CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Rain Dogs

by: Tom Waits

Release Date June 15, 1990
I consider "Rain Dogs", "Swordfishtrombones", and "Heartattack and Vine" the three core albums that any Tom Waits fan must have. While his earlier albums have an an aesthetic that some fans enjoy--I don't as much--these three show him finding his new footing as an artist. They are the three that I simply could not do without. The subsequent albums are treasures as well, but are, to a certain degree, fine tuning of his style, with a few variations. "Rain Dogs" contains a perfect balance of sentimentality and noir callousness in brilliant poetry that any artist can achieve once in a lifetime if they're lucky.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Closing Time

by: Tom Waits

Release Date October 12, 1990
This will be the fourth time I buy this album. I keep playing this until it falls apart or I lose it or break it. This turned me on to Waits's genius!

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Small Change

by: Tom Waits

Release Date October 25, 1990
This album commands your full attention and transports you to a world of Boozers, Prostitutes, Gamblers, and the true "Underbelly" of society.
"Invitation to the Blues" and "Jitterbug Boy" are the albums highlights.
Listening to this collection of somber and morose selections actually bring you into these songs ,which are actually like short little stories.
They rip your heart out and force you to visualize characters that only Tom Waits can introduce you to. Lets face it, Tom Waits is not for everyone but for anyone who enjoys great melodies and songs that tell stories, this is a must. This is nothing short than a wonderful album and a true piece of art.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Swordfishtrombones

by: Tom Waits

Release Date June 15, 1990
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.

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CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]

by: Tom Waits

Release Date December 05, 2006
This was my 1st time using another seller for a used item (CD box set) and even if one of the cd is showing finger prints they are playing ok. Shipping was not as fast as an Amazon purchase.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Franks Wild Years

by: Tom Waits

Release Date June 15, 1990
As I have surpassed 700 cds in my library, I thought it was time to add some Tom Waits. I started with Closing Time and absolutely love it, but Frank's Wild Years is one of the WORST cds I have ever purchased. No soul, hokey tunes, not something I like at all. Perhaps Waits fans would like this but, as a Waits novice, I had to give this a second chance and I dislike it even more than when I first listened. This cd will go into my recycle pile. No camparison to Closing Time, absolutely none.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Bone Machine

by: Tom Waits

Release Date September 08, 1992
One day in 1992 a couple friends and I were browsing through albums at our local record store when Bone Machine started blaring over the store's stereo. We all stopped and just listened to a couple tracks before asking the clerk who it was. Each one of us walked out with this CD in hand. Sixteen years later this is still one of my favorite albums and it gets regular rotation at home, in the car, and at work.

If you've never heard Tom Waits before, listen to the samples first. If you can handle his voice this is a must have.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

The Heart of Saturday Night

by: Tom Waits

Release Date October 25, 1990
The Heart Of Saturday Night gets a curve. I'll knock it up a letter grade because it's about one of my favorite subjects: The night. Specifically, it's a grizzled ode to wakeful Americana, to nights spent unblinking among seedy bars, 24 hour diners, and twisting city streets. It's like Edward Hooper's Nighthawks set to music, a work of art too spooked and lonely to sleep. It's an aesthetic that brims with desolation, catharsis, bitterness, and humor. It's artful and poetic, and it's also hauntingly sad.

If it hadn't encapsulated that image so perfectly, this album would have received a paltry three and a half stars. It would've lost that star for its occasional bursts of melodrama, for its smattering of imperfect songs ("Shiver Me Timbers" is weighed down by cliches, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Mule Variations

by: Tom Waits

Release Date April 27, 1999
This album is worth buying just for House Where Nobody Lives. This is the kind of music I think you need to just sit down and listen to. Don't do anything else - just put on some good headphones or settle down in front of the stereo and enjoy Waits' songwriting.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Nighthawks at the Diner

by: Tom Waits

Release Date October 25, 1990
i'll put it plain and simple if your a waits fan then you need this album. this is waits at his most charismatic telling stories and jokes while delivering beautiful music its a wonderful experince.