 "Waits' best ..." | 2007-12-09 |
| - Reviewed By deckard-croix |
What a perfect project for Tom Waits! Like Woyzeck (Blood Money), not to mention Alice, The Black Rider (Der Freischutz) is perfectly complimented by Waits' inimitable style(s). Carnival music (which is just the creepy version of a waltz anyway) and avant-garde orchestrations brought a whole new aspect of Tom Waits to the foreground at the time. Now, he's done the aforementioned albums and so, looking back, it only seems natural.
William S. Burroughs (of which I'm a huge fan as well) co-wrote many selections and is even featured vocally on "TAint No Sin". So, his inclusion is even more of a treat, which shows why this is my biased review, as well favourite album.
I do agree with the previous reviewers here, in that I would not recommend this album as an introduction to Waits. Other more accessible albums would be better (perhaps Alice, Heartattack and Vine, Rain Dogs, Heart of Saturday Night - maybe even Real Gone). Nevertheless, once you're initiated, there's no better album in the Tom Waits' catalog. |
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| "The Waits Rider." | 2007-07-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1EL1J7S2NC752 |
Yes Rain Dogs, Bone Machine, and maybe even Mule Variations, Closing Time or Alice, are indeed the great works by Tom Waits - But The Black Rider is the most sublime and un-selfconcious and inspired in my opinion.
Pick it up If you havent already. |
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 "Macabre and strangely addictive" | 2007-03-21 |
| - Reviewed By twilight1 |
Tom Waits's THE BLACK RIDER is one of his most ecclectic albums...and that's saying a lot, as Waits fans well-know. RIDER features instrumentals that are just as disturbing as some of the lyrics. The saw in "November" will have you looking over your shoulder; the macabre
recitation that opens the album will have you dreading what comes next.
Written/arranged/compiled with sidekick Greg Cohen, as well as William Burroughs, RIDER comes off as a piece of art--a portrait all its own, where the sum of its parts merge to create a picture whose image is distorted and out of focus, but is no less beautiful. RIDER is proof that a Tom Waits record is thoroughly a Tom Waits record; there are a couple songs here he doesn't even play on, yet you have no doubt that it is pure Tom Waits. Tom Waits is not just a musical artist, he's a musical EVENT, and THE BLACK RIDER is the perfect example. Still...for anyone just getting started with Waits's music, you might want to go elsewhere first. RIDER is not for the uninitiated. |
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| "Tom Waits at the Top of His Game" | 2006-11-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: AIY0RCKCVB7KX |
| I just don't understand why this album is usually received in a more lukewarm fashion by even admitted Tom Waits fanatics. Personally, I find it to be one of his enduring classics. The songs are ridiculously heartfelt, evoking a sad, beautiful, spooky, wonderful atmosphere which can linger with you for long after you sit down and listen. And so varied! The opening carnival barker "Lucky Day Overture", the depression present in "Just the Right Bullets" (the devil seductively crooning to a desperate, lovesick young man), the detached terror of "Crossroads", the throw-it-all-to-the-wind feel of "Lucky Day", and even a thunderous "Russian Dance" - this album is a tapestry of pain and beauty and deserves to be ranked right up there with the cream of the Waitsian crop. |
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| "And the first one's always free..." | 2006-10-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3N36LYJSWJXF5 |
First off, to the best of my knowledge there is no commerically released cast recording of The Black Rider. The music on this album is arranged differently than that from the stage show, and all the main vocals are by Tom Waits.
That being said, this is easily Tom Waits's most underappreciated album. On a first listen, it can be intimidating; even die-hard fans of Real Gone may have trouble getting through tracks like "Oily Night". The lyrics are, let's face it, terrifying, and if you're not expecting it, it's rather jarring.
The thing about the album is that once you hear it, you just have to hear it again. It crawls into your head and just won't get out. It's easy to see why The Black Rider has a cult following. It's seductive and entrancing, and it just won't let you go. |
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| "Post-Rock Kurt Weill+More" | 2006-09-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2685MIOSRU5DQ |
| Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant. Not since The Doors' rendition of Alabama Song has their been such perfect cabaret-art rock - though to be fair such music really defies any strict attempts at categorizing. It's just great music. |
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| "Incredible" | 2006-07-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A5C9UZCS7X6DO |
The most overlooked album Tom Waits has ever been a part of. The album is a mixture of maddening melodies with much emphasis on percussion, telling the story of the black rider. Songs like "Just the Right Bullets" help give listeners who haven't seen the play a chance to pick up on the story, where songs like "Oily Nights" just seem insane. But what is truly amazing about this album is that if you sit down and listen to it from beginning to end, then though the songs are all very different, they flow together very well. This seems to be the perfect project for Tom Waits, even more perfect for him than Franks Wild Years which he starred in. This music may be incredibly overlooked, but I have grown to find that it has become one of my favorite Tom Waits albums, because it is so unique.
Overall, I wish I could give it six stars, and that might lead people to actually listen to this album. |
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 "Had To Respond To All The Glowing Reviews" | 2004-08-09 |
| - Reviewed By sbfraser3 |
| After reading all the glowing reviews for this CD, I felt that I had to provide at least a partial rebuttal. First, let me say that I've been a T.W. fan for over 25 years, through all his iterations. He is, quite simply, one of my favorite artists. That said, this is the only Waits CD I can't relate to AT ALL. I must have listened to this thing at least 20 times over a two year period before finally giving up selling it. This is the only Waits I've ever parted with. If you like his "post-Swordfish" style, try "Rain Dogs", "Bone Machine", "Blood Money, or "Alice" - damn near anything but this (even "Mule Variations", if you must). If you love Waits, you'll probably have to try this (like I did), but consider yourself warned. |
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| "Epic music that demands devotion" | 2001-08-08 |
| - Reviewed By legree |
| Ah, how soothing to listen to a few broken pianos in this age of synthesized pop. A previous reviewer has described this recording as post-beat apocalypse, and that really is it. Those looking for a Burroughs-piece have to be satisfied with a couple of tracks, though his influence circles throughout the recording. This is definately Tom's project, and might stun those that aren't adapted to his style. I would recommend purchasing this albulm only after listening to his previous albulm Bone Machine, which should introduce you to the hard edges and scratch. Those who know that albulm can expect an explosion of the themes and sounds addressed there. Imagine Bone Machine transformed into an opera, performed on a cold, cloudy day in a German ruin, and given the mordant tones of a Burroughs monologue. The distant beauty of public ruins, symphonies of chains and accordions, dirt in the ground. If you devote yourself a little to this recording you will pine to see the play is scored. After a while you may be able to imagine it yourself... |
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| "Musical heroin" | 2001-03-15 |
| - Reviewed By drg31 |
| It's dark, cold, intense, scary and very very addictive. Ever since a friend gave me the CD I have a hard time not listening to it whenever I have a spare moment. (I would listen to it at work too, but it's so damn absorbing.) I don't want to duplicate the good things that have been said about the album by other reviewers--most of them I agree with. One thing that I want to point out though is the astonishing minimalism of the music. A great deal is accomplished with few brilliantly chosen instruments ("boots" are listed as an instrument in "Russian dance"!) in most songs, and in the album as a whole a great deal is accomplished by intertwining only relatively few musical themes. |
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