Tom Waits

Editor's Review:

I must first say that Tom Wait's last release, the acclaimed Mule Variations, was a bit of a letdown for those of us who loved the unbridled insanity of The Black Rider and Rain Dogs. Being that Alice, like …Rider, is based on a Robert Watson play, I was hopefully cautious, and Alice has turned out to be a fulfilling change, seeing Tom Waits further exploring his ability for composition. More jazzy than bluesy, Alice is, all critiques aside, an utterly brilliant display of musical arrangement; the dynamic chorus of strings, banjos, saws, guitars and woodwinds is truly breathtaking in the same sense that a Vivaldi concerto is. And although the ballads begin to feel a little formulaic, this orchestration combined with the three or four masterworks of dementia like "Everything You Can Think," make Alice a piece worthy of rowdy applause, and further proof that Tom Waits, after more albums than I have years of life, is still a fountain of instrumental and lyrical creativity.
-Trent Yarosevich



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Record Label Anti Released May 2002

Tracks Alice Everything You Can Think Flower's Grave No One Knows I'm Gone Kommienezuspadt Poor Edward Table Top Joe Lost In The Harbour We're All Mad Here Watch Her Disappear Reeperbahn I'm Still here Fish & Bird Barcorolle Fawn