Customer Reviews

Swordfishtrombones

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Few artists ever seek to completely re-invent themselves on record, and fewer still make the transformation as completely successfully as did Tom Waits. His 70's albums are revered for their delicate, string-landen piano work with Waits croaking out lyrical strands of barstool philosophizing in a pseudo-Louis Armstrong growl. These albums are good, strong efforts, but they had become somewhat predictable by the time of 1980's Heart Attack & Vine (although that album, and it's predecessor, Blue Valentine, had started to introduce new elements into Waits's music.) Swordfishtrombones, then, was a complete re-invention. Out go the strings and piano work (almost entirely in the case of the former, much less overt in the case of the latter), out go to late night bar-obsessed Beat poetry of the lyrics, out goes the Louis Armstrong growl. This album, instead, featured light, sparse, percussion-driven arrangements, with chugging basslines and occasional freakish burts of kaleidoscopic guitar. Lyrically, it was still drenched in weirdness, but moreso than ever - Waits's tales range from the insane poetry that would come to dominate his next album, Rain Dogs (Underground, Shore Leave), to his other typical 80's style song that he still leans on heavily in concert when he plays (16 Shells, Down, Down, Down), to the outright bizzarre and hilarous (Frank's Wild Years, In The Neighborhood.) We also see his vocals take on a more Howlin' Wolf-esque leaning - one critic described the album as sounding like "The Three Penny Opera as sung by Howlin' Wolf." Although this was the prototype for all the rest of his albums since it, it can be a bit hard to get used to (not that all of his albums aren't), if you are used to his earlier efforts. But, like any great album, it takes some time to grow on you. After several listens, you will come to appreciate that this is an album of unique genius. Rain Dogs would be the apex of this era of Tom's songwriting, and his masterpiece may indeed have come in 1992 with Bone Machine, but Swordfishtrombones is a brave, admirable total re-invention the likes of which we almost never see. It's an essential Waits album.

By the early 1980's, Tom Waits had perfected his style. His beatnik-barroom persona was clearly defined, his throaty voice familiar to a very dependable, if not especially large, fan base. This is the point at which most popular musicians reach an apex, enter "legendary" status, and release a string of albums that often simply pastiche their earlier successes. But Tom Waits is not an ordinary "popular musician."

Consequently, he re-invented himself in 1983 with Swordfishtrombones. Choosing to jettison his record label and produce the new album himself, he also left behind the combination of strings and piano that had backed so many of his previous songs, replacing them with scratchy electric guitars (often plucked), bizarre organs, glass harmonicas, and most of all, a huge variety of drums. The result is a CD full of arresting soundscapes in which his voice, always distinctive, becomes an instrument in its own right.

The lyrics are different also. Though he is still most certainly singing about life's unfortunates, the typical references to hookers, bars, and closing time are replaced with mystifying, often nightmareish story-lyrics in which the listener more often gets the gist, rather than the details, of the circumstances described. Though "Frank's Wild Years" is a spoken song and might at first seem similar to the spoken-word masterpieces of, say, Nighthawks at the Diner, this song is not about your typical drunkard but rather a psychopath who, unable to stand his suburban existance, burns down his house and drives away laughing.

In fact, discontent with the city is prevalent on the songs here; there's the unflatteringly depicted seaport in "Shore Leave," a "Town With No Cheer," and the suburban nightmare of "In The Neighborhood," which sounds like a Fourth-of-July anthem with a hangover. Of course, Waits himself would eventually move to the country, a move reflected in 1993's Bone Machine.

All in all, this disc is unbeatable. Waits's voice, sounding amazingly young and cocky compared with his recent releases, is in top form. His poetry, though considerably more obscure than what he has written afterward -- sometimes to the point of complete mystification -- is evocative and startling, and as always, sounds great when sung with Tom's unusual phrasing. And the music itself, ranging from the brutally percussive opener "Underground" to the wild blues-rock of "16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought-Six," to the acerbic organ on "Frank's Wild Years," and the obligatory gorgeous ballads "Johnsburg, Illinois" and "Soldiers Things," is among the best Waits ever composed.

Swordfishtrombones, which was both an important career move for Waits and an album on which every song matters and is well placed, should not be missed by anyone interested in some of the best American popular music of all time.

This album represented a new chapter in Tom's career, and a stunning chapter it's been. This is the album to play for people who have never heard him before, because it showcases all of his talents: strong emotional lyrics that don't stoop to hackneyed sentimentalism and tired "heartland" images; sturdy, singable melodies with a voice that sounds the way the characters in the songs would most likely sound; and a willingness to experiment with new sounds, old sounds, weird sounds, and most of all...effective sounds. Here is a man who, like Kurt Vonnegut in literature, shows us the ugly side of man, and shows us how to love him anyway. I only wish I had made it myself! The criticism I hear most often of this artist is that the listener doesn't "like his voice". These are often the same people that would pan Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan. If you need proof that Tom can sing, listen to "Johnsburg, Illinois." He's got humor, he's got sensitivity, and he's got a vicious way of getting ride of Chihuahua's. Don't miss out.

Circa 1983, Judas Priest and AC/DC filling most of my vinyl collection, it's 11:25 p.m. on a school night, and I'm up watching David Letterman for no particular reason other than not wanting to go to bed. On comes a strange little man with a gravel filled, cigarette burned, whisky soaked voice and a billy goat beard, claiming he was born in the backseat of a taxicab. What? Then he plays "Franks Wild Years", which was just plain foreign music to a teenage metalhead. But I liked it enough to keep watching. Letterman asks him to play another, so he plays "one of (his) favorites", which turned out to be "On the Nickel" from Heart Attack and Vine. I went out and bought Swordfishtrombones and Heart Attack and Vine the next day. What's my point? Tom Waits is great. Talented, funny, quirky, strange, brilliant, and lyrically captivating at times....don't believe me....read the words to "Shore Leave" or "Johnsburg, Illinois". And the music is so original and different, it fills the void where "normal music" fall right off the face of the Earth.

It's tough being a Tom Waits fan in the midst of a world that just don't get it. But we are out there and love each other's conversation on the subject. Back when I first started dating my (now) wife, she loved Tom from the song I played. Blonde haired, blue eyed babe who loved Tom Waits from the first listen.....Now THAT was an attraction.

"Rain Dogs", "Frank's Wild Years", "Bone Machine", "Black Rider", "Mule Variations" I love, love, love 'em all, even when everyone around me is yelling to put on something else.....

A few years ago I had bought Tom Waits newest release Alice. After being spendedly shocked, a friend recommended Swordfishtrombones. I went and picked it up and was blown away. From the opening track Underground to Rainbirds Tom Waits grabs and maintains the attention of any listener. With interesting lyrics from love ballads for his wife, to the hate of suberbia, Waits knows how to make a tune. One of my favorite tracks on the album is Shore Leave. A great investigation into the mind of a poor sailor on his night off in some foreign land. The album seems to be riddled with soldiers, love, and distaste of the city. The title track is one of the smoothest, interesting stories that Waits paints so vividly you'd swear you saw the whole thing in person. In conclusion, I would recommend any album of his to anybody, but my first would be Swordfishtrombones. Buy it! You won't be disappointed.

i may be a die-hard metalhead who gets his kicks out of bands like Bloodbath and Cryptopsy, but there is no way i can deny the genious of tom waits. possibly the best lyricist in the music industry, he connects with you in a way few musicians can. songs like "shore leave" and "soldiers things" leave you in a state of awe; in fact all the songs on this album do. get this, then get "raindogs" and "bone machine". you wont regret it.

I heard that in the early stages of recording this album someone in the background drug a metal chair across the floor while Tom was recording. Upon listening to the recording Tom decided to leave the chair in... and in my opinion, from this point a different way of thinking started to appear on Toms records. Another one I heard was that Tom had an old organ or something he wanted to use in a song except it had a loose wire or something and buzzed. His engineer got behind it and was toying with the wires until the buzz turned to a crackle. So he says, what do you want Tom, the crackle or the buzz? Anyway, my point is that this music is of a different breed. But don't get the wrong idea. Tom Waits is nowhere near low-fi... Swordfish sounds great and is recorded very well. Tom can get away with banging on a dumpster with a 2x4 for a really big bass drum sound because he knows what hes doing.

Swordfish is for me one of Tom's best, but It seems that the first one you hear ends up being your favorite. Four stars is not enough...

While there were hints of an experimental Tom Waits on "Blue Valentine," this was the first album where I found myself thinking that I was listening to a totally reinvented Tom Waits.

Nearly twenty years later, I still feel "hot & cold" when I listen to this release. I think the lyrical Waits reaches incredible new heights with tunes like "Frank's Wild Years" and "In the Neighborhood." Musically, the album lost me at times. There are brief pieces like "Johnsburg, Illinois," a haunting romantic bit with a ghostly chill to it, where Waits' new musical paint job works well. But much of the album drags with what sounds to me like too much experiment, too little music.

If you're one of those Tom Waits fans who likes both his pre and post 1970s sound, and want to grab one CD that captures both sides of Tom Waits, I would pass on Sworfishtrombones. His follow up, "Rain Dogs," captures the essence of all Tom Waits; eery artsy tunes with enough melody to still be music.

If it's vintage Tom Waits lyrics you're fishing for, Swordfishtrombones is well worth a listen. The music, to my ears, tends to drag. While I'm not close-minded to offbeat and experimental art, I'm not a passionate fan. Take this into account: if you are a bit more open-minded than I am, this CD might be just the pick for you!

I guess Waits fans have to be diverse and maybe a tad strange, or, they wouldn't be Tom Waits fans. However, I look at some of these lukewarm reviews and I just scratch my head. I think this is one of Tom's greatest albums and certainly one my favorites. It has the accesable songs like "16 Shots" etc. and the truly strange, a real nice mix. Oh well, to each their own, but I think this is a nice starter album for Tom Waits novices.

Tom Waits first album of his trilogy is a classic. Its so strange that you will have to listen to it a few times to get the meaning of the record. Some people hate his voice. I love it. He is probably the most unrecognized songwriters of his time. This record also has some great music on it. Favorites include 16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six, Town With No Cheer, Swordfishtrombone,Soldier's Things, and Gin Soaked Boy. The instrumentals and other songs are also good. Highly recommended.