Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones (Island ILPS 9762)
Brian Case, Melody Maker, 8 October 1983
WITH 15 TRACKS, this is sketchbook Waits and indicates the range of his writing gifts. Maybe it's the influence of writing music for movies, but there's no doubt of a new concision about his work here. Where he used to stack image on image in every number, he can now feel confident about getting the emotion across in a single snapshot.
Total word count of piece: 403