Tom Waits
Real Gone (Anti)
by Brian Varney
After 2002’s twin forays into European musical theatre, Alice and Blood Money, Tom Waits is back to doing what he does best, which is making Tom Waits albums. Alice and Blood Money were obviously Tom Waits albums – it says so right on the spine of the CD – but they were newly-recorded old material and a studied departure from his recent direction. Real Gone is a return to the territory Waits has rummaged through for the past 20 years or so, with a few surprises thrown in to make sure nobody gets bored.
Real Gone is good news for Waits fanatics, especially those who were disappointed by the “traditional” nature (I use that term in the loosest possible sense) of Alice and Blood Money, both of which were much more reminiscent of Beatnik-era Waits than anything he’s done since the Asylum days. Real Gone displays the Tom Waits we’ve come to know and love because it’s familiar and also because it’s not, and more importantly, it’s a strong album and a fine retort to those who wonder why so many people continue to listen to the increasingly noisy output of such a crusty old fuck.
(www.anti.com)