New Tom Waits release next week

[BarryL]

It got the big pan in a local paper here. Reviewer said it sounded like he recorded the vocals on a cassette tape in the trunk of his car. He gave it one star out of four. Anyone heard anything about his one?

There was some interesting material on Mule Variations. Were his next two CDs any good? Have they stood the test of time?

I wish he'd go back to his Asylum years and those lovely heartwrenching ballads and blues.

[nobody]

I liked his last couple, actually I like all his stuff. Complaining about unclear or rough vocals kinda seems to me to miss the point of a Tom Waits record. I heard him do one song off the new one on Letterman a couple nights ago and it sounded good to me.

If it's a recording problem, that would be a drag, but panning the whole record because he wasn't fond of the way the vocals were recorded seems a bit harsh to me.

He put out two at once a while back, the better of which to me was Alice, which keeps holding up well to me. I tyend to think much of his music is so unique that it has a certain timeless quality. It's sure not the sound of the moment and never has been.

I like the ballad stuff he used to do, Blue Valentine is a great record for Tom Waits ballads. But, I don't really expect him to go backwards.

OK...I'm rambling now, but I am looking forward to the new one.

[N. Abstentia]

Mikey Teutel will be extatic to hear that :)

[JDaniel]

I too caught him on Lettermen. I liked the songs, but he's definitely got "his" style. My wife couldn't stand him. But then again, she doesn't much like it when we're in the car and I put in a Guy Clark or Townes Van Zandt disc.

I couldn't help noticing how much he looked like Cosmo Kramer.

Don't think I'll be buying his new release though. Too many others on my buy list (currently at 17 albums and counting).

JD