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Swordfishtrombones
 
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Swordfishtrombones

~ Tom Waits
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
Price: £4.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Swordfishtrombones + Rain Dogs + Franks Wild Years
Price For All Three: £14.94

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  • This item: Swordfishtrombones ~ Tom Waits

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  • Rain Dogs ~ Tom Waits

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Product details

  • Audio CD (24 May 1989)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Mercury Records Ltd (London)
  • ASIN: B000001FTJ
  • Other Editions: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 6,295 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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1. Underground
2. Shore Leave
3. Dave The Butcher
4. Johnsburg, Illinois
5. 16 Shells From A 30.6
6. Town With No Cheer
7. In The Neighbourhood
8. Just Another Sucker On The Vine
9. Frank's Wild Years
10. Swordfishtrombone
11. Down, Down, Down
12. Soldier's Things
13. Gin Soaked Boy
14. Trouble Braids
15. Rainbirds

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The first album of the loose trilogy that also includes Rain Dogs and Franks Wild Years, Swordfishtrombones marked a radical departure for Waits, whose avant-garde ambitions became plain not so much in his lyrics or subject matter--the songs here deal, as do his older albums, with hard life on the wrong side of the tracks and dreams of escape and transcendence--but in the music, a sound somewhere between German cabaret music from between the wars and contemporary Manhattan rush hour. Odd time signatures, unusual instrumentation (glass harmonicas and brake drums, among others), and Waits's barked vocals make this one of his most individualistic and challenging albums. --Daniel Durchholz


CD Description

Though Tom Waits had spent most of the '70s establishing himself as one of America's most distinctive singer-songwriters, SWORDFISHTROMBONES found him reinventing himself and creating one of the most original sounds in popular music. Leaving behind his Kerouac-influenced lyrics and lounge-lizard piano-bar stylings for an unprecedented eclecticism that merged Brecht-Weill artsong, Captain Beefheart-style avant blues,Harry Partch-inspired junkyard percussion, along with a healthy dose of everything else but the kitchen sink.
All this sonic exoticism would be for naught where it not accompanied by equally striking, arch songwriting. SWORDFISHTROMBONES moves from the Ken Nordine-style recitative of "Frank's Wild Years" and the demented Delta blues of "Gin Soaked Boy" to the marimba-laced shaggy-dog tale "Shore Leave" and the crazed, Loony Tunes instrumental "Dave the Butcher".
The blazed a trail that Waits (and countless imitators) would follow fruitfully for years to come, and remains one of the mostimpressive recordings not just of Waits's career, but of anyone's.

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A creative genius at his creative best., 16 April 2002
By A Customer
Tom Waits' earlier albums can be pinned down like wild dogs and just about forced into their specific genres. 'The Heart of Saturday Night', 'Heartattack and Vine' and to an extent 'Franks Wild Years' can be defined loosely as jazz. But quite where to start with 'Swordfistrombones' is a hefty challenge for the most ardent of listener. Each song tells it's story of life at it's quirkiest and the intertwined variety achieved is facinating, humourous and strangely addictive.
From the romantic wheeze of 'Johnsberg, Illonois', which was written for Waits'partener Kathleen Brennan, to the jolting pound of '16 Shells From ..' and 'Dave The Butcher' this is one of few contempory albums that really does have the lot, even bagpipes! 'Swordfishtrombones' is simular in diversity to 'Raindogs' but if the gun was at my head I'd favour the former.
For what it's worth my favorite track on the album is 'Just Another Sucker On The Vine', a instrumental lament which conjures a fresh image with every engagement.
Nineteen years on and this album has lost none of it's vigour or the raw uniqueness that typifies this most gifted of artists. Frank's 'little Sedan' may be rotting in the knackers yard but Waits is still wringing his strands of creativity in the questionable modern music scene. If your looking to explore Tom Waits then make 'Swordfishtrombones' your first endeavour.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars unparalleled beauty meets carnival burlesque, 4 May 2005
By Sebastian Palmer "sebuteo" (Cambridge, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
You may think everything's already been said about this album... you're wrong!

Tom's change of direction, marked by this release, has left me gradually less and less inclined to put the later albums on. It's like he feared becoming a caricature barfly, so instead became a caricatured carnival freak. His relationship with Kathleen Brennan undoubtedly has some bearing on this (more on this later).

On this pivotal release however, you get the best of both worlds. Most albums since (and including) SFT start with a rumbling uptempo oddball number (uptempo by Tom's standards as opposed to Slayer's): here it's 'Underground' (Frank's Wild Years starts with 'Hang On St Christopher', and Rain Dogs with 'Singapore' etc). The fact this has become a bit of a formula is sad, but all three tunes referenced are utterly brilliant.

Enough's been said elsewhere about the Beefheart and classical modernist influences. What I want to focus on is the remaining strain of simple romanticism (what Brennan calls his "Grand Weepers"). Brennan's appearance in Wait's life seems, from his interviews, to signal a complete change (of personal perspective/heart), redemption and rescue even. Testament to this wonderful and simple enduring love continues to be evident in his work: 'Take It With Me' from Mule Variations being a wonderful example: "ain't no good thing ever dies". I cry every time I listen to that song.

Johnsburg Illinois is, so I've read, written as a love song to Brennan, and, fittingly, it transcends the theatricaltiy of other material here with its straightforward and honest confession of love. I've always like this side of Tom most. And it's in the very fabric of his best music. I feel that one of his most sublime recordings is the fabulously minimal and haunting Rainbirds. After a brief but exquisite 'glass harmonica' intro, Waits piano and Greg Cohen's bass paint a picture of such desolate blue beauty it floors me, it's my all time melancholy desert island disc number one!

One more testimony as to why you should buy this CD!

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars never could stand that dog, 26 Mar 2004
By King Zevon "marjan20" (Evesham, Worcs) - See all my reviews
I first heard this album in 1987 and it was the first Waits album I ever owned. On the first few listens, it was one of the strangest albums I'd ever heard, and the only immediate song was "In the Neighbourhood". However, after a bit of work from me, I grew to appreciate it, and moved on to "Raindogs" and "Franks Wild Years" when it came out. I also had the pleasure of seeing Waits at the Hammersmith Odeon in '87 and it was a great show. Hard to believe this was the last time he played in the UK - come back Tom! A great album, and essential to an understanding of the new direction he took after his more jazzy balladry of the 70's.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars It just keeps getting better
You know from the first track this is going to be a special album. Mental songs (Underground); heartbreakers (Soldier's Things; Town With No Cheer); instrumentals that speak... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2007 by Golowy

4.0 out of 5 stars If you liked Rain Dogs you'll like this
Swordfishtrombones is extremely similar to Rain Dogs - which can only be a good thing. In fact you could probably jumble up the tracks on both albums and put them back together... Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2005 by Nigel Collier

4.0 out of 5 stars Difficult attempt by Waits to advance on his trademark sound
The title pretty much sums this album up perfectly. Swordfishtrombones! A strange mix of various instrumentation built around Jazz pitched chord structures and Waits' blend of... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2004 by Jonathan James Romley

3.0 out of 5 stars not as good as "rain dogs"
i only have 3 tom waits albums, this is scond best. its accompanying record "rain dogs" is a work of undisputed genius and should be hailed as such. unfortunately it isn't. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2004 by the_hairy_hippy2

3.0 out of 5 stars BLUESY TALES OF LOSERS
For someone who prefers Waits’ singing voice on those big tuneful ballads, this album is a bit of a shock. Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2004 by Pieter

5.0 out of 5 stars He Came Home From The War With A Party In His Head...
.. And an idea for a fireworks display. The first Tom Waits album i owned was Closing Time, and i loved it instantly. I did find Tom's later stuff to be quit difficult. Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2004 by captpants

5.0 out of 5 stars If you think that you can tell a bigger tale . . .
The first Tom Waits album I ever heard, and one that hooked and reeled me in like a fish, and I'm still to fully work out why. Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2003 by J. Reynolds

5.0 out of 5 stars In a Hong Kong drizzle on cuban heels...
...i rolled down the gutter to the blood bank... Tom serves you amazing stories that are raw and tender, cruel and melodramatic, one eyed and sorely romantic - and everything else... Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom at his best...
.. Although it is difficult to define exactly when he isn't at his best. Swordfishtrombones is a wonderful record from Tom Waits. Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2001 by tapsa@loiste.com

5.0 out of 5 stars Another burst of eccentric musical genius.
Like all of his works (except perhaps The Heart Of Saturday Night, which i've always thought of as pure jazz), this is a little hard to define, shuttling between instrumentals... Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2000 by catbadger@hotmail.com

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