Customer Reviews

One from the Heart (1982 Film Soundtrack)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

True, the pairing of Waits and Crystal Gayle sounds like the perfect recipe for disaster. But don't come here looking for his usual rusty tin cup of Blue Ruin. This album's more like $10 Martini in some high class caberet club.

Apparently, Waits had been going through a bit of a career crisis and was on the verge of leaving the business. Despite the grind of constant touring & masterpieces like, SMALL CHANGE, commercial success continued to elude him. Rather than go the way of Springsteen or at worse, Billy Joel, Waits took a sharp turn off "Heart Attack & Vine" into parts unknown.

But at the time, there was a sense in the industry that Waits was just a washed up novelty act, verging on a parody of what he drank so hard to forget. Then Francis Ford Coppola came knocking & locked him in a room with nothing but a Steinway and a dream.

When he finally woke up, Waits had a steady paycheck, a wife, and an Oscar bid for Best Original Score. Not to mention a head full of strange ideas. Though the movie may not be the lost masterpeice Coppola would have you believe, the soundtrack in terms of the genre it pays tribute to, pretty much is.

Hardcore fans of those rusty pipes may be put off by the presence of Loretta Lynn's little sister, but Crystal Gayle's a far cry from The Grand Old Opry here. In fact Waits takes more of a supporting role here, giving her the spotlight. Waits has provided the perfect torch song with " Old Boyfriends" which is perfectly matched by Gayle's jaded sultriness.

Waits & Gayle duet on "Picking Up After You" which for my money tops his turn with Bette Midler on FOREIGN AFFAIRS. In fact, Midler was 1st choice for the project. But Gayle's low key personality proves to be the perfect choice, especially on numbers like, "Take Me Home" & "Any Way Out Of This Dream?"

As for Waits' turn at the mic, "Broken Bicycles" is worth the price of admission alone. One of my favorite Waits tunes. A dark,haunting melody & full of stark imagry like, "all those playing cards tied to the spokes" . It's something he still dusts off for live shows.

Among the few the instrumentals, the "Tango/Circus" montage sounds as warped as anything off of RAIN DOGS. Overall, the remaster & packaging are a vast improvement & there a real gem in the bonus track of, "Purple Ave".

This seemed to signal the end of an era for Waits. After this, he shed the lounge lizard routine and has been dancing around in his bones ever since. But HEART offers a rare glimpse of Waits in a slick, commercial setting without compromising a rusty nickel of artistic integrity.

The combination of Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle is inspired. Like one of those chocolate-covered pretzels, the salty and the sweet mingle in a way that makes you want more and more. These songs blend Waits' haunting, humorous and insightful lyrics with the lush vocals of Gayle, whose voice is stunningly versatile in this collection, from instrumentally coarse to achingly ethereal. It's one to listen to again and again, but especially on a rainy, gloomy day, with a scotch.

The first time I saw the movie I was swept into it. All alive with bright candy colors and goosebump music. The visions of the
Las Vegas night with flashing neon lights and fireworks can lift
me from the deepest doldrums. The music by Tom Waits is perfect,
and it doesn't get any better than this. I would say that it is
like dreaming when you are awake and I swear that I am there. The soundtrack is enchanting from start to finish, an unlikely pair that sounds like they are a match made in Las Vegas heaven.
Wow!

This CD is so hard to describe, but everyone in my office that heard it wanted to buy it. They weren't Crystal Gayle or Tom Waits fans, but this music transcends both individuals to create something greater than the parts. Crystal doesn't sound like a country singer and Tom.. well Tom still is unmistakenly Tom which, to a fan is all you can ask.

Since his songs are written very often with him as a character, as a duet, it is really effective to hear him sing the "male" part with the emotion that only he in his unique way can capture. You would never think of Crystal Gayle with him, but her voice is so pure and innocent, yet edgy when it needs to be that I and anyone who hears this CD falls in love with it. "Old Boyfriends" will tug at your heart and was the highlight of their duets if not of the CD.

There is not much more to say than Tom Waits. If you are a fan of the newer Tom Waits, the Island Years and up, then this album may or may not be for you, but if you are a fan of the earlier stuff, the jazzier stuff, then you must have this.

Overall, if you are a Tom Waits fan, an actual fan, then you will buy this album and support one of the most creative, honest, and principled musicians to still be alive today.

Tom Waits is, of course, unique. But Crystal Gayle isn't bad either - her vocal talent just isn't celebrated enough. But it's certainly shown to perfection here where her clarity and range works beautifully with Wait's gruffness. They are perfect together, and Wait's original and poignant soundtrack comes to life.

This album is most certainly a Tom Waits record...he wrote the tracks, and is the obvious creative force behind the music. However, Waits reigns it in some, allowing room for Crystal Gayle to sashay her way in and croon alongside him. The result in an album of love--a realistic album of a realistic love-story.

Gayle's vocals are a welcome addition; she can croon with the best of them, and knows how to perfectly pronounce Waits's nuanced lyrics. Waits himself takes his turn at the mike frequently (including a handful of beautiful duets), adding his emerging macabre presence here and there, creating an artistic album that is both commercial and beautiful. I won't go so far as to say that this is one of Waits's best, but it has to be right up there.

The music on this album is phenomenal; Tom Waits has created a jazz influenced lounge masterpiece musically, his lyrics are incredible, but personally Crystal Gayle's vocals don't sit well with me. I must say that I like them much better than I did when I first heard them, the problem is, that I bought this album for Tom Waits, and I personally don't think her voice compliments his as well as Bette Midler (from "Foreign Affairs"). Her singing is not bad by any means, I simply prefer Tom Waits by himself, and there are solo Tom songs on this album which make it well-worth the cheap cost of the album. Overall, something that should be viewed separately from Tom Waits' other albums, but that is not to say that it should be ignored, this is a great bunch of songs, I just personally can't get into Crystal Gayle. But I recommend it to any Tom Waits fan.

This shockingly good album is one from Tom Waits' "authentic jazz" mode. It creates a heady mood all its own, which I can only imagine has little to do with the movie.
The band is swinging (in the Frank Sinatra sense) and the songwriting is top class (in the Cole Porter sense). "Old Boyfriends" and "Broken Bicycles" are two of the most brilliantly poignant combinations of words and music you'll ever hear.
Tom Waits' vocals are at their smoothest, and while Crystal Gayle does a good job, to my taste she does sometimes tend to "over-emote" a bit. A petty quibble, but I can't help greedily imagining if, say, Roberta Flack had done the female vocal parts...
Still, this one's pure class.
The remaster is excellent, and the extra tracks are good enough to be considered part of the album.

This soundtrack is wonderful for many reasons. It showcases Tom Waits' versatile songwriting ability, and his gift for lyrical and melodic originality. He uses words and melody in ways that very few other songwriters do. At the same time, we get to hear these melodies and lyrics delivered not just by Tom Waits, but also a female voice in Crystal Gayle.

Those who are put off by Waits' more experimental material will be glad to know that the material on this album is comprised mostly of tender love ballads. Yet with its lyrical references to Monopoly and nursery rhymes, any Waits fan should be able to appreciate it.