tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post3999084620326222150..comments2024-03-28T00:18:42.009-04:00Comments on The Wicked Stage: Waits Breaks LooseRob Weinert-Kendthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-18456847718639925052011-10-25T21:36:42.354-04:002011-10-25T21:36:42.354-04:00I'd agree that concision is this song's fr...I'd agree that concision is this song's friend. The compression of images and sounds is jarring in a just-right way.<br /><br />But a few longeuers on "Mule" aside, gassiness is not a problem I associate with most of Waits' work; if you go back to "Swordfishtrombones" or "Franks Wild Years" or even "Small Change," he clearly knows how to realize an idea and get out in under three or four minutes. What grabs me about this tune is how much everything in it counts. I've loved Tom Waits before (for me the three tentpoles of his ouevre are "Nighthawks at the Diner," "Rain Dogs," and "Mule Variations"), but I've never actually been moved by a Tom Waits song--or rather, not by one of his weird, clattery songs. Yes, I've been touched by the likes of the shamelessly maudlin "Martha," "Hold On," "Time," "Georgia Lee" and "Take It With Me" (or "Fall of Troy," from the "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack), but those are all slow weepers.<br /><br />What I wasn't prepared for was a song that sounds as raucous as "Filipino Box Spring Hog"--a great ride that doesn't really take you anywhere--but has so much real blood and guts and feeling in it. And that's the extraordinary "Hell Broke Luce."<br /><br />As you can see, I just can't say enough about the genius of this song.Rob Weinert-Kendthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-423453985506554362011-10-25T21:35:33.454-04:002011-10-25T21:35:33.454-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Rob Weinert-Kendthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015688507553252146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829734.post-30309803844908697452011-10-25T11:12:48.832-04:002011-10-25T11:12:48.832-04:00One thing Waits has talked about in interviews is ...One thing Waits has talked about in interviews is Brennan/Waits desire on this album to do only short songs and keep everything compact. I wonder if this additional focus has helped in this case. There's a fierce sense of editing to this song and the others on this album that's distinctly missing on "Mule Variations" and "Real Gone" (I should say upfront that I think Mule Variations is brilliant, but almost every song on it repeats its chorus a few too many times). Certainly this song is more effective at 4 ish minutes than "Sins of My Father" is at 10.isaac butlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07815094790605298884noreply@blogger.com