Tom Waits - Nighthawks At The Diner - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Bawlers, on the surface, is every bit as soothing as Brawlers is abrasive. But for all the gentle piano and brass embellishments, the mood is far from serene, inhabiting the bittersweet, sentimental borderline between a bender and hangover. Given that this sound goes back to Waits' earliest days, the timeframe is wider here than elsewhere in the set, yet it holds together with a late-night woozy consistency while veering from AM-radio jazz (You Can Never Hold Back Spring) to folk (Widow's Grove), and intimate (World Keeps Turning) to show-stoppingly anthemic (Never Let Go, Down There By the Train). More than any other disc, Bawlers is proof that Waits can pull these kind of nightclub-act songs out of his derby hat at will, able to channel the archetypal piano-man character with minimal effort.

The collection of 56 songs went far beyond a simple career retrospective. It dipped back as far as 1984 with the bulk of it's songs hailing from the mid-nineties onward. Over 2/3 of the material had never been heard when originally released in 2006 and had 30 newly recorded songs. Orphans also featured a number of songs finding a home on a Waits' album for the first time. They included Waits' unique interpretations of songs by such diverse talents as The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht and Leadbelly. These outtakes, rarities and the previously unreleased material were separately grouped into themes and named, Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. And now these titles will be released individually. Brawlers is a collection of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stomps Bawlers is a collection of Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits' songs Bastards is a collection of experimental music and strange tales.

Digitally remastered edition. Blue Valentine is a big departure from earlier Waits albums. Trading the piano for the guitar, Waits is getting rawer and bluesier and title track is a great example of this. Waits is in transition here, so you also get a stunning orchestrated rendition of Gershwin's InchSomewhereInch, and the beautiful piano ballad, InchKentucky Ave.Inch, but you also get the juke joint swagger of InchRomeo Is BleedingInch and InchWhistlin' Past the GraveyardInch. This is also the record that contains one of Waits' most popular songs ever, InchChristmas Card from A Hooker in MinneapolisInch. Tom Waits is a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, musician, composer and actor. His deep distinctive gravelly voice was described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding as though Inchit was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a carInch. Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona with his trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music.