Album of the day (#1387): Closing Time by Tom Waits

[albummaster]

Today's album of the day

Closing Time by Tom Waits (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 1973.
Country:
Overall rank: 587
Average rating: 82/100 (from 178 votes).

Tracks:
1. Ol' '55
2. I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You
3. Virginia Avenue
4. Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)
5. Midnight Lullaby
6. Martha
7. Rosie
8. Lonely
9. Ice Cream Man
10. Little Trip To Heaven (On The Wings Of Your Love)
11. Grapefruit Moon
12. Closing Time

About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

[meccalecca]

the start to one of the most brilliant music careers I've ever experienced.
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http://jonnyleather.com

[RockyRaccoon]

Oh my Christ this album is beautiful. Full of longing and sadness. It's an album to listen to while walking along a dimly lot city street. Easily one of Waits' best.
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2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[Skinny]

This just seems so tame compared to the majority of what came after, not to mention that I don't think he'd found his voice yet at this point (both artistically and literally). It's still a very good album, but it pales in comparison to many of his other releases. I'd definitely take at least seven or eight Waits albums ahead of this one, and probably a few more too.
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.

[denmarkman]

[RepoMan]

The first four songs + Martha are incredible. Love its "piano singer goes dive bar" angle. Inventive songwriting where everything just fits perfectly in place making the songs really stand out compared to a lot of tired old maudlin singer-songwriter tripe. But after that incredible run, the songs mostly sound pretty uninspired and rather ordinary. Showcases how important arrangements & songwriting are to making a song stand out.

[JasonZaia]

Such a strong album to start off with. Right from the beginning, the pressure must have been on.
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- An aspiring Music Journalist.

[samistake2ice]

Tom Waits is my all time favorite, and at any given time there have probably been 4 of his records that have been in the top 2 of my overall chart. This album is currently my favorite. It was the first waits album I bought on vinyl and easily the one that gets the most play. Other TW albums invariably get my heart rate up, make me wanna dance and sing and howl at the moon. Closing time makes me wanna dim the lights, pour a whiskey and recall past loves.

I'll never tire of it.
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Kiki wrote:

You're chart is sooooooooo american. It's like a diner in here.

Check out my new review/pop-culture site MAD DISTRACTION

[zdwyatt]

I love this album. Along with the follow-up (which I might favor slightly), this is such an impressive start to a career. This is definitely a different sound from his his later stuff, but I dig it. I can just imagine him playing in dive bar in New York in the 70s. It's rare for an album to be so evocative for me, but this one nails it.

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