# What are your favorite Tom Waits albums?



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Heartattack and Vine. Closing Time.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Mule Variations. Not played any Tom Waits for years, tbh.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Merl said:


> Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Mule Variations. Not played any Tom Waits for years, tbh.


I don't enjoy a lot of the Swordfishtrombone and beyond as much as the two I mentioned. Some of it does it for me though. I find a lot of that stuff too goofy.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Tom Waits is a top ~10 artist of mine. Bone Machine is my #1, then I have four others I feel are very close in quality: Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, Mule Variations, and Orphans. While I also really enjoy Waits's early material, to me he elevated to a new level with his post-Swordfish era with much more originality and unique artistry. I also think the quality of his oeuvre is remarkably high. The only sub-par works are, IMO, The Black Rider and his soundtracks, but pretty much everything else I'd rate at least a 7/10 or higher. 



Captainnumber36 said:


> I don't enjoy a lot of the Swordfishtrombone and beyond as much as the two I mentioned. Some of it does it for me though. I find a lot of that stuff too goofy.


A lot of it is very performative, no doubt, but I love it. His experimentation with sound and production is extremely creative, no matter how "goofy" he can get, and even in the goofiness I tend to hear the various folk roots. I've often said that Waits is like the carnival funhouse mirror version of Bob Dylan. Both have a mystically-tinged sense of archetypally ancient folk songwriting, but Waits's is wrapped up in his experimentation with styles, sonics, and personas.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> Tom Waits is a top ~10 artist of mine. Bone Machine is my #1, then I have four others I feel are very close in quality: Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, Mule Variations, and Orphans. While I also really enjoy Waits's early material, to me he elevated to a new level with his post-Swordfish era with much more originality and unique artistry. I also think the quality of his oeuvre is remarkably high. The only sub-par works are, IMO, The Black Rider and his soundtracks, but pretty much everything else I'd rate at least a 7/10 or higher.
> 
> A lot of it is very performative, no doubt, but I love it. His experimentation with sound and production is extremely creative, no matter how "goofy" he can get, and even in the goofiness I tend to hear the various folk roots. I've often said that Waits is like the carnival funhouse mirror version of Bob Dylan. Both have a mystically-tinged sense of archetypally ancient folk songwriting, but Waits's is wrapped up in his experimentation with styles, sonics, and personas.


Good call with Bone Machine. I do love that one too. Edit: I still find it too silly in sound, even though some of the lyrics strike me as brilliant. That's how I view Tom's late period.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I have seven of TW's albums so I'm not exactly qualified to judge compared to his more ardent fans but of those the ones I play most are _Heartattack and Vine_, _Swordfishtrombones_ and _Mule Variations_. The last one I bought was the three-disc _Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and B*******s_ but I haven't played it often enough to rate it properly, or even whether to class it as one album or three as each disc is discernibly different from the others.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I have half a dozen or so, but Rain Dogs is the keeper.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I think I have them all and Franks Wild Years is the one I call my favorite, but I like them all <3


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Rain Dogs
Heart Attack and Vine
The Heart of Saturday Night
Alice
Blue Valentine


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

I used to enjoy Tom's music somewhat but his ringmaster gimmick has become tiresome. His tunes are now often bereft of significant ideas.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Red Terror said:


> I used to enjoy Tom's music somewhat but his ringmaster gimmick has become tiresome. His tunes are now often bereft of significant ideas.


Ya. I used to be sold on his more experimental stuff, but now I find it gimmicky, or not truly a beautiful idea. I was more enamored with the originality than moved deeply intellectually and emotionally.

My favorite albums of his are Closing Time and Heart of Saturday Night. The two early years albums are great too imo.

I suppose Bad as Me, Real Gone, Blood Money, Mule Variations are amongst my favorites of the more experimental albums.


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