Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones

The first album of the loose trilogy that also includes Rain Dogs and Franks Wild Years, Swordfishtrombones marked a radical departure for Waits, whose avant-garde ambitions became plain not so much in his lyrics or subject matter--the songs here deal, as do his older albums, with hard life on the wrong side of the tracks and dreams of escape and transcendence--but in the music, a sound somewhere between German cabaret music from between the wars and contemporary Manhattan rush hour. Odd time signatures, unusual instrumentation (glass harmonicas and brake drums, among others), and Waits's barked vocals make this one of his most individualistic and challenging albums. --Daniel Durchholz Amazon.com essential recording

Has to be one of pop music's most underrated albums

I used to love this album in the late 80s and early 90s, but recently started listening to it again after a long hiatus (my wife hates TW, it ended up). Let me say this album is something of a minor miracle. It's hard to describe how evocative it is, but there is something about the coupling of the musical production and the lyrical imagination that is pure magic. When Waits creates the character of the American soldier on shore leave, who talked baseball with a lieutenant and shot billiards with a midget until the rain stopped, who bought a razor and some gum and knife and a t-shirt with horses on the front, the ambiance is enhanced by the clinging cowbells, thumping bass and other musical innovations that bring this scene to an almost theatrical life.

Unlike today's iPod culture which encouraged the consumption of "singles" and "favorite hits" without any kind of extended context, this album should be consumed and enjoyed in its entirety to get the full effect. "Frank's Wild Years", "Gin Soaked Boy", "In the Neighborhood" etc certainly hold up on their own, but as an ensemble they are tantamount to major artistic achievment. May 6, 2008

Swordfishtrombones

Tom Waits-Swordfishtrombones *****

My relationship with Swordfishtrombones is as follows; there are days where I will feel that this album is Waits' best, then there are other days where I think it is just another one of Waits' great albums but certainly not is best. regardless of which day it is I do feel that it is among the elite in Waits' cannon. If it is not the best it is for sure one of the best he ever released, and is with out a doubt the second best he released during the 1980s, right behind the amazing Rain Dogs.

This was a departure for Waits away from his almost crooner style he had created for himself. During the 1970's he was very much the musical equivalent of Charlie Chaplin. A tramp if you will. The lyrics are still the same; that whole beat writer meats Bob Dylan in the town cafe, but it is the music, the junkyard flavor of instrumentation that is so different. Instead of the basic jazzy out fit he lobbied for break drums, and glass harmonicas to name just a few. But more then that is the strange time signatures he used that would make even the great Frank Zappa scratch his head in amusement.

Songs like the albums opener 'Underground' and 'In The Neighborhood' come like a complete culture shock almost to the fans of old Waits. The amazing title track sounds fresh and new yet it still holds on to the Waits material of the 1970's. 'Gin Soaked Blues' is a rough electric blues, while 'Soldiers Things' is downright melancholy. 'Franks Wild Years' was a sign of this and the next two albums, and 'Down, Down, Down' is pure bliss. But perhaps it is the genius of '16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six' that most makes the album. Eventually the great Bob Seger would cover this but not to the same accord. Waits' original version is cool, and chilling. The strongest track off the album easily.

Swordfishtrombones was Waits' tribute album to the great Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. He did a swell job I must say. This is truly for those looking for something a little different but still intelligent. Swordfishtrombones is a true classic. April 17, 2008

Robots

I got this CD because i love the movie robots and i learned that "underground" is from this CD, his voice is so unique and every song is different. January 12, 2008

Heller. Say it with me.

I've had a cassette copy of this album since college. From day one it was noisy and scratchy, I take a pervese pleasure in the idea that Tom would almost prefer it that way. After being a companion on countless roadtrips the tape had become so worn that I had to replace it. The CD was like hearing it for the first time, there are sonic nuances I've missed for years. This is an iconic work from an American original. The dark pictures he paints in songs like Shore Leave and Soldier's Things are bracing and bitterly refreshing in an age of increasingly shallow and meatless pop culture prefab "musicians". June 13, 2007

Tom rules!

Tom is like a part of your genetic makeup, you either have it or you don't, some try to suppress it like curly hair but it's always there. Anyway the symptoms are you love everything this man says or does and forgive all if ever you need to, watch down by law or listen to his interviews, I dont get to have many emotions being an office worker but the closest I came was when I found out Tom had been on tour and I missed it, worst day of my life. January 5, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...