The Tom Waits Listening Club - Glitter and Doom Polls on Post 7457/Top 10 Waits songs poll results from post 751

Can’t believe the reissue/ pressing plant schedules aren’t more attuned to the DiS listening clubs frankly.

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Really looking forward to this. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to the album in full.

Huge fan of the big hitters though. Have probably posted this before, but one of my girls has Martha in their name - inspired in equal parts by this being one of my favourite songs of all time and by me and Mrs Z’s love of Martha Wainwright.

Fair to say it’ll be getting a vote from me in the song poll

:open_mouth:

There’s probably only one or two Waits records I like less than Closing Time but I still enjoy it. Martha is an obvious standout, a song that could be a concert staple for a whole career but after some small digging I couldn’t see any evidence that Tom has played it past the mid 70’s. Beautiful piano, the strings and backing vocals flesh out the romance of the chorus and if you can have a favourite closing line to a song guess this has mine. Tom’s voice is a remarkable instrument however he deploys it but it’s remarkable how smooth this vocal is, smooth but like whiskey rather than chrome, no dust or phlegm yet. I also really like how sparse Lonely is, it’s what I imagine Tom’s playing on the album cover, often find myself absent mindedly singing lonely eyes, lonely face to myself.

Anyone else buy the issue of Mojo Tom Guest edited in 2010? This cd he chose the tracks for was pretty good

…and this track on there really reminds me of Ice Cream Man…which, aside from the intro and outro, I don’t enjoy much. Sixteen Tons is a tune though.

I think Rosie and Old Shoes are pretty dull and find it almost impossible to remember Virginia Avenue, Little Trip to Heaven and Midnight Lullaby as soon as they’ve finished, though they are amiable enough. I like Tom’s habit of interpolation and I guess Hush Little Baby coming in over the end of Lullaby is his first on record? I love the album closing with Grapefruit Moon into the title track, makes a thoroughly charming 9 minutes and leaves me thinking warmly of the album as a whole.

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Loved that CD, it introduced me to Gavin Bryars’ Jesus Blood Never Failed me Yet which is one of the best pieces of music ever (particularly the version without our Tom)

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Only knew a couple of tracks before listening Closing Time. Really enjoyed going through it. A couple of amazing stand outs and a bunch of tracks that leave me a little cold. Still a really interesting listen, thinking this is how it all started etc. ‘Martha’ and ‘Hope that I don’t…’ are the big tracks and also my faves. I can get totally transported and lost in these two tracks. On the other hand… ‘Lonely’ is really awful.

Found it a bit pedestrian if i’m honest. Perfectly fine but very little that really jumps out and grabs me. If this had been his only record then I guess it would have faded from view a long time ago. Most interesting thing about it is hearing those little ideas that would blossom on later records - the smokey lounge bits like Virginia Avenue and the storytelling on Martha.

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How the fuck was he 23 when he wrote Martha? That just doesn’t seem possible. An early sign that this guy was definitely not wired the same way as his contemporaries.

It is the clear standout though - it is telling that Ol55 was covered by the Eagles. My main feeling was that a lot of this music could only have been written in the US, but that there wasn’t much to otherwise distinguish it, which is exactly how the Eagles make me feel.

Still. For a 23 year-old this is an astonishing achievement, in that it sounds like the competent if unremarkable work of a 50-year-old rock legend releasing a folk record that no-one will listen to.

Sounds like I’m being harsher than it probably deserves, but for the most part I found it enjoyable enough, but there is no way I would listen to it except that it has the name Tom Waits on the cover.

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+1 for the ‘not that familiar with the pre-Swordfishtrombones’ camp - but this seems a good excuse to go over some of the older stuff.

On first listen to Closing Time, it isn’t grabbing me massively though there are a few standouts.

Martha - really poignant, and interesting that he was writing from the perspective of an old man when he was so young. Tom Waits has always seemed older than he actually is.

Lonely is great too (though judging by above comments, this splits opinion).

I like this idea.

I do think the album cover and title pretty much perfectly match the vibe of this record.

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My harsh words on ‘Lonely’ very much my silly opinion, perhaps not helpful to say something is awful. Will try and avoid that on the next one!

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No worries. I wasn’t taking issue with it - just found it interesting that quite a few people had marked it out as being one of their least favourite tracks, and for a few other people (including me) it was one of their favourites.

I guess it’s because it sounds a bit different to everything else on the album…

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Well there’s only one way to settle this…

Lonely
  • Beautifully sparse and melancholy
  • But where’s the melody, Tom?

0 voters

Listened to this earlier. I’m a bit of a TW novice, only really know the big names. I enjoyed it on the whole. Really liked Virginia Avenue, Old Shoes…, Lonely, Martha & Grapefruit Moon (already knew those last 2 though) but I can see how he gets even better later on from what I know of his other stuff, so can see if you were already more familiar with that then this would seem a bit flat in comparison if that makes sense.

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Closing Time was my introduction to Tom Waits many, many years ago.
Absolutely loved it at the time, but nowadays I’d consider it to be a lower tier album.
Still some gorgeous stuff on here, especially Martha which is an all timer. And yes, totally agree with the comments regarding the last line, just an absolutely stunning sign off.
On the other hand, I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You winds me up a bit though, really don’t get on with that track at all.
Overall, a hit & miss affair. Much better fare will be along - especially when we hit Swordfishtrombones.

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I’m another “only know Tom’s post Swordfish output”, I have listened to Blue Valentine previously and it made me think early period Tom might not be for me. And I have to say I’m struggling with this one lads, just not my thing. I’m only half way through and I’m wanting it to end tbh, it’s doing nothing for me I just find it v dull. :man_shrugging:

Just got to Lonely and, yeah, got a feeling I’m going to be skipping through the rest of the album :grimacing:

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Have only just managed my official listen (though am very familiar with the record).

On one hand, an astonishing debut for a 23 year old, way more depth and wisdom than those years should allow. But on the other (and as a Tom Waits record), a bit trad and mild vs what is to come.

As an opener Ol’ 55 is huge, Martha is obviously a standout and Closing Time itself is a beautiful end to the album.

I have a huge soft spot for the intro to Ice Cream Man, as I remember some early UK hip hop track we used to rinse sampled it, but the song itself doesn’t do it for me.

There isn’t anything on here really that Heart of Saturday Night doesn’t do better.

I’ve gone for 3/5, but a 3 from Tom smashes most other artists.

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Been really looking forward to this listening club, having properly got in to ol’ Tom a couple of years ago.

Not really got anything to add that hasn’t already been said about ‘Closing Time’ A solid, but unspectacular, start with a few standouts. Would probably have given it a 7/10 but, knowing what’s coming up, I’ve settled on a 3/5.

Oh, and this thread has given me fresh impetus to go back and finish reading that ‘Lowside of the Road’ bio.

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Well lost all internet and TV today and doesn’t look like I will be getting it back until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest (thanks Virgin Media!) so it’s the perfect time to pour out a little glass of whisky and give this a spin then.

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There’s something I’ve always loved/hated about the Closing Time album cover and that’s the clock face in the background that’s so murky and dark it’s barely visible and I keep thinking it’s glue residue from a price sticker every time I see it. It’s pretty funny.

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I literally did the exact same thing, I just tried to scratch off the clock bit as I thought it was sticker glue residue.