Customer Reviews

The Black Rider (1993 Studio Cast)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The song "November" is a kind of microcosm for this album, which evokes skeletal trees, looming clouds, piles of dead leaves, and harrowing winds. A post-halloween, pre-dead of winter atmosphere pervades this record. While Tom Waits is a great original talent, with piles and piles of brilliant songs, he tends to "show his hand" too much, so that his act is revealed as just that--an act. And since most of his material depends on you buying into his persona(e), sometimes you come away unconvinced.

Not here; and ironically, this is music for a stage production. But I don't think I've ever heard Waits quite this confident in his powers and so at home with his considerable gifts for settings, lyrics, and performance. In the instrumental "Russian Theme," when he "counts off," you can see him flailing his arms at the musicians to keep the music going. The recurrent themes of impending death are perfectly complimented by gleeful black humor; lyrically and sonically, The Black Rider holds together perfectly as a unified work.

it makes this album amazing and make sense. The show has only played in the US once (this past fall in San Francisco)-- so it is hard to see, but if you ever get the chance you should. It is really an amazing collaboration of three brilliant artists. Like any musical cast recording, the record is hard to understand the full story or make perfect sense of why the songs sound the way they do when you can't see the visual or hear the rest of the text. Because I did, I love the album. I can understand why you might not get into it if you haven't seen it, but I think approaching it like you would a sountrack to a musical is helpful.

And just an FYI -- it's the story of Faust told in a crazy freak show kind of world. The hunting and the bullets comes in because the devil can give you 12 magic bullets that will always hit their target if you sell your soul. Plus it ties in in a creepy way to heroine and Burrough's (who wrote the text) shooting his wife.

I was always of the opinion that Tom's years at Island Records were his most ingenius (though this year's double release of "Alice" and "Blood Money" quite possibly changed all that), and I have always disagreed with the folks (well-intentioned though they may be) that say "Bone Machine" was the last "true" Tom Waits album before the release of "Mule Variations." I personally see Tom all over this album. Granted, I did not have the privelege of actually seeing a stage production of "The Black Rider," and the only things I know about the plot I got from the liner notes. Still, I think something in this play must have touched Tom's soul in a profound way. To chart this album on the Waits map, I'd put it about halfway between his wild and ambitious late-80s project "Franks Wild Years" and his just-released tearfully touching opus "Alice." It is, of course, no coincidence that those two albums were also the results of theatric endeavours. Still, "The Black Rider" is unique in that the story itself was not a product of Waits's imagination, yet he seems to relate to it almost as if it were. "November," "That's the Way," and "Briar and the Rose" lend touches of real beauty to this album. "Briar and the Rose" especially would not seem out of place on "Alice," while "Just the Right Bullets" and "Crossroads" seem to let you in on what Tom really thinks about the whole mess. The instrumentals on this are cacophonous even for Waits, which may or may not turn you on, depending on taste. Of course, no Waits album would be complete without the glitz of the carnival scene making an appearance in some form. We get this on the opening track, with Tom giving his own rendition of barker patter. (Real Waits listeners will no doubt notice within this opening track an incarnation of the freak who makes an appearance on "Alice" as none other than Tabletop Joe.) All in all, most people will say this album is not for introductory listeners. I say that depends on what you're looking for in Tom Waits. If you're looking for his genius in all its freakishly beautiful glory, you'll find few purer concentrations than right here.

It's not always easy to discern the logic behind the organization of a Tom Waits album; fortunately the man is a good enough musician to get away with juxtaposing music of widely differing themes and styles all on the same disc. It's even harder to follow the soundtracks to the multiple stage-productions for which he has written music, since there is no way to tell where each song and instrumental number fits in the universal scheme of the plot.

When dealing with Tom Waits, again, it doesn't really matter. Few of us were lucky enough to be hanging around the Thalia theatre when The Black Rider had its run ... I wasn't even ten years old at the time! Even fewer of us could recite the Black Rider story on call; it's an old German folk tale that was also set to music by Carl Maria von Weber in the 19th century. Consequently, I know little more about the illustrious old tale than I could gather from the liner notes here. But I still love the album dearly.

The more releases we see from living legend Waits, the more it seems that he can't make a CD without the stamp of brilliance on it. Some of these songs easily rank with the best of his career. "Just the Right Bullets" is mind-blowing, and the instrumental backing has a sound I haven't found in any of Waits' other work. "The Briar and the Rose," with its allusions to Waits' wife, Kathleen Brennan, is among the very best of his ballads. Nor is there any way to beat the carnival-barking announcement of the opening track, announcing an exhibition of "human oddities." Indeed.

What makes The Black Rider unusual, perhaps, is the presense of a large number of instrumentals. Of course, Waits had been writing them for a long time -- listen to "Rainbirds" on Swordfishtrombones or "Midtown" on Rain Dogs -- but they reach a new prominence here. Some of them are simply short episodes of connecting music, while others, like "Gospel Train" and "Russian Dance" are long pieces of brilliant and often quite radical music. "Gospel Train," in particular, must rank as just about the most deliciously dissonant four minutes in all popular music. The vocal version of "Gospel Train" even features train noises from Tom!

One other feature of this CD that receives quite a bit of comment is the presense of William Burroughs. I'm not sure that his sprechstimme delivery of "'Tain't no Sin" adds a whole lot to the album, but it certainly doesn't detract. And the lyrics on that song are wonderful: "When it's too hot for comfort / And you can't get an ice cream cone / 'Tain't no sin to take off your skin / And dance around in your bones."

In the end, this is certainly not the Waits album I would give to someone unfamiliar with his work. It could take some getting used to, though I enjoyed it from the beginning. Certainly the logic behind the music is very hard to determine in absence of the theatrical context, but the "remainders," as it were, are more than enough for a feast of very quirky musical enjoyment. Highly recommended!

For those who do not understand The Black Rider, or for those who feel a bit wary because of some of the other reviews posted here, I wanted to write that like most of the truly valuable works of art and things in life (Tolstoy, love, Beethoven's late piano sonatas, Midnight Cowboy, the Bible, Hendrix's Machine Gun live at the Filmore, a full moon over the ocean, a cold Guinness by a roaring coal fire on a rainy day in a small pub in Galway, etc...) this album demonstrates that you must give alot in order to get alot. And I promise that what you give to The Black Rider will be returned ten-fold. Part of what makes Tom Waits' music so great is that it encompasses the wide range of human emotions; from depression and loneliness, to Dionysic reveling, to true love and devotion, and it does this all in a manner that may be either described as so amazingly honest that it must be a show, or perhaps, such an incredible show that it must come from somewhere intensly honest. In reality it is often some combination of the above. The Black Rider is a microcosm of this as it contains examples of everything that Makes Tom Waits' music so unique and powerful. Songs like November, Briar and Rose, and Lucky Day are as beautiful and sad as they come. Songs like Russian Dance and Black Box Theme demand that you drop what you're doing, pick up a hatchet and dance along. Songs like I'll Shoot the Moon are among Tom's most tongue-in-cheek. There are some of Toms most wierd sounding songs and there are some simply great folky songs. And all this exists on an album that explodes with a gypsy/carnival sound amidst a great folk tale of love and the devil. There is not a track on the Black Rider that can not be labeled amazing for one reason or another and if you give it a chance, (and it may take several listens in a variety of situations, dont give up!) you will be greatly rewarded.

Upon first listen I felt disappointed with Waits' BLACK RIDER, hearing the same stuff I didn't like on BONE MACHINE (which I realize was/is hailed by many as one of Waits' finest recornding, but for which I still can't seem to get into). However, after a few more listens, and then a few more...etc. I totally fell in love with this album and consider it Waits't third "classic." The songs are hauntingly beautiful, musically daring, and surprisingly meoldic. The use of the saw in particular gives me goosebumps upon every listen. Along with SMALL CHANGE, FRANK'S WILD YEARS, and RAIN DOGS, BLACK RIDER comprises the top of Waits' musical output.

Tom Waits' entire opus is layered in contradiction -- he is both accessible in his everyman stories of dejection and elusive in the way the figures populating his songs masochistically continue to land themselves in emotionally unhappy places; Waits is a thoroughly modern artist. But through it all is the extreme pleasure of telling a good story, which is one of Waits' greatest strengths -- and perhaps the most important attribute of any contemporary songwriter.

"The Black Rider" is no exception. Working under the direction of Robert Wilson and collaborating on the book with the late William S. Burroughs, he wrote the music for a musical drama based on Carl Maria von Weber's early Romantic opera "Der Freischutz".

The hand of Burroughs is clear in many of the songs -- from the strange ephemera of "'T'ain't No Sin ("'T'ain't no sin to take off your skin/And dance around in your bones," a refrain repeated every three lines through the song set to clunky percussive instrumentals and a Weill-like clarinet line) to the stream-of-consciousness Beat storytelling of the song "Crossroads". But Waits' narrative voice, though heavily influenced by Beat writers like Burroughs, stands out in sweet relief. Like here, in the song "Shoot the Moon": "I want to build/A nest in your hair/I want to kiss you/And never be there ..." The lyrics are set off by warm, low, mellow horns, a cello and the marimba, which heighten the sense of deranged sweetness by never rising -- either in pitch or melodic line -- to meet conventional sentimentality. There are also a few purely instrumental pieces which are interesting to listen to in and of themselves, but which were meant to accompany stage action not reproducable in the privacy of your own home, and which I now find myself skipping over to get to the songs.

Tom Waits has learned to use his music to as vital effect as his verbal wit, making for a richer musical experience. This exceptional group of songs ! mark the musical maturity of an artist whose lyrics have always been a cut above most of his contemporaries.

On first listen, I found this album to be unlistenable. Insane cacophony. Not the Waits I like. I don't like the Waits songs about cheeseburgers and bourbon and waitresses and I don't like the Waits songs where it sounds like he's stark raving incomprehensibly speaking in tongues. This sounded like a whole album of the stark raving type. Then one morning as I was too rushed to change the CD player, I inadvertently gave it another listen. It was like a whole new album to me - I liked it, and have continued to like it. I don't like challenging "listens" - execrable music that we are supposed to like to be coolTrout Mask Replica. This is not one of those album. It's an acquired taste that you may not acquire. It is a collection of songs that sounds like something from some dark, dark cabaret with a little spaghettiKraft Noodle Classics, Tangy Italian Spaghetti Dinner, 8-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 24) western music thrown in (give Just The Right Bullets a listen). I'd suggest giving the album a second listen. You might like it. One of the worst writers/most interesting individuals, William Burroughs makes an appearance on this thing on the song T'ain't No Sin. Pretty nutsoThe Peanut Shop of Williamsburg Hand Cooked Virginia Peanuts in Large Colonial Style Drum, 40-Ounce Tins (Pack of 2). Hey kids, see what drugs did to Bill. Don't do drugs or you'll look and act like Bill. I assume that Waits got the song or the idea from a song by Fred Hall & His Sugar Babies (1925 I think)[[ASIN:B000005DZD Fred Hall & His Sugar Babies] with the full title 'Taint No Sin (To Take Off Your Skin And Dance Around In Your Bones). Sick, but in a good way.

First off, to the best of my knowledge there is no commerically released cast recording of The Black Rider. The music on this album is arranged differently than that from the stage show, and all the main vocals are by Tom Waits.

That being said, this is easily Tom Waits's most underappreciated album. On a first listen, it can be intimidating; even die-hard fans of Real Gone may have trouble getting through tracks like "Oily Night". The lyrics are, let's face it, terrifying, and if you're not expecting it, it's rather jarring.

The thing about the album is that once you hear it, you just have to hear it again. It crawls into your head and just won't get out. It's easy to see why The Black Rider has a cult following. It's seductive and entrancing, and it just won't let you go.

The most overlooked album Tom Waits has ever been a part of. The album is a mixture of maddening melodies with much emphasis on percussion, telling the story of the black rider. Songs like "Just the Right Bullets" help give listeners who haven't seen the play a chance to pick up on the story, where songs like "Oily Nights" just seem insane. But what is truly amazing about this album is that if you sit down and listen to it from beginning to end, then though the songs are all very different, they flow together very well. This seems to be the perfect project for Tom Waits, even more perfect for him than Franks Wild Years which he starred in. This music may be incredibly overlooked, but I have grown to find that it has become one of my favorite Tom Waits albums, because it is so unique.
Overall, I wish I could give it six stars, and that might lead people to actually listen to this album.