Closing Time
by Tom Waits

From poppmusic TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/20/2017 05:25 | #187698 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A most unusual debut album for Waits- hardly indicative of his material to come, though perhaps topically relevant. Pretty much in every subsequent album, Waits sounds as if he's getting drunk at a bar. Here, he's already been there and done that- the album's title "closing time" couldn't be more accurate. Rock fans, shy away, this is music for lovers of vintage wine and scotch, soppy and folky like Seals and Crofts, Jim Croce, or even Dan Fogelberg. It's probably a must-hear on an actual vinyl. On the whole, I'm not sure this album has much of what I love about Tom Waits in it- the beatnik poet and drunken romantic, but it nevertheless captures truly well those late hours when nobody's around with cinematic accuracy. Even "Ice Cream Man" could be said to be a number that the house band plays "as a joke" after most people have left. If I had to describe it in one word: "creaky"

From buzzdainer TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/08/2016 00:17 | #159045 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I like just about everything Tom Waits has ever recorded, but this is my favorite of all his albums. Which probably says a lot about me as a listener. While I love the weirdness, goofiness, and twistedness of later Waits albums, it is this collection of guilelessly sentimental, lonely love songs that reaches my heart the most. "Ol' 55" is my favorite here, though there's really not a weak track among the bunch.

Beautiful and relaxing album. Lyrics go through the heart. Also very enjoyable in candle light with a nice glass of whiskey (and possibly a cigar. I don't smoke, but I can imagine :p)

From Romanelli TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/30/2011 14:28 | #22467 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A great debut album. His performances hadn't caught up to his songwriting yet, which is actually part of the charm here.

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.