Violent Femmes By Violent Femmes
This tribute released in 1995 was named Tribute Album of the Year by Tower’s Pulse Magazine. It contains recordings by platinum-sellers Violent Femmes and 10,000 Maniacs, and indie-rock favorites The Wedding Present and Tindersticks. Includes the last re
Featured Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits
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a very terrible disc,
If you think Mr. Rod Stewart messed up “Downtown Train” and “Hang On, St. Christopher”, the terrible covers in this collection should make Old Rod look like a talented prince. In this terrible anti-tribute, classic songs from Waits’ early career are mocked and destroyed. The songs are covered without sincerity and in many cases, without any talents. If you’re looking for covers of Tom Waits songs, may I suggest Temptations by Holly Cole or the 2000 tribute called New Coat of Paint. In these tributes, musicians such as Neko Case(an exceptionally good cover of “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis”), Carla Bozulich, Floyd Dixon, Eleni Mandell and Holly Cole not only gave a new spin to Waits’ songs, in many cases, they gave a whole new dimension to the familiar tunes. As for “Step Right Up”, plainly put, it sucks.
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|gets better with a little time,
Tom himself is weird, so it’s actually appropriate that some of these covers sound a little strange at first. After listening to this album a few times, though, it starts to make sense. In fact, if you keep listening, it begins to make a lot of sense. I actually listened to it so much that my roommate banned it when he was in the room, which illustrates both aspects of this album: it is a little weird, but quite addictive if you take the time to listen carefully.
Tom is always playing around with new or different versions of his own music, so it seems appropriate for other musicians and bands to play around with his music, too. This album covers the whole range of Tom’s styles: some of the songs are simply and sentimentally beautiful, i.e., Dave Alvin’s rendition of old 55 or Tim Buckley singing Martha (this song alone is worth the price of the entire album), while others are just plain creepy, like the Archers of Loaf’s Big Joe and Phantom 309; and the best are somewhere in between: I’m thinking most specifically of Jersey Girl as played by Pale Saints, one of my all-time favorites, cover or otherwise.
A few songs don’t quite measure up, such as Downtown by Alex Chilton, but as a whole, the range of artists and approaches illuminates Tom’s strengths as a songwriter: even if not every song is a gem, the songcraft of his music still shows through. And when someone gets it right, it’s an almost transcendent experience, as in the case of Tim Buckley’s Martha, or Frente!’s cover of Ruby’s Arms, or Pale Saints’ Jersey Girl.
In short, it is a slightly uneven album, but the best is so good it just doesn’t matter. If you buy this album, let it air out, so to speak, before you make any hasty judgments. It’s well worth the wait.
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|Give it a break
Ok Tom waits has his own unique style with dealing with his work. It’s not quite the same hearing other people sing his songs. Yet I can’t stop listening to this album. It has some duds but the gems are quite beautifull. The opening track really does the song old shoes justice. Ol 55 sounds really nice with a country singer belting out the tune. And mocking bird is really catchy. The rest of the songs are so so but if you appreciate Wait’s song writing these song’s are a neat way to explore his work in different form. Of course it’s like trying to hold a candle up to the sun, but it is a beautifull candle regardless.
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