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There have been many incarnations of Tom Waits--the boozy piano balladeer, the arch Kurt Weill acolyte, the bold sonic experimentalist--but the one that pops up on REAL GONE is probably most akin to the raw, howling, modern primitive of BONE MACHINE. As he did on that 1992 album, Waits gets in touch with his inner Captain Beefheart on REAL GONE. Instead of employing arrangements that merely suggest the accompaniment of a FAT ALBERT-style junkyard band, Waits actually sounds like he's hooting and hollering in the middle of a Salvation Army scrapyard, albeit one populated by junkmen with an inherent simpatico for his medium.
The absence of piano is significant--Waits's jazzy harmonic underpinning is entirely dismantled here, leaving only the most basic, blues-oriented structures atop which Waits hangs his distinctive poetic imagery, at once surreal and highly detailed. There's an overwhelming sense of darkness ("How's It Gonna End," "Dead and Lovely"), but there are also moments of pure unfettered glee "Metropolitan Glide," "Shake It"), which are often goosed along by Waits's son Casey on turntables and percussion. A perennial romantic, Waits does let in a little melodic sunshine on the poignant closing ballad, "Day After Tomorrow," but for the most part, REAL GONE is a deliriously wild ride.
Japanese pressing of 2004 album includes one bonus track, 'Chick a Boom'. Academy Award nominated and Grammy Award winner, Tom Waits has been long considered one of music's most influential artists because he has continuously created music outside of fad or fashion. With REAL GONE, his off-road adventures are taken into the further beyond. Mixing and mashing: worlds both sonic and ethnic, musical traditions both new and old, and rhythms both mouth-made and sampled from his own instruments, Waits has reached a new pinnacle. Written and produced by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, his wife and long-time collaborator, REAL GONE features 16 tracks of funk, Jamaican rock-steady, blues both urban and rural, rhythms and melodies both Latin and African and, for the first time, no piano. Anti. 2004.Rolling Stone (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The core of REAL GONE, actually, is gospel music flipped inside out - an unholy voice, singing about the conspicuous absence of divine mercy."
Spin (p.118) - "[With] roadhouse guitar and scratchy bass...anchoring it all with his primal, bellowing tales of woe." - Grade: A-
Spin (p.64) - Ranked #27 in Spin's "40 Best Albums of the Year"
Entertainment Weekly (p.114) - "[T]he sometimes jaunty rhythms add tension to Waits' dark tales....The effect is often riveting..." - Grade: B+
Uncut (p.110) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Waits is still taking more risks than most US' singer-songwriters' of his generation, and parts of this album rock righteously....One from the heart..."
Uncut (p.74) - Ranked #11 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "Scarily magnificent."
Magnet (p.66) - Ranked #1 in Magnet's "The 20 Best Albums Of 2004" - "REAL GONE is a great record because Waits' homesteader's heart drives it form intro to fadeout."
The Wire (p.50) - "This is classic Waits....It's certainly his most outwardly guileless and full-hearted record for some time..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 - "As a songwriter and sound sculptor, Waits is intimately familiar with shadows and dread - the frank, poetic details of life and love on the margins....REAL GONE is his first, full-tilt protest record."
Tom Waits - Real Gone Songs
Real Gone Music Review
Average Rating: (4.1 out of 5 stars)    List All 10 Reviews Why A Higher Priced "Real Gone"?
I would love to know what the difference is between the under $20 and the over $40 version of Tom Waits' Real Gone, if any seems to know.
I have tried to find information about Super D/ Phantom So2 on the internet with very limited success. Is highter priced version a SACD, enhanced, DVD-A, or something altogether different? Thanks, MJ
Submitted by Mark_Jyringi (Seattle, WA)
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not his usual, he's always growing,very interesting
waits fans will love it. takes more
then one listening to understand.
i liked it alot, but not everyone
appreciates dischordent music, not
always melodic, but his usual inter-
esting stories, and takes on americana
Submitted by stuartfishman (new york city) 
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This review is for a different format.  Got To Have This CD
If you like Tom Waits you are in for a treat. If you don`t like Tom buy it any way because this is a great sounding CD and you will like him after listening to it. I mean don`t listen and carry on a coversation at the same time. Lock yourself in a room turn up the volume and really listen to the vibes. You will LIKKEEE.Just you and a true master Tom Waits.
Submitted by bigjim400 (Cedartown, GA)
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This review is for a different format.
Always a Surprise
Tom Waits never fails to surprise and this latest album is no exception. The song-writing collaborative effort with his wife has given us some new Waits gems. "Day After Tomorrow" is a beautifully haunting and enduringly evocative song. "How's It Gonna End" and "Trampled Rose" are vintage-Waits, hitting us with emotion and pathos which makes his music so timelessly unique.
"Real Gone" just makes you want to listen again and again.
Submitted by Tattoou2 (Central NY)
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This review is for a different format. Real Gone
this album is amazing, very different from the usual.
definatley one of his best
Submitted by x_thecure_x (Adelaide, SA, Australia)
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This review is for a different format. List All Reviews | Have you heard this album? |  |
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