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Track Listings
| 1. Hang On St. Christopher | |||
| 2. Temptation | |||
| 3. Clap Hands | |||
| 4. The Black Rider | |||
| 5. Underground | |||
| 6. Jockey Full Of Bourbon | |||
| 7. Earth Died Screaming | |||
| 8. Innocent When You Dream (78) | |||
| 9. Straight To The Top | |||
| 10. Frank's Wild Years | |||
| 11. Singapore | |||
| 12. Shore Leave | |||
| 13. Johnsburg, Illinois | |||
| 14. Way Down In The Hole | |||
| 15. Strange Weather | |||
| 16. Cold Cold Ground | |||
| 17. November | |||
| 18. Downtown Train | |||
| 19. 16 Shells From A 30.6 | |||
| 20. Jesus Gonna Be Here | |||
See all 23 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Tom Waits pulled off a neat trick with the 1983 release of Swordfishtrombones: he disengaged himself from the present (and his own recent achievements) and allied himself with the past. And yet no one could accuse him of becoming mired in nostalgia. A decade before the phrase lo-fi gained favour, Waits purposely ravaged his songs by stomping them into peculiar shapes and utilizing arcane instruments and recording techniques to further bend them into new kinds of aural sculptures. The result was a genuine musical breakthrough. Beautiful Maladies gathers 23 tracks from Waits's seven post-Swordfishtrombones Island LPs. These pretty/ugly tracks provide a riveting view of Tom's wild years. While at least four Waits Island titles qualify as essentials, Beautiful Maladies and the 1988 live set, Big Time, provide compact introductions to a matchless body of work. --Steven Stolder
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Most of the highlights but not all,
By
This review is from: Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years (Audio CD)
This compilation of the Island Years, was put together by Tom himself, but excludes a few of his finest recordings from that time. There's no 'In The Neighbourhood', arguably his finest and most memorable recording from the Island period, no 'Soldier's Things', undoubtedly his best song from the period, and no 'Raindogs', one of his finest left field recordings of the period. It leads one to question whether an artist should compile their own work. It's hard to understand the inclusion of a piece as lightweight as Temptation, with the comical Prince falsetto. It would have been nice to have had 'A Little Rain' or 'Whistle Down The Wind' from Bone Machine, or the incredibly touching, 'The Briar And The Rose' from The Black Rider. If one judges what actually is included, then it's utterly brilliant, but it's not a worthwhile buy for committed Waits fans. All the recordings have been heard before, so there's really no incentive for that constituency. As an introduction to the Island period, without the three pieces mentioned, it feels badly incomplete. For me, 'In The Neighbourhood' was the gateway into the new Waits, so without it, there's a sense of being plunged unaware into the oeuvre if one is just discovering the genius of Waits. On the plus side, there's the beautiful 'November', the incomparable avant garde stomp of 'Singapore', his second best song from the period, 'Time', the superb Beefheartian howl of 'Earth Died Screaming', the skewed blues of '16 Shells', the tender sophistication of 'Johnsburg Illinois', the dark Germanic fun of 'The Black Rider', the superb rhythmic tightness of 'Jockey Full Of Bourbon', and the wonderfully atmospheric 'Shore Leave'. For the uninitiated it's a worthwhile purchase, though there's no substitute for owning at least the first three Waits albums on Island (Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years, together constituting the most adventurous and visionary music of the eighties). Swordfishtrombones is always the first port of call, as it broke the mould completely, and laid the visionary path he would continue to follow for the subsequent twenty years.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bruising and Beautiful,
By scott.crawford@virgin.net (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years (Audio CD)
A fine collection of some of Tom's best known and downright strange tunes. From the screaming rawness of Temptation, the German dance hall weirdness of The Black Rider and the gentle lilt of Time, this compilation should satisfy long term fans and also those new to the strange world of Mr Waits. There's plenty to choose from too, with over 20 tracks it offers a whole range of stuff. My own favourite? Hmm....hard to choose but I'd have to say Jesus Gonna Be Here - a nasty smoke and liqour drenched blues paean to religion and the human spirit......ends with a tremendous cough from the effort put in (even by his standards, this one's gravelly!!!). Wonderful stuff. It doesn't matter whether you are a long standing fan or if you want to experience the unusual and dark Underground of Singapore - give into the music of Tom Waits and buy this NOW!!
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best comps. available,
By
This review is from: Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years (Audio CD)
Hang on St. Christopher - 7/10 Not too big a fan, but a good thunderous opener.
Temptation - 7/10 Surreal, wailing and quite eerie. Clap Hands - 10/10 One of his best, a very creepy tale of insanity. Black Rider - 8/10 A darkly comical cabaret in a german accent. Underground - 9/10 A pounding drum beat and Tom's first weird song. Jockey Full of Bourbon - 9/10 Guitar driven latin tale of dark alleyways. Earth Died Screaming - 9/10 Apocalyptic howling gospel of bones. Innocent When You Dream - 8/10 Tear-jerking tale of lost memories. Straight To The Top - 7/10 Sinatraesque swinger. Frank's Wild Years - 10/10 His best spoken word, surreal tale of midlife crisis. Singapore - 10/10 Possibly his best song ever, a thundering vaudevillian stream of concious. Shore Leave - 9/10 Eerie, atmospheric sonic landscape. Johnsburg, Illinois - 8/10 Short, sweet ballad from Tom to his wife, Kathleen. Way Down In The Hole - 8/10 In preacher mode, a biblical rant about avoiding Satan. Strange Weather - 8/10 French sounding grumble about the ignorance of strangers. Cold, Cold Ground - 9/10 Live version of the emotional tale of a little guy in a little house... November - 8/10 Ethereal, theatrical ballad about autumn. Downtown Train - 10/10 His greatest love song, raped by Rod Stewart. 16 Shells From A 30.6 - 9/10 Barking, rocker about...well, what? Jesus Gonna Be Here - 9/10 Preacher mode again, more deranged and less optimistic. Good Old World - N/A Not heard yet. I Don't Wanna Grow Up - 10/10 More mainstream, but brilliant nonetheless. Time - 8/10 Overrated, but still emotional and tear-jerking.
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