Customer Reviews

Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits

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

 

 

If you think Mr. Rod Stewart messed up "Downtown Train" and "Hang On, St. Christopher", the terrible covers in this collection should make Old Rod look like a talented prince. In this terrible anti-tribute, classic songs from Waits' early career are mocked and destroyed. The songs are covered without sincerity and in many cases, without any talents. If you're looking for covers of Tom Waits songs, may I suggest Temptations by Holly Cole or the 2000 tribute called New Coat of Paint. In these tributes, musicians such as Neko Case(an exceptionally good cover of "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis"), Carla Bozulich, Floyd Dixon, Eleni Mandell and Holly Cole not only gave a new spin to Waits' songs, in many cases, they gave a whole new dimension to the familiar tunes. As for "Step Right Up", plainly put, it sucks.

Tom himself is weird, so it's actually appropriate that some of these covers sound a little strange at first. After listening to this album a few times, though, it starts to make sense. In fact, if you keep listening, it begins to make a lot of sense. I actually listened to it so much that my roommate banned it when he was in the room, which illustrates both aspects of this album: it is a little weird, but quite addictive if you take the time to listen carefully.
Tom is always playing around with new or different versions of his own music, so it seems appropriate for other musicians and bands to play around with his music, too. This album covers the whole range of Tom's styles: some of the songs are simply and sentimentally beautiful, i.e., Dave Alvin's rendition of old 55 or Tim Buckley singing Martha (this song alone is worth the price of the entire album), while others are just plain creepy, like the Archers of Loaf's Big Joe and Phantom 309; and the best are somewhere in between: I'm thinking most specifically of Jersey Girl as played by Pale Saints, one of my all-time favorites, cover or otherwise.
A few songs don't quite measure up, such as Downtown by Alex Chilton, but as a whole, the range of artists and approaches illuminates Tom's strengths as a songwriter: even if not every song is a gem, the songcraft of his music still shows through. And when someone gets it right, it's an almost transcendent experience, as in the case of Tim Buckley's Martha, or Frente!'s cover of Ruby's Arms, or Pale Saints' Jersey Girl.
In short, it is a slightly uneven album, but the best is so good it just doesn't matter. If you buy this album, let it air out, so to speak, before you make any hasty judgments. It's well worth the wait.

Ok Tom waits has his own unique style with dealing with his work. It's not quite the same hearing other people sing his songs. Yet I can't stop listening to this album. It has some duds but the gems are quite beautifull. The opening track really does the song old shoes justice. Ol 55 sounds really nice with a country singer belting out the tune. And mocking bird is really catchy. The rest of the songs are so so but if you appreciate Wait's song writing these song's are a neat way to explore his work in different form. Of course it's like trying to hold a candle up to the sun, but it is a beautifull candle regardless.

I'm kind in giving this disc three full stars. I don't expect exact renditions of an original song when it's being covered. I do expect a little life in the arrangements and a little heart in the playing. The Violent Femmes version of "Step Right Up" is pretty bad, but worsened by the liner notes they dared include. Tindersticks reworking of "Mockingbird" is an admirable attempt, but the song falls flat.

On the other hand, I don't know who Frente! is, but these folks really do justice to "Ruby's Arms". Pete Shelley's remake of "Better off Without a Wife" is a radical departure from the original Waits, but it hits the spot! There's a couple other cuts on the disc that are good, but sadly most of the bands are as flat as their efforts on this dics.

Ok. For the most part this cd blows, but any Tom Waits fan with a sense of humor will get a kick out of the remake of "pasties and a g-string." Not worth buying, but worth hearing nonetheless.

Let's face it, if you like Tom Waits you are much more likely to be able to explore some challenging music...well, this cd will challenge you...to stay awake. I was interested to hear Alex Chilton do a Waits song, but it was lame. The only two songs that made this worth it for me were "Old Shoes" by Drugstore and "I hope that I don't fall in love with you" by 10,000 maniacs. I am also a huge Violent Femmes fan but their version of "Step Right Up" is grating to say the least. I bought it used, but I wish I had just bought the mp3 of the Drugstore song.

I didn't listen to this album right after I bought it, it probably sat on my shelf for about a year befor I opened it up. I'll have to admit that I was not familar with Tom Waits befor I fell for this album, but the beauty of covers by Frente!, 10,000 Mainiacs,and Drugstore captured me right away. Violent Femmes did and amazing job on 'Step Right Up', a ingenius mix of them and him; which is the best way to describe this whole album, and in genius mix of them and him.

There are truly great artists on here that do well but, for the most part, this compilation is a disappointment. Archers of Loaf, Violent Femmes, Alex Chilton, and Tim Buckley are wonderful artists who have strong showings here but the compilation is far from redeemed.
Some fans will appreciate while will be (and surely are) offended.
But it can be fun.

Depending on what kind of tribute person you are... my assessment of this one is some re-working of the material. Personally, I think that's cool. After all, if you wanted the artist to do it the way the original song was... what's the point of buying a tribute album. I got this specifically for the Violent Femmes cover, but had fun with it in general. As a tribute album, I think it's average (or maybe a bit more) fun.

It must have sounded like a good idea to these people to cover Tom Waits songs, but the result is terrible and in some cases ridiculous (like Alex Chilton's rendition of Downtown). There are some good bands here, but it seems that only Tom can sing his own songs. Maybe he's just too original to cover.