 "Has to be one of pop music's most underrated albums" | 2008-05-06 |
| - Reviewed By paulbemi |
I used to love this album in the late 80s and early 90s, but recently started listening to it again after a long hiatus (my wife hates TW, it ended up). Let me say this album is something of a minor miracle. It's hard to describe how evocative it is, but there is something about the coupling of the musical production and the lyrical imagination that is pure magic. When Waits creates the character of the American soldier on shore leave, who talked baseball with a lieutenant and shot billiards with a midget until the rain stopped, who bought a razor and some gum and knife and a t-shirt with horses on the front, the ambiance is enhanced by the clinging cowbells, thumping bass and other musical innovations that bring this scene to an almost theatrical life.
Unlike today's iPod culture which encouraged the consumption of "singles" and "favorite hits" without any kind of extended context, this album should be consumed and enjoyed in its entirety to get the full effect. "Frank's Wild Years", "Gin Soaked Boy", "In the Neighborhood" etc certainly hold up on their own, but as an ensemble they are tantamount to major artistic achievment. |
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| "Swordfishtrombones" | 2008-04-17 |
| - Reviewed By mortonsguitar |
Tom Waits-Swordfishtrombones *****
My relationship with Swordfishtrombones is as follows; there are days where I will feel that this album is Waits' best, then there are other days where I think it is just another one of Waits' great albums but certainly not is best. regardless of which day it is I do feel that it is among the elite in Waits' cannon. If it is not the best it is for sure one of the best he ever released, and is with out a doubt the second best he released during the 1980s, right behind the amazing Rain Dogs.
This was a departure for Waits away from his almost crooner style he had created for himself. During the 1970's he was very much the musical equivalent of Charlie Chaplin. A tramp if you will. The lyrics are still the same; that whole beat writer meats Bob Dylan in the town cafe, but it is the music, the junkyard flavor of instrumentation that is so different. Instead of the basic jazzy out fit he lobbied for break drums, and glass harmonicas to name just a few. But more then that is the strange time signatures he used that would make even the great Frank Zappa scratch his head in amusement.
Songs like the albums opener 'Underground' and 'In The Neighborhood' come like a complete culture shock almost to the fans of old Waits. The amazing title track sounds fresh and new yet it still holds on to the Waits material of the 1970's. 'Gin Soaked Blues' is a rough electric blues, while 'Soldiers Things' is downright melancholy. 'Franks Wild Years' was a sign of this and the next two albums, and 'Down, Down, Down' is pure bliss. But perhaps it is the genius of '16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six' that most makes the album. Eventually the great Bob Seger would cover this but not to the same accord. Waits' original version is cool, and chilling. The strongest track off the album easily.
Swordfishtrombones was Waits' tribute album to the great Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. He did a swell job I must say. This is truly for those looking for something a little different but still intelligent. Swordfishtrombones is a true classic. |
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 "Robots" | 2008-01-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1YITR4REGM2VB |
| I got this CD because i love the movie robots and i learned that "underground" is from this CD, his voice is so unique and every song is different. |
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| "The most important Tom Waits recording ever... a special moment in a long brilliant career.." | 2007-09-17 |
| - Reviewed By carter439 |
| Tom Waits should be an example to all songwriters/bands who constanly feel the need to bend to commerical trends. When "Swordfishtrombones" was created it was original... it still sounds fresh to this day. The mutant dwarf community was even given attention by Tom on "Underground". This music is scary.. rough.. but truly emotional. "Just Another Sucker On The Vine" is my favorite instrumental of his and sounds like some errie trip in a city you've never been to before. I respect Tom Waits, for breaking himself out of a hole (that many artists are indeed in) and moving forward in the most unlikley decade - The 80's. Yes, Waits's breakthrough happened in the 1980's, when all sort's of artists were selling out, and converting to ridculous commerical trends. As far as solo artists go, few have ever, if ever, have reached the level of consistancy that Tom Waits has had since this album was recorded. The rest is history ... "Raindogs", "Mule Variations", "Orphans"... |
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| "Heller. Say it with me." | 2007-06-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: ARXNHTWNJUDR8 |
| I've had a cassette copy of this album since college. From day one it was noisy and scratchy, I take a pervese pleasure in the idea that Tom would almost prefer it that way. After being a companion on countless roadtrips the tape had become so worn that I had to replace it. The CD was like hearing it for the first time, there are sonic nuances I've missed for years. This is an iconic work from an American original. The dark pictures he paints in songs like Shore Leave and Soldier's Things are bracing and bitterly refreshing in an age of increasingly shallow and meatless pop culture prefab "musicians". |
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| "Tom rules!" | 2007-01-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A27R8WW85P5C9 |
| Tom is like a part of your genetic makeup, you either have it or you don't, some try to suppress it like curly hair but it's always there. Anyway the symptoms are you love everything this man says or does and forgive all if ever you need to, watch down by law or listen to his interviews, I dont get to have many emotions being an office worker but the closest I came was when I found out Tom had been on tour and I missed it, worst day of my life. |
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| "A revolutionary record" | 2007-01-02 |
| - Reviewed By twilight1 |
You've heard nothing like SWORDFISHTROMBONES, unless you've listened to other Waits records. This is the one that truly kicked off his evolution into "musical genius" territory. The lyrics are still similar to what came before, but the sonic landscape is brand new. Diverse instrumentation and melodic structure give way to an album that defies categorization.
From bluesy romps "Down, Down, Down", to country ballads "In the Neighborhood," to caberet maladies "Underground," SWORDFISHTROMBONES has it all. The title track is a disturbing ballad of a soldier returning from war (a similar theme reappears in other songs). "Frank's Wild Years" is a recitation about a young man apparently driven insane by his wife's Chihuahua." Overall, this album features a highly-disturbing lyric--yet the listern comes away with a sense of awe, even hope. Maybe it is a musical hope--hope that other artists will take a lesson or two from the Tom Waits handbook, and learn the value of being unique. Tom Waits certain has. |
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| "Waits fans are a diverse bunch" | 2006-09-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3RSO2MXIZA9EB |
| I guess Waits fans have to be diverse and maybe a tad strange, or, they wouldn't be Tom Waits fans. However, I look at some of these lukewarm reviews and I just scratch my head. I think this is one of Tom's greatest albums and certainly one my favorites. It has the accesable songs like "16 Shots" etc. and the truly strange, a real nice mix. Oh well, to each their own, but I think this is a nice starter album for Tom Waits novices. |
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| "A change in the winds...." | 2006-05-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A5C9UZCS7X6DO |
Tom Waits went changed his whole sound for this album, changing incredibly from his previous 1980 release "Heart Attack and Vine" (not including the soundtrack to "One from the Heart" which was released in 1982). This album marked a turning point in his career; he strayed from the piano a little, and focused a lot on percussion. This album marks the beginning of his famous trio of albums hailed by most Waits fans to be his best work (Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, and Franks Wild Years). This marked the first drastic change in style and even lyrics in his body of work thus far. With eerie carnival sounding instrumentals, to fast hard hitting percussion, to slow piano work, this album was one of his first to show how diverse his music is. It is also his first solo album released after marrying his wife Kathleen Brennan, and this changes many themes of his music, gearing less towards loneliness and more towards eccentric stories.
Overall this is a landmark in Tom Waits' career and an essential to any fan. |
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| "Bizarre Music Brillance" | 2005-08-03 |
| - Reviewed By dkilla |
| Tom Waits first album of his trilogy is a classic. Its so strange that you will have to listen to it a few times to get the meaning of the record. Some people hate his voice. I love it. He is probably the most unrecognized songwriters of his time. This record also has some great music on it. Favorites include 16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six, Town With No Cheer, Swordfishtrombone,Soldier's Things, and Gin Soaked Boy. The instrumentals and other songs are also good. Highly recommended. |
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