What does /mu/ think of this LP?
Unfortunately it's not trip hop
I like it but I think Tom Waits overall is a little overhyped. Nowhere near as experimental as he's said to be.
>>63119966
listen to his later stuff if you want more experimental stuff, this is one of his transitional albums
but why the FUCK would you complain that a singer-songwriter isn't "Experimental" enough? especially on an album that's praised for it's lyrics, vocals, production, and instrumentation.
basically you're a huge pleb because you don't even know what experimental means
fuck you
>>63120034
I've listened to all of his albums. Experimental rock is often the main genre descriptor for his post (and including)-Swordfishtrombones albums.
not my cup of tea
>>63120091
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov7-Ujz1ecs
so in what ways is this not "experimental"?
>>63120157
I said he was nowhere near as experimental as people made him out to be, I never said he wasn't experimental. I said this in my very first post.
But compared to an actual experimental composer like La Monte Young it's nothing.
>>63120091
That's just because his music is difficult to classify. 'Experimental' is simple short-hand.
>>63119966
he's Captain Beefheart-Lite.
>>63120228
you are undoubtedly the worst kind of person.
>>63120091
Not him, but why would you complain that a musician doesn't conform to whatever labels other people apply to them?
It's not Tom's fault people call his music experimental and apparently attach certain expectations to it.
>>63120228
>actual experimental composer
>La Monte Young
so you're a shitposter, then
that or not smart at all
first off, comparing an avant garde composer to a pop musician based on how "experimental" they are is retarded
second of all, you're confusing formal experimentation with practical experimentation. basically, you're not even listening to the music, you're trying to decide how "experimental" something is by focusing on broad aspects of it that have nothing to do with what Waits actually does.
finally, Young is hardly "experimental", he's crossover mainstream avant garde trash
>>63120228
So what? It's not fair to criticize an artist solely because they don't meet your expectations of 'experimental.' It sounds like your problem isn't with Waits, but with people who mis-characterize his work, which, I admit, there's a lot of.
>>63120253
Surface level comparison
>>63120269
Waits has confirmed to most expectations about him though. There hasn't been a single surprise on any of his albums since Swordfishtrombones.
>>63120378
>Surface level comparison
Waits has described listening to TMR as one of the pivotal points in his evolution as an artist.
does /mu/ hate rain dogs now or something?
>>63120475
>One person =/= all of mu
>>63120496
Show me the post where I said I hated Rain Dogs.
>>63120516
I don't think you hate Rain Dogs, but you're the only one in the thread who even criticized it and some anon started making generalizations.
>>63120390
confirmed for knowing NOTHING about his career
>an off-broadway urban musical with a full length soundtrack
>a brechtian theatrical adaptation of a german folktale
>a massively stripped down morbid blues album
>a stomping gospel recording with an eclectic assortment of esoteric instruments including mexican guitars, blues harp, archaic keyboards, turntables, and a turkish banjo
>an album of lusty, insane ballads of obsession and lunacy based on the life of Lewis Carrol heavily influenced by traditional pop
>an eclectic album based on a performance of the famed modernist play Wozyeck heavily influenced by early jazz and eastern european folk musics
>a conventional return to form album to please old fans
>a TRIPLE CD arranged into experimental compositions, rock songs, and ballads
how could that possibly be your complain about him. what artists do you like who include surprises on their albums?
>>63120596
Almost all of his music can be described under the same Americana, blues/country/folk-rock, jazz influenced description. I'll give you that everything you've listed is interesting but no, none of that seemed surprising when listening to it. I'll also give you Real Gone's hip-hop influences as something of a surprise, yet you didn't even mention that in your post. Orphans is literally made from outtakes and songs he wrote that didn't make it onto other albums.
A jump from something like Blonde on Blonde to John Wesley Harding was more a surprise of an artist moving from sound to sound within their own style.
its p good
not his best work and not as great as some critics would have you believe but definitely a solid album
>>63120157
Damn this is dope. I always assumed the black rider was kind of a minor work, but I'll have to give it a listen
I like swordfishtrombones better desu
>>63119926
This album is so fuckin good.
Tom delivers every song with such a charisma and personality and his arrangements(especially the guitar and jazz instrumentation,)landscapes of the dirty and morbid,a pupil of Beefheart and his masterpiece.
>>63120920
It's actually pretty great. Very underrated imo
>>63119926
love it, ironically enough im listening to bone machine while writing this
>>63119926
One of my favorites of his. That being said, I think the last 1/3rd of the album is a little weaker than the first 2/3rds.
>>63120920
The Black Rider is great. So are the bootleg demos of the album (which is always the case with Waits, his demos are always great)
>>63120253
That's a thing you've heard other people say and it's patently wrong
>>63120808
>>63120390
Swordfishtrombones in itself was a huge surprise in relation to his career before that album. It seems unfair to say there are no surprises after that, because swordfishtrombones made it characteristic of Tom Waits to change up his sound. Looking at it from that perspective, yeah it's not that surprising that Tom Waits would start writing music for avant garde german plays, because Waits often likes to change up his sound. We can't really say it's a "surprise" or that it's unexpected, because that's what he does. Also, saying his discography is generally accurately described as "Americana, blues/country/folk-rock and jazz" (which is a pretty wide net, by the way) is kind of like saying Bob Dylan's discography is generally accurately described as folk, rock and country. It's pretty much true but misses the point.
It's alright, but definitely better than Bad As Me
>>63121318
you don't like the last 1/3? That's funny because for me, the last four or five songs are some of the best, I mean, Blind Love, Walking Spanish, Downtown Train, and Anywhere I Lay My Head are among the best on the whole album.
anyways great last reply, I didn't feel like responding to that guy but you said everything I could
>>63120808
>Orphans is literally made from outtakes and songs he wrote that didn't make it onto other albums.
Also this isn't really true. It's not just songs that didn't meet some kind of standard or weren't good enough to "make it" onto an album. Most were from side projects, or various, compilation albums, collaborations, b-sides to singles, or the movie Shrek (seriously).
>>63121520
It's weird because one of my favorite things in music, is when a non-country artists does a country song/album (like Ween, Bob Dylan or Beck) but I really don't like Blind love. Walking Spanish is good but I think it's weaker than some other songs on the album. Downtown Train and Anywhere I Lay My Head are obviously great, so I guess it's not accurate to say the last 1/3rd. Really it's just Blind love that throws off the momentum for me.
>>63121629
I never understood what people see in Downtown Train. Sure, he sings it with passion, but to me it's still the worst part of the album. The arrangement is nothing special and it's not very inventive, and I don't mean this in the "everything must be progressive hurr" way, it just doesn't make me feel anything.
My favorite is Clap Hands. Maybe my favorite song ever.
>>63119926
just listened for the first time a few days ago. really great.
>>63122012
It seems like kind of a tradition for Tom to include a song that Springsteen could hang his hat on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-ROB8kI_fw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPnOEiehONQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg2SBPaxoe8
>>63122171
Wait
I didn't mention Springsteen
But I wrote Springsteen in there
Until I chose to rephrase what I said
What the fuck is going on?
Also what is your favorite from Rain Dogs?
>>63120596
these sound interesting, would you mind pointing out which albums match each description? I'm trying to get into him
>>63122277
Probably Jockey Full of Bourbon, Time or Anywhere I Lay My Head
>>63122298
I'm not him but:
I think the off-broadway thing was a production he did called "Franks Wild Years". I forget if the album of the same name came before or after the play.
The german stuff he mentioned is The Black Rider, Alice and Blood Money, all of which were collaborations with a german playwright.
The stripped down blues album is Mule Variations
The "lusty, insane ballads" one was also Alice
>>63122012
It's not just that he sings it with passion, it's that the passion he puts into that song is so intense, genuine, and inescapable, it makes me choke down my feelings when i hear it, and the arrangement is pretty much perfect. i think it's very easy to be "experimental" but very difficult to know when to be conventional.
>>63123353
I just don't feel it. I'm pretty jealous. Downtown Train is the only song I tend to skip on the album.
>>63119926
it's great
