. Vocally unique - haunting, swamp-like, pirate-like in parts. ‘Jockey full of bourbon’ is actually quite good, good rhythm. Never heard anything like this in popular music, almost sounds like it should be in a film or a musical. The odd bit of beauty, for example ‘Time’ shining sun-like through this dark and gloomy cloud of an album.

Odd voice, some interesting songs but not really for me. Seems like a cool guy though, Irish wife was involved in his work taking a more odd turn.

strange theater performance music?? like i could see someone on stage performing these

Unique, but not for me. Favorite from album: Hang Down Your Head

I'm a pessimist so thijs album was half shit

My fourth Tom Waits album and today. Four. I appreciate that this guy was somehow influential and there are enjoyable elements in his weird, DIY, mouthful-of-nails-voiced schtick but nobody in this world is going to get through three or even two of his albums and think "shit, I simply CANNOT DIE WITHOUT HEARING MORE". I'm going to go back and listen to yesterday's Robbie Williams album again now. This is what you've done to me, Dimery. I hope you're happy.

Pretty spooky. This could have been higher if I cared to listen better.

I didn't realise Tom Waits wrote "Downtown Train", and there is a story going around that he might just have written it with the intention of having it covered by people with better singing voices than his own, so as to make lots of money. Whether that's true or not, it's the best song on this album, which otherwise can only appeal to listeners who have acquired the special taste for Waits' music, which I have not.

2/5

Tom may be Waiting for the Dogs in the Rain but holeh moleh did I hate the off-tune jazzy moments in this album, which were unfortunately quite a lot. The first and fourth songs had quite nice moments, and I think it was the fifth that was pretty alright, but there were bits that were just so annoying, it was crazy.

Sere muy cerrada de mente?? Que es esto??? Todas las canciones suenan a un viejo en un pelicula de disney contandote una historia, no entiendo el puntaje de aoty no se si sere yo wtf se siente como musica de halloween

Quite a weird album, sounds like it should be the soundtrack for The Nightmare Before Christmas. Unique sound and a unique voice. Couldn’t get into this one.

Tom Waits is ridiculous. Too complex to just enjoy in the background, too weird to legitimately say, "this is my thing".

Kind of not a great christmas eve album?

Quite an interesting concept album.

have listened before i can see how influential this is (was definitely hearing a lot of fetch the bolt cutters). i HATE his voice tho and so much of it feels so unlistenable. second half better than the first fav: hang down your head? i guess?

Rain Dogs is, by some distance, the best Tom Waits album I’ve listened to so far. That’s not to say it’s without its problems. There are some genuinely horrible moments, most notably Anywhere I Lay My Head, which really highlights everything I dislike about his voice. The remastered version’s take on Downtown Train is also particularly unpleasant and does the album no favours. That said, unlike other Tom Waits albums I’ve tried, Rain Dogs does at least show a much wider sense of variety. There’s more going on here musically, and for the first time I actually found myself enjoying a handful of tracks. Clap Hands, Diamonds and Gold, and Hang Down Your Head all stood out as songs I could appreciate in isolation. Even so, those highlights aren’t quite strong enough to pull me back for repeat listens. While this is clearly his most listenable album for me, it still doesn’t fully convert me. Favourite tracks: Diamonds and Gold, Clap Hands Least favourite tracks: Anywhere I Lay My Head; I also didn’t enjoy the title track Rain Dogs Album artwork: A cool and distinctive album cover

Carnivalesque

Tom Waits walks the plank. Yarr landlubbers, it be difficult to conjure up pirate themed stuff. Yarrr uhh maps and DOUBLOONS and scurrrvy yarr. Let's uhh rob a maritime vessel. Rain Dogs seems to ride that line between poetic, humour-tinged genius and hackneyed showtunes cut from high school productions of either Robin Hood or Peter Pan. The start of this album brought to mind the latter, yet as this kept going, the silly lyrics and absolute grit of some of the tracks brought me the old feeling that I was hoping for from a Tom Waits record. This feeling was short lived though. Many songs had me questioning how I'd ever enjoyed Tom Waits. I'd been entranced before, why now does this feel like a fitful dream? Some of this was great, the rest, underwhelmed me with its musicality, and overwhelmed me with its stench. Ol' Rain Dogs smelled a bit like wet dog, and I'm starting to think they should be outside hounds. I'll be nestled inside the Nighthawk diner listening to tongue-in-cheek avant-garde poetry, trying to forget the stinkier cuts on Rain Dogs. 2.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Tango Till They're Sore, Big Black Mariah, 9th & Hennepin, Walking Spanish

Listening to this felt like I was in The Nightmare Before Christmas, but also like I was at the sock hop idk; really liked Downtown Train though!

Det här albumet är curveball efter curveball. Vissa låtar fattar jag inte hur de kommit med på albumet och sen kommer Blind Love som är hur nice som helst. Högst oklart, helt enkelt.

I mina öron, extremt stökigt. Så svårt att lämna ett omdöme som faktiskt beskriver hur skivan låter. Man måste nog lyssna själv. För mig är det inte. Tom Waits har en cool röst och ett par, bluesiga låtar är najs. Även om jag inte lyssnar på genren. Men förutom dessa få spår, är det mesta väldigt okonventionellt och i mina öron experimentellt. Nae, sorry.

2.5 (53:46, 19 tracks, 1 is spoken word, 1985, 9th album) Experimental Weird genre, apparently I have to get used to Tom Waits as he has 5 albums on the list. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Some good instruments. Album takes from so many different genres it's hard to define. Waits voice is gravelly. The album is best described as avante garde. I like the song Downtown Train the most but it seems out of place on this otherwise weird album.

The circus sideshow aesthetic really fits. Still not my bag tho.

I feel like I'm the victim of an elaborate practical joke where people are pretending to like this shit. I don't understand how else Rain Dogs (or any Tom Waits album for that matter) can get a perfect score from pretty much every critic. Putting Tom's voice aside (which is hard to do), there's so many other annoying sounds throughout many of the tracks. The clown horns on Singapore and whatever is being used for the drums/percussion on Clap Hands, as an example. Most of the first half of the album is completely intolerable. I'm giving this a 2 rather than a 1, because I don't feel like it's entirely without it's merit. There's a few songs that are ok, and one which I thought was good ('Blind Love') - however, I will not be returning to any of them ever again.

Halloween spookies. Unique, but not my thing. 2*

Godawful.

if the drunken sailor from Drunken Sailor sampled the soundtrack to a point and click pirate adventure game for their beat poetry and ballads about the urban dispossessed of new york city. or like bruce springsteen gargled sand before his recordings. i listened to most of it while i was playing a cowboy game and it kinda fit ngl. favorite song is Hang Down Your Head

Yeah I'm Tom Wait-ing for a good song. Not many dogs out of 10 lizard wizards

Would not buy.

That was unexpectedly hard work.

i feel like this is supposed to be some kind of masterpiece but it's not for me sorry

tosi ainutlaatunen i'll give him that. must tuntuu etten ollu oikeessa mindsetissä tätä kuunnellessa koska tää on tosi spooky ja vähän triggeröi ehkä jotain ahdistuksen tunteita mussa mut vaan koska olin jo vähän ahistunu.. siisti ääni ja cool konsepti kuitenki!

Just about half-way through and not really enjoying it at all. It's not turn it off bad, just more of the same of based on the other 3 or 4 albums of his I've heard via this site. I fail to see why he's so highly regarded. This has got 2 stars written all over! It got marginally better in the second half, but not enough to swing it to 3 stars.

Listened with my teen. Within first 2-3 tracks he said "What genre is this?! Disney villain?!" And honestly I think he nailed it yet again.

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

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 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.

Distinct voice, some remind me of a dark carnival. I only liked the blues songs he does, not so much the eclectic talking ones

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

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.

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.

Definitely not my thing, felt like an album from Captain Hook at the bar in Shrek 2

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.

too wierd

“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

5 Some days I love tTom Waits nd some days I don't want to listen to him

Never been a fan of Tom Waits. I appreciate him as an artist, but he’s not for me.

I think I just don’t like his voice and tempo

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

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

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

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.

Ziemliches durcheinander an Musik. Manches ok, manches nervig. 2/5

2 stars. I like his voice but didn't care about the lyrics or sound.

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.

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.

i dont get it at all. tough listen

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

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

I can't get past the voice.

Pretty terrible and long.

Non un gran fan del blues ma c’è qualche chicca

Why does this guy bave 3 albums on this list? This one is marginally better than the other 2 but the bar is pretty low. Just one of these albums would be enough to explain this guy

Couldn't get into this

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.

it was a bad day and an even worse album