Tom Waits holds a special place as one of music’s reigning eccentrics, a stature that has as much to do with his deep throated barroom growl as with his disheveled, discordant melodies and equally ragged arrangements. Although he began his career as a more or less traditional singer/songwriter (he penned “’Ole 55” for the Eagles and “Looking For The Heart of Saturday Night,” a song that remains a reliable semi-standard), his trajectories into more experimental realms have rendered him one of the most adventurous and unpredictable artists on today’s musical landscape. So it comes as no surprise to find Waits’ ambitions stretching the parameters with this expansive three disc set, an offering that’s part anthology, part new opus. With three distinctive divides - cleverly subtitled “Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards” -- it reflects various aspects of Waits’ mangled and ill-tempered persona. The “Brawlers” disc is, as advertised, the rowdiest of the bunch, with songs such as “Low Down” and “Fish In The Jailhouse” providing a full-on assault. The “Bawlers” are ballads, sentimental songs with a tears-in-your-beers sensibility. Ultimately though it’s the “Bastards” that give full reign to Waits weirder tendencies, from the bizarre narrative “Children’s Story” to the spoken word descriptive of weird insect habits on “Army Ants.” The occasional cover - “Goodnight Irene” “Sea Of Love” and “Young At Heart” being the better known - temper these unwieldy extremes but Orphans further affirms the fact that Waits’ world inhabits an expanse that lies somewhere between the surreal and the psychotic.
~ Lee Zimmerman
Release date: November 21, 2006
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