Rain Dogs is one of my favourite albums to pop in, confident that I'll love what I hear as soon as I do. The first four tracks, "Singapore," "Clap Hands," "Cemetery Polka," and "Jockey Full Of Bourbon," are an awesome combination of surreal, catchy songs, which maintain an energy that doesn't let up until the laggier "Tango 'Til They're Sore."
Then you've got the first low point of the album, running through "Diamonds & Gold," which sounds like a Mary Poppins showtune on acid, up until "Time," which, while maintaining the same great, bizarre lyrical style as the four first, but falters from a laborious chorus and an intense overuse of the word "and." I'm sure it's intentional, but that doesn't mean I like it.
Next is another great stretch, starting with the titular "Rain Dogs," running through "9th and Hennepin," a series of wonderful phrases and as excellent an establishment of mood and tone as I've ever heard, up to the catchy, bluesy "Gun Street Girl."
The last song, "Anywhere I Lay My Head" is a wonderful end to the album, with its sentimental howling vocals and parade march instrumental round-up.
I always love variety in albums, and Tom Waits brings that in spades with Rain Dogs. 19 tracks is a lot to fill, so it doesn't come as a surprise that not every song resonates as well as the best of them, but even trimming the fat, you still come away with nearly an album's worth of really really great music.
Rating: 3.8 stars
Tomorrow's Review: Labyrinth
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