Tom Waits

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Tom Waits has only two and half star average rating on this list, are you kidding me?!! The man is a living legend and known and loved by virtually every rock/blues/alternative performer living today. Come on give Tom his due props.

The epitome of an all around respectable artist. You have to be close minded or extremely ignorant to loathe Tom, unless you just aren't that into his voice, however it becomes an acquired taste over time and definitely adds to his songs. He's very versatile, each album of his is COMPLETELY different than the previous one. Check out albums Small Change, Rain Dogs, or Bone Machine and then work your way happily into the realm of his immense catalogue. "When the moon is a cold chiseled dagger, and it's sharp enough, to draw blood from a stone." BRILLIANT!!! Arguably one of the best songwriters of all time. He's also a very down to earth individual who supports his local community and independent record stores, and refuses to let commercial advertising use/reinvent his songs for marketing schemes. He's taken them to court for trying.

Genius

SUCKS!!!

daddy ??

haven't heard a lot, but I love what I have heard

He was Alternative before anyone knew we needed an alternative. Now-a-days he's an alternative to the Alternative, which all sounds the same to me. He says he writes two types of songs, grim reapers and grand weepers, but I think that barely scratches the surface. He's a story teller a humourist a master of jazz, the blues, avante garde, Brechtian theatre music and more. He's not for passive listening but he pays you well for your attention.

Future generations will marvel at the artistry and experimentation that Tom Waits brought to popular music. Just like with all great geniuses, not respected or appreciated in his times. So what, you can still listen to him and be moved to another aural dimension.

Brilliant. But I can't undestand how he got listed in top 40/pop??? I compare him to Monty Python, if you don't like it, it's because you don't get it.

i dont know if he's top 40 per se. definitely one of the most musically creative and challenging guys out there.

the most important and talented living recording artist. period.

He doesn't get much airplay because of his ragged voice, but he writes great songs and isn't afraid to experiment with different sounds and styles. He gets a lot of respect from other musicians, even if most people don't know who he is.

his voice belongs to another world

Never mind Clapton; Tom Waits is God. In three decades of recording he's given us some of the world's most preternaturally beautiful melodies as well as some of its most intriguing noise. He's been covered by Johnny Cash and the Ramones, Bette Midler and the Violent Femmes. He’s recorded duets with Midler, Crystal Gayle, and Keith Richards. Still, his only forays into the Top 40 have been at others' hands: The Eagles' cover of "Ol' 55," Springsteen's bowdlerized version of "Jersey Girl," and Rod Stewart's "Downtown Train." His first album, 1973’s CLOSING TIME, showed an artist still very much in search of a voice, lunging experimentally into folk, country, and jazz. But it already held the nucleus of the burnt-out barfly persona he was to refine in THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT and carry through all his recordings for Asylum in the seventies, encompassing boozy anthems, freeform riffs. achingly beautiful piano ballads, and little 5-minute films noirs in musical form like "Invitation to ... Read more

Sit down and listen to ANY Tom Waits album, read the lyrics. This guy is a poor man's Dylan or Springsteen. Deserved a much richer career, but maybe he didn't want it. I wish I could write songs as deep and meaningful as Tom Waits.

Tom Waits inhabits a world of his own creation, a aural dimension that is wholly unique. Whether his older 70s jazz-tinged albums, or his more adventurous 80s and 90s albums, his songs possess a power that I find matched in only a handful of other musicians. For those new to Tom, try Bone Machine or Big Time, or for the older albums try "Heart of Saturday Night" or Small Change. You won't be sorry.

I just got a Tom Waits CD and I really enjoy his music. It is very different and is a nice addition to any CD collection. The CD I have (I totally forget the name of it right now) is on the more mellow side. He has a good voice, interesting lyrics and while not all the songs are great, there are enough to make me happy with the CD.

Go listen to Closing Time, Small Change, Rain Dogs, Foreign Affair, Blue Valentine or Mule Variations...and then come up with a remotely reasonable excuse for Tom's low showing on this silly list!

What a unique artist... while most of his songs are almost unintelligible noise, every once in a while you will hear one that just grabs you... his rasping voice and haunting lyrics will have an impression on you - for most it results in a love him or hate him reaction. And there is something to be said for that.

Tom Waits is the one artist my husband my 3 grown children and I all agree on. His new cd is great.

There's a handful of Waits songs that I find really compelling but much of this stuff is too obscure for me -- and that's saying a lot.