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Blue Valentine [VINYL]
 
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Blue Valentine [VINYL]

~ Tom Waits
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Vinyl (28 Jun 1999)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Warner
  • ASIN: B00004WNNW
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 124,147 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

1. Red Shoes By The Drugstore
2. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis
3. Romeo Is Bleeding
4. Twenty Nine Dollars
5. Wrong Side Of The Road
6. Whistlin' Past The Graveyard
7. Kentucky Avenue
8. Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun
9. Title Track

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
More hard-boiled tales from Tom Waits, who manages to sing lines like "Everyone I know is either dead or in prison" in a raw, whiskey-soaked rasp that sounds both comical and deadly serious. Waits doesn't break any new creative ground here but continues to refine his down-and-out persona. It's booze and broads, sex and violence, laughs and heartbreak. This 1978 album opens with an astonishingly desperate version of "Somewhere" (from "West Side Story"), performed like Louie Armstrong with a migraine. From there it's the usual Waits mix of crackpot wordplay and the cocktail lounge jazz likes of "Romeo Is Bleeding". --Steve Appleford

CD Description
After pefecting his seedy beatnik image on albums like SMALL CHANGE and NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER, Waits refined and expanded on it until the 1983 breakthrought of SWORDFISHTROMBONES. BLUE VALENTINE is full of low-rent nightlife imagery and arrangements that leave Waits' jazz leanings behind in favour of a more direct, blues-oriented approach. Lyrically, he'sat his most straightforward and narrative, with tunes like "$29.00" and "Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis" reading like dimestore detective novels. In a customary nod to tradition, he delivers a marvellously stentorian version of Bernstein's "Somewhere". Things close in a low-key fashionwith the spare,heart-rending title song, a ballad of shattered love.

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best and most emotionally charged album from this genius, 11 Jul 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Blue Valentine (Audio CD)
Blue Valentine is one of those rare albums which can move you through the complete range of emotions. From the cautious optimism of 'Somewhere', through the desperately sad 'Postcard from a hooker in Minneapolis', to the sparkling genius of 'Red Shoes', this album is quite brilliant. 'Romeo is bleeding' tells the tale of a gang leader dying after a confrontation with the police; '29 dollars' tells the story of a new girl in town being picked up by the wrong sort of guy, and Mr. Waits has truly saved the best till last: The title track is the last cut, and I defy you not to be truly moved by the intensity of Tom Waits' singing and the sparse guitar playing. Every track tells a story - each worthy of it's own attention - this is one of those must-haves.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, 18 Aug 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Blue Valentine (Audio CD)
This is the second Tom Waits album I bought, the first being 'Raindogs', and it firmly established him as my favourite lyricist ever.
The music is dark and sometimes sleazy but also has a great romantic feel to it, couple this with superb lyrics and you have a gem of an album.
Buy this and enlighten yourself!!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem, 6 Mar 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Blue Valentine (Audio CD)
This is probably the most accessible Tom Waits album. It features some great songs with storylines of people at the wrong end of US society. The sparse instrumentation is nothing less than superb throughout and the richness of the West Side Story instrumentation is a bonus. It is much more approachable than much of his later, more radical but still essential work where he seems intent on distorting his voice beyond recognition and abandoning the traditional piano/guitar/bass/drum/sax in favour of all manner of bizarre instruments while trying too hard to get away from normal song forms. On this, Tom uses his trademark growl throughout and uses more traditional rock and blues forms. There is much humour, sadness and compassion in this gem of an album. My persnal favourite is Kentucky Avenue which although a bit corny can bring a tear to your eye.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues, the Tom Waits way.....
Tom Waits conjures up images of hoodlums, prostitutes, broken hearts, whisky and dope set against a backdrop of dark, rain-drenched American streets. Read more
Published 5 months ago by R. Hammond

3.0 out of 5 stars There is melody and there is "Kentucky Avenue" - Still moves me to tears!
OK, I'll begin by saying that first and foremost (in a song) I love (a) melody. However, then other things 'kick in'.

This is an album of extremes. Read more
Published 6 months ago by SMc

5.0 out of 5 stars Blue Through And Through
I hope that when people refer to 'Blue Valentine' as Waits' most accessible album it is not in any way to invalidate the poetry and majesty of this great, great record... Read more
Published 10 months ago by pikeyboy

4.0 out of 5 stars Feeling blue

Waits' 6th album, after the rather safe and by the numbers "Foreign Affair", is a much bluesier affair, with guitars finally joining Waits and making a harder-edged affair... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. L. R. Buxton

5.0 out of 5 stars Waits sends us Blue Valentines
This is one of Tom Wait's finest records and the high point of his 70s persona. An album full of hoodlum melodies, dirt tragedies, and desperate romances. Read more
Published 23 months ago by ChinaBoatMan

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Wait's At His Gravelly Vocalled Best
This is one of my favourite Tom Waits albums. It's more traditional than some of his other works with beautiful, soulful songs coupled with with jazzy renditions that can't help... Read more
Published on 18 May 2005 by L. Alexander

4.0 out of 5 stars those numerous pre-swordfish trombones type records......
It's borders on impossible to fault Tom Wait's lyrics, and his delivery is impeccable too. The problems occur when it comes to the melodies. The title track is one of Mr. Read more
Published on 11 Jul 2001

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