Tom WaitsBest Tom Waits Albums Ranked

Rain Dogs

pitchfork

10

“Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Today we revisit the singer-songwriter’s inimitable 1985 album, a romantic and carnivalesque masterpiece imbued with the avant-garde sound of New York.”

Mule Variations (Remastered)

pitchfork

9.5

“I once took a poetry workshop taught by a guy called Ed Dorn. You may have heard of Ed Dorn. He's a fairly famous guy, as poets go, and he's written his fair share of well- known poems. The first day of Dorn's poetry workshop consisted of him delivering a sometimes scathing and mostly nonsensical monologue that veered from Roman aqueducts to the Russian poet Akhmatova to indigenous North African p”

Alice (Anniversary Edition)

pitchfork

9.0

“The abundance of elder tunesmiths keeping it real is enough to make a youngster want to move to an assisted-living community in Florida, get his hobble on, and stand behind a screen door in a cardigan yelling, "It's my soccer ball now!" Let's check the oldometer's current readings: **Still Kind of Mildly Half-Cool, In a Way:** David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Neil Young, Robert Pollard, Jagger/Ri”

Used Songs 1973–1980

pitchfork

8.8

“So, here's the question: how do you go from James Taylor comparisons to being mentioned in the same breath as weirdos Harry Partch, Captain Beefheart and William S. Burroughs? And the answer is: I don't know. Ask Tom Waits. He'd probably tip his hat back, mumble some lengthy convoluted story about how he was born in the back of a cab, and go straight into how he was hired for his first paying gig ”

Closing Time (Remastered)

pitchfork

8.7

“These first seven albums constitute the first act of Waits’ remarkable career, even as these reissues complicate that journey from assembly-line singer-songwriter to eclectic iconoclast.”

Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (Remastered)

pitchfork

8.4

“This 3xCD box set is compartmentalized into style-segregated discs and features 30 new songs alongside a smattering of outtakes, soundtrack cuts, and other rarities.”