Tom Waits - Real Gone

Post date: Jul 04, 2011 7:6:55 AM

Gritty, odd, clanging; simply brilliant music - 8/10

Top tracks: "Top of the Hill", "How's it Gonna End", "Green Grass", "Clang Boom Steam/Make it Rain"

Best Lyric: "Lay your head where/My heart used to be/Hold the earth above me/Lay down in the green grass/Remember when you loved me"

Tom Wait's 18th album is a departure from the sound on Alice & Blood Money but channels some of the dirtier moments of Mule Variations. For those of you unfamiliar with Tom Waits I probably wouldn't recommend this as an introduction however for fans of this musical genius you need to pick this up now if you don't already have a copy. From the fantastic opening track "Top of the Hill" all the way through to "Chick a Boom" the album doesn't skip a beat, while there are a couple of long songs (Sins of my Father & Day After Tomorrow) the album never lags and keeps you interested all the way through. Whilst there is no piano to be found here it doesn't suffer because of this, it's a dark, gusty trip through a landscape that only Tom Waits can paint.

This isn't his best album however it needs to be in your collection - pour yourself a drink, turn off the lights and turn this up.