At first, I didn't realize that this was Waits' first album. I sat through the first four tracks, hearing this similar-sounding nostalgic blues, filled with twang and longing, allthewhile wondering where Tom Waits was. But, apparently, everyone starts somewhere, and Tom Waits mostly started in unadventurous songs with lyrics like "I hope that I don't fall in love with you / because falling in love just makes me blue."
But, once you hit "Midnight Lullaby," you realize that there may just be something there. You've got a sexy saxophone (which sticks around for other solid tracks, like the great instrumental title track), a jazzier sound, and a swung piano lullaby at the end.
Then you've got "Martha" and its not-as-good follower, "Rosie," both of which seem quite indebted to "Ol' Man River." "Martha," though, has a real identity and recognizable voice that makes it a classic Waits song.
The other track I notably enjoyed was "Ice Cream Man," one that I remember loving the first time I heard it back when Tom Waits was first introduced to me. Maybe the shine of hearing a grown man sing about ice cream has worn off some since my adolescent years, but the song remains a nice, jivey break from an otherwise smooth, thoughtfully-paced album.
Rating: 3.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment