Big Time

Tom Waits | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 15, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B000001FTL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,815 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this 1988 live album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the uninitiated, June 3, 2001

By 

James J. Lundy Jr. (Charleston, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Time (Audio CD)

If you're new to Tom Waits, skip over this CD for a while. If you've lived with Tom Waits's songs for some time you might be ready to hear this eclectic, bizarre, and energetic collection of live performances. Some of the songs are almost totally reinvented - recognizable only by the lyrics (Red Shoes, Big Black Mariah). Some are played exactly the same as the original recording with sometimes better results (Ruby's Arms) and sometimes inferior results (Johnsburg, Illinois, Train Song). There's also the delightfully strange and funny pre-song banter and story telling that he's well known for. For me, the absolute highlight of the CD is the song "Falling Down" which is the only studio track and ranks among the best songs of his entire career. It's oddly buried in the middle of the CD without fanfare, but to me it's a major selling point of the CD. Recently, I viewed the video "Big Time" (long out of print and a collectors item - check Ebay -- they go for over a hundred bucks!) and was quite surprised to find that there is very little overlap between the movie and the CD. Even some cases where the same song is on both, it is a different version. I guess that's just one more quirk in this quirky CD.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars will you sell me one of those - if I shave my head?, March 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Time (Audio CD)

Tom Waits challenges both the insane and those that stare down the barrel of sanity. His albums are, without a doubt, pieces of art - and this is no exception. Some highlights:

1. 16 Shells ... I never really cared for the studio version but this live take gives it a new sense of energy especially with Tom's howling at the end and the excellent guitar solo.

6. Yesterday Is Here ... A song I loved off of Frank's Wild Years and a song I was pleased to see included in this live album. One of Tom's most underated tunes in my opinion.

7. Way Down in the Hole ... You can't beat Tom getting religious.

8. Falling Down ... A non-live track which is a great extra. Totally Tom.

12. Train Song ... I believe this song could sum up Waits.

14. Ruby's Arms ... Big crowd favorite here. I believe it's just Waits and his piano. Truly beautiful.

15. Telephone Call from Istanbul ... Even though it does not have the organ solo like the studio version does, this live take is truly crazy and one helluva song to drive to when 3 a.m. rolls around.

16. Clap Hands ... Another song that was re-energized. I believe that's a toy ray gun I hear ... hmmm.

You could probably say something about every song on here but since there's a limit of words. I'd better stop now. Cheers to Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan - you are original and distinct. I can't wait 'til the two new Waits albums, Alice and Blood Money, are released in May. Thanks.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some terrific reinterpretations of some of his best songs, October 1, 1998

By 

W. A. Norris (Redmond, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Time (Audio CD)

While some songs here like "Time" sound like the studio versions, there are a number that are dramatically different here. "Telephone Call from Istanbul" comes about as close to a kick-out-the-stops rock song here as Waits has ever done (in this case, this is a good thing), "Straight to the Top" gets a simpler, percussion-driven arrangement, and "Way Down in the Hole" is really brought to life with Waits' hellfire-preacher improv lines. "Strange Weather," IMHO one of his best songs, appears for the first time here.