Amazon.co.uk Review
Summoned to Hamburg, Germany, to write music for a live stage production of Robert Wilson's
The Black Rider, musical mastermind Waits took to the task at hand with gusto, assembling an eclectic crew of musicians to become "the pit band [he'd] always dreamed of." Several years later Waits assembled another "orchestra" in San Francisco to record many of the songs he'd written for the live production. Those tracks are found here, alongside a few rough gems from sessions in Hamburg. You'll find some musical matter familiar to Waits fans: accordions, carnivals, violas, banjos, the devil (a key figure in
The Black Rider), a singing saw, bassoons, and trombones. Waits' many voices tell the rather disjointed story with a variety of musical styling, and the assembled whole is pretty much a sum of its parts (but at least they're interesting parts): a touch of
Day of the Dead, a whiff of carny, a nod to Brecht, a dash of
film noir, and the scent of narcosis (William Burroughs makes an appearance here). Not easy listening, by any means, but a feast for the ears.
--Lorry Fleming
CD Description
THE BLACK RIDER contains Waits' versions of the songs he wrote for the Robert Wilson play of the same name. Wilson has worked with everyone from Philip Glass to Lou Reed, so he's just the kind of left-of-centre visionary to accommodate Waits' offbeat musical style. From NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER to FRANK'S WILD YEARS, Waits has always been a concept man, and you don't get more conceptual than supplying songs for this semi-mythological narrative of passion and death.
THE BLACK RIDER is somewhat similar in style to the twisted cabaret/blues of Waits' mid-80s work, but with a pronounced European artsong flavour. Accordingly, Waits is accompanied by a mix of his U.S. cronies (Joe Gore, Greg Cohen, etc.) and the musicians from the original BLACK RIDER production. The presence of William Burroughs as lyricist on a couple of tunes represents the closing of a circle that includes the heavy influence of the '50s beat writers on Waits' early work. Less visceral and more cerebral then Waits' previous work, BLACK RIDER is nevertheless full of masterful compositions and inventive, idiosyncratic arrangements.