Real Gone

Real Gone is a real diverse experience. This is the world music album that seems to be a required phase in the career of any serious songwriter. If you are a fan of Tom, sit down. There is no piano on the album. At all. There's a lot of experimentation of rhythm and instrumentation, there's a wonderful sense of freshness as Waits works with new tools. He beatboxes. I kid you not. And it's wonderful. He uses his son Casey on the turntables (yes, that really is hip hop scratching) and as a percussionist on several tracks and it sounds perfectly natural.

A long time experimenter with found sounds, Waits uses them to full effect on this album. He did a lot of vocal rhythms for the album and recorded them cold and had the band come in and just play over them. For a largely improvised album (most tracks are single takes) it is incredibly tight and cohesive. He manages to get incredibly large and complex sounds with a stripped down band of just guitar, bass, percussion, and vocals. While maintaining a universality, his lyrics on several songs are overtly related to the current political situation in the world. Day After Tomorrow, Hoist That Rag, and Sins of My Father are all clearly meant to address his concerns over Bush and Iraq.

Hot Spots: Top of the Hill, Sins of My Father, Shake It, Trampled Rose, Make It Rain