Swordfishtrombones (2023 Remaster)

This album has been added to 2 public lists:

• 

  Tom Waits

  Neil Hopkins

  This album was hailed as a radical departure at the time, but after the last couple of days it’s clear it’s more of an evolution, developing Tom’s established themes and distinctive style, and featuring instruments including a harmonium, marimba, bagpipes, a glass harmonica and even a chair. It’s an amazing album that still holds surprises even after many listens, particularly on the 2023 remaster. Each of the songs sets a distinctive mood and tells a story - from a drunken sailor on shore leave to a dusty town with no booze, with the standout being Frank’s Wild Years with the narrator telling a horrific tale of casual murder and mental breakdown in suburbia, sounding as if he’s chatting in a bar about the weather. The vocals range from the sweetly romantic on Johnsburg, Illinois to a wild drunken howl, and the lyrics go from a straightforward narrative to the barkingly surreal. Interspersed with the stories are instrumental pieces that are spine tingling.

  A true masterpiece.

• 

  2024-02

  vertino

  1001albums:635