Customer Reviews

Big Time

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Big Time is a satisfying, though not revelatory, live album from Tom Waits. It features mainly a selection of the best of his material from Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, and Frank's Wild Years, as well as a few tracks from earlier albums. Waits is an artist who has rarely performed live (especially in later years, and especially this material), and it is quite a treat for fans to hear him live. The performances here are all well, but they generally stick fairly close to their studio counterparts, and only a few are revelatory. In contrast with his earlier live shows, Tom rarely talks to the audience here - when he does, it's for a totally wry aside that you'll love and treasure. As anyone who has heard any of Wait's music since the early 80's, it's quite complex music and uses an extremely odd and unique array of instrumentation. You'll be quite surprised to learn, then, that the band that Tom has assembled here reproduces these songs in all their glory quite well. That said, though, there is also that fact's counterpart to be said about the album: since these songs aren't that much different from the original versions - aside from (perhaps unintentional) differing vocal inflections from Tom - you probably won't want to pick up this album unless you are a die-hard fan. A couple of the versions here are definitive, and an immense improvement over the studio versions (Way Down In The Hole), and there is also the previously unavailable studio recording, Falling Down, stuck into the middle of the album. I recommend getting all of Tom's excellent studio albums first, and then picking this up later if you want more.

From a Tom Waits junky, I can tell you: this is his best album ever. It's culled from live performances in Dublin, Stockholm, Berlin, etc. Tom's traveling band of virtuosos includes guitar-sorcerer Marc Ribot. (Dont miss his dissonent solo on "16 Shells"). Not a bad song in the bunch, and every one is far, far better than the studio version it covers. Tom Waits live-- fat city, satori, numero uno.

This isn't Tom Wait's best album, but it is a terrific introduction to his music - a mostly live set of early and middle era songs, punctuated with a little hilarious commentary. Practically every song has a throw-away phrase that would inspire an entire album or short story from any other writer. The music alternates between jagged and gorgeous, cynical and sentimental, lush and spiky. I sing my girlfriend to sleep with "Johnsburg, Illinois", and then lie awake myself thinking about the implications of "16 Shells from a 30-06" or "Telephone Call from Istanbul." Great stuff in its own right, but it also makes you want to get the original albums to hear where the songs come from.

From a Tom Waits junky, I can tell you: this is his best album ever. It's culled from live performances in Dublin, Stockholm, Berlin, etc. Tom's traveling band of virtuosos includes guitar-sorcerer Marc Ribot. (Dont miss his dissonent solo on "16 Shells"). Not a bad song in the bunch, and every one is far, far better than the studio version it covers. Tom Waits live-- fat city, satori, numero uno.

Just happened to see the Big Time video on TV; had not heard of Tom Waits before that moment. The video (taken from live concerts over 30 years ago) isn't available, but should be reproduced. The CD is great, and I found myself dancing to quite a few of his songs, which is something I haven't done in ages. I'd like to hear more Tom Waits, just not sure which of his many CDs to purchase next. Suggestions appreciated.

Tom Waits is enigmatic, odd, particular, singular and just completely awesome. He also happens to be an artist thate excels live even more so than recorded and a Tom show has to be quite the experience. Enter Big Time... which is probably one of the best live compilation albums I've ever heard. The quality is good but the overall delivery is just a thing to revel in because Tom is first and foremost an entertainer and he takes songs that are already elite in and of themselves, and gives them a bite that just makes you smile. From start to finish, his gravelly tones dance along arrangements that really do seem like a genre gumbo fit for any music buff eager to listen to a little of everything at once.

This Tom Waits album was the first I ever heard and I still think it's the best.