I want to discover the music of Tom Waits. Where to start?

It’s the only Waits album I own at present, and to me it felt like a more accessible Trout Mask Replica. That’s kind of like a less-dangerous crocodile, though.

I like it quite a bit, and will pick up more of his albums when I see them.

 

That's the one I started with back in the 80s... made me a fan...

 

I've had Rain Dogs for about 16 years and it's one of my 'go to' albums if I cant decide what I want to listen to. It really is a brilliant album. It may even be in my top 20 favourite album list if I were to make one.

And, saying all that, I don't own another Tom Waits album.

 

I started cold on Tom Waits with Swordfishtrombones back in 1983 when I was 16. It took me some time like it and then some time to love it, but it made me a Tom Waits fan for life. Anyway you do it, it's worth the effort. I still think Swordfishtrombones is his masterpiece. Along with Rain Dogs.

 

Small Change, the first album of Mr. Waits'. It's still my personal go-to.
It's his establishment as a supreme raconteur in the world of music.

And now for something completely different, from Closing Time,
Side A Track 1, 1973:

"Ol' '55" - Mr. Thomas Alan Waits.

“If Jackson Pollack could sing, he’d sound like Tom Waits.”
- Elton John, allegedly.

 

Gentlest way in is the One From The Heart soundtrack and then maybe Heartattack & Vine. My preference would be to work back from there through the Asylum records before going pitching forwards into the Island albums and beyond but that wont be a terribly popular view.

Still holding out for a Wilko Johnson collaboration.

 

Oh that is a gorgeous piece of work.

EG.

 

Happy Seventieth Birthday to...

Mr. Thomas Alan Waits!

 

Closing Time is a must. The Heart of Saturday Night....Frank's Wild Years just for Innocent While You Dream (too bad there isn't some Tom Waits equivalent of Neil Young's Decade)....On The Nickel from Hearttack And Vine is a great song, one of his best in my opinion....Mule Variations is great...Orphans is really great...

 

Beautiful Maladies is a solid overview of his Island Records years.

 

I'm still waiting to hear anything from Tom Waits that I think sounds like music.

"Downtrain Train" is OK, I suppose, but that's the only song of his that I can listen to, let alone like.

 

His music took a turn in '83 with Swordfishtrombones. Stylistically more varied, more experimental. I believe Tom credits his wife, Kathleen Brennan, with encouraging him to explore new terrain. He never looked back. If you're starting out, I'd suggest picking up two albums - Small Change from '76 for the best of his earlier persona/approach, and Rain Dogs from '85, where his new direction was first fully realized. If you like Rain Dogs, just keep going.

 

A very interesting and erudite contribution, greatly appreciated by all I'm sure.

I'd go with 'Blue Valentine', probably the first one I heard but love it from start to finish. Or 'Mule Variations', that's got some great songs on.

 

I went down a similar road. I liked him, but where to start? I went Bone Machine by a fluke.I often think,
if I would’ve picked the wrong release, it would have stopped me from going further. Find a release you like
then ask what’s like this one? He does change moods here and there, but once he’s in your door, the treats are
plenty.

 

I think I might pick up Closing Time in the future. I sampled some of his other stuff but he gets a little too Beefheart in his career.

 

I’d say the same, except maybe top 40 and I own a copy of Closing Time as well.

 

There are two versions of Tom Waits. There's everything before Swordfishtrombones, then everything from Swordfishtrombones on. There's joy to be had in both.

 

I have little to add to the suggestions already made (and the OP seems to have started his journey now anyway), but I just had to think of the signature line a memeber here had for a while: If God had a wallet, there would be a picture of Tom Waits in it. I think this might be accurate. I love the guy to bits.

 

I use her "Train Song" to test the bass on my gear. Great album with great sound.

 

Agree on Swordfishtrombones!
For the Asylum period I'd go with "Closing Time" or "Anthology" if you can find it.

 

I started with the excellent Asylum Years compilation on vinyl. The CD version is nowhere near as good as it omits several tracks to make it a single disc: but what is still there is excellent and very representative of his ‘first phase.’

If you choose to go down the linear path, starting with Closing Time, be prepared for the BIG stylistic shift after Heart Attack.& Vine. I love the singer-songwriter-meets-Nelson Riddle style of the albums from ....Saturday Night up to HA&V but it took me longer to absorb the stuff he did after moving to Island.

It’s all great, though. I’ve never heard anything by him I didn’t at least like.

 

If someone were asking me to introduce them to Tom Waits, I’d play Swordfishtrombones without a second thought. His earlier work has some great stuff on it but Swordfishtrombones is such a distinctive, seminal, one of a kind album that it makes everything he did before feel superfluous.

 

So deep and wide a river, you can dip your toe in many places. Never the same river twice.

I would spring for three or four albums and go from there.

But for one, "Rain Dogs." My beginner's bag also would have "Swordfishtrombones" and "The Heart of Saturday Night."

"Beautiful Maladies" is a fine collection even for well-stocked fans, as noted upstream. Or go commando and get "Orphans."

Hell, all good suggestions on this thread. Note that most (correctly) predate the start of the '90s ... but still some good stuff after that.

What a national treasure. I wanna see him on a postage stamp.

 

It's a soundtrack, and is also credited to Crystal Gale, but I put One From The Heart in between the Asylum and Island albums, where it belongs chronologically and in some ways, stylistically. It foreshadows some of the routes he'd take on the next studio album.

EG.

 

Yes, that one tends to get overlooked and being saddled to a flop film doesn’t help.