Alice - Tom Waits

Advantages: everything - a fantastic album
Disadvantages: may lead to a lifestyle rethink!

I have this friend who isn't quite of our time. She dresses in the style of a forties aristocrat and spends her time collecting bizarre and fascinating things. She reads medieval literature for - get this - "fun", and knows the advantages of a fine dessert wine and a Hammer horror DVD. Best of all, however, is the fact that, between herself and her father, they have one of the hugest ensembles of music-you-haven't-quite-heard-of you've ever seen. ...
...at my university and she at hers, a package arrived in the post. In it was a letter she'd written me (on handmade paper with an inkwell pen) and a copy of 'Alice' by Tom Waits. And I knew I was in for something strange and wonderful. Offhand, I'm not quite sure how many albums Tom Waits has done - let's say a dozen or more, because I'm sure it's in that region - but he's been around since the seventies if I'm not mistaking and whatever he's learnt ... Read review

Advantages: The work of a genius at the peak of his powers
Disadvantages: The remainder of my CD collection is gathering dust

Released earlier this year, on the same day as its sister album, “Blood Money”, “Alice” represents, for my small change, the best body of work Tom Waits has assembled in twenty years… and possibly in his entire career. In three months I’ve gone from having a blank space in my CD collection, waiting to be filled by this legendary and unique man, to being a complete Waits-phile... Since discovering the “Asylum ...
...purchased “Small Change”, “Big Time”, “Frank’s Wild Years”, “Swordfish Trombones”, “Heartattack and Vine”, “Closing Time”, “Blood Money”, “Bone Machine”, “The Black Rider”… hell, just about everything he’s ever put out, bar a couple of hard to find exceptions. For Waits innocents let me just say this: the man is possessed ... Read review

Advantages: Emotional, Brilliant Album
Disadvantages: Can get tired of his "grizzly" voice

...my head. 1. Alice - 2. Everything You Can Think - 3. Flowers Grave - 4. No One Knows I'm Gone - 5. Kommienezuepadt - 6. Poor Edward - 7. Table Top Joe 8. Lost In The Harbor 9. We're All Mad Here 10. Watch Her Disappear 11. Reeperbahn 12. I'm Still Here 13. Fish & Bird 14. Barcarolle 15. Fawn I can't decide whether Tom's voice is truly beautiful or truly ugly, and in the end it doesn't matter. It's stunning in it's delivery. The lyrics are ...
...the music is very sublime. One of the most amazing things about this man is his ability to completely change his voice. I’m not really sure how to describe this but if you listen to this album I’m sure you will know what I mean. I couldn't imagine someone would, or even could make an album like this, it is so completely different to anything I have ever come across before. The music congers up the image of an ancient “blues man” sitting in the corner ... Read review

Advantages: Great mood music from the laureate of lowlife
Disadvantages: loses a little out of original context

The release of "Alice" and it's companion piece "Blood Money" marked yet another evolution in the career of Tom Waits. These albums, based on the music he had written for plays show Waits in a more sombre, dramtic mood. Of the two, "Alice" is the quieter and more reflective piece. Though it lacks many of the crazed junkyard blues pieces that made Waits' latter day name. Instead, this album contains many pieces of complex emotion and beauty. This ...
...at his twisted lyrical best "arithmetic, arithmetock... turn the hands back on the clock" and sets a tone of wistful melancholy that continues throughout the album. The album is not however, simply a collection of maudlin tunes... This album also shows waits at his most inspired. particularly emphasising his outstanding storytelling ability. This is best expressed through album highlights Reeperbahn and Table Top Joe. Throughout this colllection, ... Read review

Advantages: Compilation of all of Waits greatest early work
Disadvantages: Doesn't include The Piano Has Been Drinking, Not Me

..., introduced by a horn section, which gives way into a moving string orchestration, and adds to the rawness of Waits bucolic reckoning. Truly spine-tingling. Heartattack… is also the source of Waits cover of Somewhere (from West Side Story), which he deconstructs and resurrects so it merely extends his unique ability with song. Asylum Years is, by turns, compelling, demanding, rewarding and frightening. It is tempting to say “if you only buy one Tom Waits album, buy this one”, but the truth is, you will not be able to stop at just one. With Alice and Blood Money being released together this year, it should be hoped a spotlight of interest will find its way to Waits’ world. Genius, after all, deserves better robes than shadows.... Read review

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