Having trouble with this myself, so as most users of this board clearly have good taste, i would like to hear views on the TW best three albums.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-10-23 16:34 by Captain Jack Sparrow.

Best 3 are in my book: Rain Dogs, Nighthawks At The Diner (Live) and The Black Rider. If you won't let me pick a live album, then you should look into Frank's Wild Years... Happy to help when it comes to Tom Waits. :-)

JumpingKentFlash

Closing Time (the one and only album he actually sings on, beautifully too!).
Small Change
Heart Of Saturday Night



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2006-10-23 16:53 by DandelionPowderman.

I would say SwordfishTrombone is my favorite (even though it's really short).
Then I would say Alice & Small Change.

It's so tough with Waits, it's really like a 12-way tie for best album - I would have an easier time picking his 3 best decades.

Other favorites include: Rain Dogs, Black Rider, Blue Valentine & the fantastic Frank's Wild Years.

The 2nd one is 'Heart of saturday night' I think

My faves :

Rain Dogs
Heartattack and Vine
Small Change

The Asylum Years is a nice round up of his early albums

Kent - 'Franks Wild Years' is a studio album, not a live one. The live record (and video) from that tour is called "Big Time".

Gazza Wrote:
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> Kent - 'Franks Wild Years' is a studio album, not
> a live one. The live record (and video) from that
> tour is called "Big Time".


I know. I was referring to "Nighthawks At The Diner" as the live album. If I couldn't be allowed to pick that one, he should take "Frank's Wild Years". But that was until you made me aware that I forgot his two first albums. "The Heart Of Saturday Night" and "Closing Time" are both very good. I'd might even pick "Closing Time" instead of "Frank's Wild Years". Those first two albums are very good. Not in the same style as his stuff from later in the seventies. These are more romantic and I love it.

JumpingKentFlash

'Nighthawks' is worth buying just for the between song monologues....theyre hilarious!

Gazza Wrote:
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> 'Nighthawks' is worth buying just for the between
> song monologues....theyre hilarious!


Oh yes. You're absolutely right. The intro for "Better Off Without A Wife": "So this is kind of a little anthem...." Pure Tom Waits. :-)

JumpingKentFlash

MULE VARIATION is like a Tom Waits Greatest Hits package but with all new cohesive songs. It touches on all his gifts. The piano ballads, and the wierd stuff are all here. It's the best.

I like Blue Valentine the best, then Rain Dogs and Mule Variations, but like mentioned above, there are maybe 15 great albums and only a few average ones.
Rain Dogs is the one to get because of Keith's great guitar on "Union Square"

Also the movie "Big Time" is really worth seeing, especially in a cinema.

Tough, just picking one, but he's never made a bad album.


I'll go for the Raindogs trilogy - Swordfishtrombones, Raindogs and Frank's ild Years.

But there's a lot to be said for Blue Valentines, Heartattack & Vine, Blood Money and Alice.

poor immigrant Wrote:
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> MULE VARIATION is like a Tom Waits Greatest Hits
> package but with all new cohesive songs. It
> touches on all his gifts. The piano ballads, and
> the wierd stuff are all here. It's the best.


Very well put. I would say if you could only have one TW album this is the one.

his upcoming 3cd set promises to be quite interesting....

I have all his stuff but can't remember all the names - there's a lot of CD's in his name - man's been working HARD for decades. Get the best of that covers the early years, one best of that covers the newer years (is Mule Variation the one?) and then throw in RAINDOGS and SWORDFISHTROMEBONES and /or the Live one BIG TIME. Start with all the "BEST OF" stuff....He's done ALOT of soundtracks too I believe...

My absolute fave is Frank's Wild Years, then Rain Dogs and The Black Rider. Of course, SwordFish is a must in any CD collection as well.

Mathijs

Mule Variations
Swordfishtrombones
Small Change (for his early style)

...for the soundtrack I'd go for "One From The Heart" and in the live department "Nighthawks at the Diner"

StonesTod Wrote:
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> his upcoming 3cd set promises to be quite
> interesting....

Here, listen for yourself (scroll almost all the way down).

[zinhof.blog.hr]

It is tough to pick only three. Frank's Wild Years is my favorite. I'm suprised nobody mentioned Bone Machine, with the fabulous colab with Keith, "That Feel". Also throw in a vote for Swordfishtrombones.

Nighthawks
Bone Machine (KSIE, you are at least a post ahead of me) &
Heart of Saturday Night is tied with about everything else he's ever done.

He's great, the king of lonesome weepers and midnight creepers as Ms. Brennan once said.

Rain Dogs

Rain Dogs is probably his most accessible album, for sure. His best? Hmmmm - almost by definition, Waits isn't accessible, so I'd have to ponder that some more....

can't explain why.....but Raindogs takes ya into Waits' beer-soaked subterranean world full of characters.....but alot of his work does that too.........the songs are gripping

Sure no expert, but I reckon I agree with Dandelion about Closing Time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-10-23 23:28 by Baboon Bro.

That's why, in the end, you gotta go for the "BEST OF" collections - the man has just got way too much work out there to pick 3 random albums (even though my first one was RAIN DOGS but I had a friend that had the earlier stuff so I was already familiar. He has AT LEAST 30 CD's out so you gotta start with BEST OF to get different tastes of different periods of his work...some start getting pretty "out there" (abstract)isn't BONE MACHINE one of those? Check out TOWER RECORDS.COM....

Rain Dogs without a doubt and Alice but also Real Gone's good. Both Asylum Years and Beatiful Maladies (Island Years) are good collections as well.

Rain Dogs, then maybe Swordfish Trombones, Frank Wild Years. I say this because I also like Mule Variations and the 1974 radio show that was released a few years ago.

So we agree to dissagree.

Seriously, thanks ya all.

I love the Bone Machine album.

Beaver Wrote:
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> Rain Dogs without a doubt and Alice but also Real
> Gone's good. Both Asylum Years and Beatiful
> Maladies (Island Years) are good collections as
> well.


I do think that - while "Real Gone" is a fantastic album - it's not the place to start. I think you have to like TW beforehand to really get this album?

Personally I used to love the old stuff - "Heart of Saturday Night" was the first - but someone slipped me "Swordfish" - and this was like a different man -and then not - somehow.

But it took me a while to get into it..but when I got hooked I was like a lifelong love or fetish or addiction - give me more, give me more

"You can buy me a drink and I'll tell you what I see/I'll give you a bargain from the end of a maniac's dream"

So0000 on the considered advice received i have just ordered Franks Wild years, Bone Machine, The Black Rider and Rain Dogs to add to existing stock of Small Change, Asylum Years, Swordfish, The Heart of Saturday and Mule.

I should be well provided for for some time.