Tom Waits – The Black Rider (1993)

I picked this up recently in a sale in HMV, nearly completing my Tom Waits section.

It's a collection of songs and music Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan wrote for the play The Black Rider, itself based on the William S Burroughs book.

The thing with soundtrack music is that it is intended to enhance and complement a visual performance, so doesn't have to stand up on its own. As such, this doesn't feel as strong as the studio albums that precede and follow it.

There's lots of carnival style instrumentals, as well as songs in this vein, mostly at the more experimental end of Waits' output.

Title track The Black Rider, though, is enjoyable (even if one lyric has me thinking of The Flintstones), and November feels like a comfortable old jumper for Waits fans. But the whole album is far more about generating an atmosphere for the play setting, so does feel just lacking something.

I'll Shoot The Moon is a fine Waits love song, as is the lovely Last Rose Of Summer.

But this isn't a Tom Waits classic album, nor was it intended to be. I'm sure it fits the setting it was written for very well, but it doesn't quite stand alone

Link to album tracks

3* - a bit of a mixed bag from this soundtrack