I was lent this by a friend in the mid 1990s and was lukewarm about it. I re-discovered Waits about five years later, enjoying those later albums immensely. So this is an album viewed with the knowledge of what followed, something the rave reviewers in 1983 didn't have.
It's a definite move from the more traditional singer-songwriter stuff Waits had been doing for a decade, with stripped back accompaniments, and his voice sounding more 'lived-in'. Underground and Shore Leave set the scene for the 'new Tom', both less melodic than Waits fans were used to, before the discordant instrumental Dave The Butcher leads into Johnsburg, Illinois, a more familiar style short ballad. 16 Shells From A 30.6 is also a familiar Waits growl, while Town With No Name is forgettable. In The Neighbourhood, however, is magnificent, a brass backed tale of everyday, delivered as only Waits can, and it lifts the whole album at this point. Frank's Wild Years is a narrative that could have come from his cabaret-style album Nighthawks At The Diner, while the title track passes by without much impact. Down, Down, Down is more traditional rock'n'roll, then the pace slows for the piano-voice ballad Soldier's Things, and the bluesy Gin Soaked Boy. Then there's the quick and unmemorable Trouble Braids, before the album ends with the gentle piano instrumental Rainbirds.
I get how this was a departure for Waits, and might have been revelatory at the time, but to me, while it might be important historically in Waits' discography, musically he has done far better, both before and since.
3* - an artist in transition, and the best is yet to come.
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