Released September 1983 Length 40:31 Release date September 1983 | Recorded August 1982 | |
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Studio Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California Similar Tom Waits albums, Blues albums |
Swordfishtrombones is an album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1983. It was the first album that Waits produced himself.
Contents
Stylistically different from his previous LPs, the album moves away from the piano and string orchestra arrangements of the late 1970s, replacing them instead with unusual instrumentation and a somewhat more abstract songwriting approach.
The cover art is a TinTone photograph by Michael A. Russ showing Waits with the actors Angelo Rossitto and Lee Kolima.
The album peaked at #164 on the Billboard Pop Albums and 200 albums charts. In 1989, Spin named Swordfishtrombones the second greatest album of all time. In 2006, Q placed the album at #36 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s."
Pitchfork Media listed Swordfishtrombones as 11th best album of the 1980s. Slant Magazine listed the album at #26 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980's".
Tom waits swordfishtrombones full vinyl
Track listing
All tracks written by Tom Waits. Arranger Frances Thumm. Recorded by Tim Boyle and Biff Dawes. Mixed by Dawes at Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA.
- "Underground" – 1:58
- "Shore Leave" – 4:12
- "Dave the Butcher" (instrumental) – 2:15
- "Johnsburg, Illinois" – 1:30
- "16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought-Six" – 4:30
- "Town with No Cheer" – 4:22
- "In the Neighborhood" – 3:04
- "Just Another Sucker on the Vine" (instrumental) – 1:42
- "Frank's Wild Years" – 1:50
- "Swordfishtrombone" – 3:00
- "Down, Down, Down" – 2:10
- "Soldier's Things" – 3:15
- "Gin Soaked Boy" – 2:20
- "Trouble's Braids" – 1:18
- "Rainbirds" (instrumental) – 3:05
Personnel
Songs
1Underground2:01
2Shore Leave4:18
3Dave the Butcher2:21