Foreign Affairs

Tom Waits

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 11, 1990)
• Original Release Date: September 1977
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002GYF
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,674 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Welcome to the hipster blues. By the time of this 1977 recording, Tom Waits had fully transformed himself into a musical character actor from another era, caught somewhere between Raymond Chandler and the Beat Generation. His vocals here are some of the most mannered performances this side of Bukowski (and probably had something to do with the movie roles he won in the coming years). His use of strings on some of these tracks can occasionally drift dangerously close to schmaltz, but that's easily compensated by such highlights as his duet with Bette Midler on "I Never Talk to Strangers" and the breathless melodrama of "Burma-Shave." Cool. --Steve Appleford

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 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)

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.

11 of 11 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

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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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.