Foreign Affairs

Tom Waits | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 11, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002GYF
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,003 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

WAITS TOM FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A musical tour de force, the pinnacle of Waits!, October 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Foreign Affairs (Audio CD)

Foreign Affairs wanders across nine tracks, exploring lonely souls, capricious youth, bar pick-ups, haircuts, and billboard advertisements for shaving. Through "traveling abroad" Waits refocused himself on America and that which is uniquely American. The open-road freedom of "Jack and Neal" is both a tribute to Kerouac and Cassidy and a tribute to the distinct freedom of the American road, the dreams that stretch out before one, and the promise of the West. The theme is revisited on "Burma Shave," where the promise of the horizon ends up a twisted wreck by the side of the road. The song, written as a tribute to Presley, is among Wait's finest creations. There's more here too. As a bouncer Waits often wrote down overheard conversations, and "I Never Talk to Strangers" with Bette Midler is precisely that, an everyday conversation set to piano and tenor sax. Likewise, "Muriel" is a lamentation over swizzle sticks and cigarettes for the one that got away. Waits along with Hopper, is the greatest chroniclery of American lonliness. The intimacy of his sound surpasses that of the printed word, and so draws the listener in that by the end of the CD you are sure your shirt smells like a stale barroom... END

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Burma Shave, September 19, 2000

By 

M. Grigoryan "Equal Opportunity Listener" (Santa Monica,CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foreign Affairs (Audio CD)

It looks like Tom Waits just took a small break between creating two genuine masterpieces "SMALL CHANGE" and "BLUE VALENTINES". Giving this album 4 stars is a relief and a support for the listeners' objectiveness as one would feel uncomfortable and unfair rating all TW's albums 5 stars. "Muriel" is a beatiful ballad, the duo with Bette Midler sounds very nice but the true gem of "FOREIGN AFFAIRS" is, of course "Burma Shave" - a breathtaking song that sets the mood for the whole album.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A seemingly forgotten masterpiece, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Foreign Affairs (Audio CD)

I like 'Foreign Affairs' more every time I listen to it, and I get cravings for it when I haven't heard it for a while. Tom is at the pinnacle of his beat period, and his song-writing has matured very well. It is a truly a beautiful album.