Foreign Affairs
by Tom Waits
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Condition: Used
Tom Waits bestography
Foreign Affairs is ranked 18th best out of 27 albums by Tom Waits on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Tom Waits is Rain Dogs which is ranked number 112 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 11,705.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Foreign Affairs track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Foreign Affairs rankings
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Foreign Affairs ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 113 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 3 days ago | Exist-en-ciel | 5,975 | 70/100 |
| ! | 07/26/2025 01:57 |  AAL2014 | 3,583 | 75/100 |
| ! | 07/13/2025 16:47 | MaxStorm98 | 3,798 | 89/100 |
| ! | 06/23/2025 17:21 | thepardunk | 2,549 | 69/100 |
| ! | 11/27/2024 04:16 |  slatsheit | 2,041 | 81/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 70.9/100, a mean average of 70.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 70.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.8.
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Foreign Affairs comments
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Good album.
Poorly rated overall but my favourite perhaps as it was my introduction to Tom.
Foreign affairs, is Tom Waits' film noir album. It's full of monochrome images of gangsters, loose women, and illicit goings on, it's a very cinematic experience. The record starts off with the instrumental, Cinny's waltz, sets the scene perfectly, this isn't a modern day record, it's old fashioned, it's jazzy, it's dark and smoky. There's all sorts of characters here, the usual down and outs, hustlers and a whole host of others, including the bartender which Waits plays against Bette Midler's singleton out for a quiet drink on, I never talk to strangers. It's beautiful. Potter's field, is the most movie-esque here, with, Burma shave, not far behind. Potter's field, though, can be a challenging listen. Elsewhere on the album is the lovely, a sight for sore eyes, and the excellent, Muriel. There's a couple of ok tracks, the medley on side one(or track 4), and, barber shop, but Waits saves the best for last, foreign affair, is one his greatest compositions, it's beautiful, lyrically stunning, and in my opinion, in the top ten Waits songs ever. The album is not perfect, but it is the most atmospheric of his seventies records, just not the best.
Bork 06/11/2013 02:33 | #78570
The duet with Bette Midler is stellar, as is A Sight for Sore Eyes.
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