tion of observations on “ the urban dispossessed ” drifting near the couple ’ s basement apartment . “ Give my umbrella to the rain dogs , for I am a rain dog , too ,” sings Waits in the title cut , comparing hapless souls to dogs who lose the scents to carry them home due to a storm . Named after the lounge-y spoken interlude from Swordfishtrombones about Frank O ’ Brien , a man who ’ d had enough and snapped , Frank ’ s Wild Years contains songs written for a play that was performed in Chicago by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1986 . In “ Hang On St . Christopher ,” Waits beseeches the patron saint of travel to strap in while the driver puts the pedal to the floor . Waits ’ sprachsang Beat Poet delivery is echoed in songs by compatriot Chuck E . Weiss , while trumpets and saxophones howl like the horns of narrowly missed cars . The wailing torch blues “ Way Down in the Hole ” became one of Waits ’ signature songs , used as the theme song for The Wire with versions recorded by artists including The Blind Boys of Alabama and Steve Earle . The song ’ s subdued R & B pulse was recast for the gothic blues of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ' favorite “ Red Right Hand .” The folk-style repetition of “ Cold , Cold Ground ” is a musing on dreams gone to die . “ The piano is firewood ,” sings Waits . Waits croons like Nicotene Sinatra during “ Straight to the Top ( Vegas ).” The yearning backward glance “ Innocent When You Dream ” reels like an Irish drinking song . Our Frank leaves his hometown for glory as an accordion player in New York and Las Vegas but eventually finds himself back in the dive bar where he started . Waits ’ vocal changes to suit different characters in the play . The songs reflect chapters of dreams pursued , nightmares endured , and hopes dashed . After five years spent on soundtracks , acting , and other projects , Bone Machine arrived in 1992 . The album spills over with biblical imagery on songs like the wild-eyed Gospel of “ Jesus Gonna Be Here Soon ” and reflections on mortality like the funeral dirge “ Dirt in the Ground .” “ The Ocean Doesn ’ t Want Me Today ” is the heavy-hearted contemplation of a person who delays ending it all for one more day . In the darkly cinematic case of “ Murder at the Red Barn ,” some suspects , like farmer Cal , don ’ t get the same scrutiny for dirty deeds as other townsfolk despite incriminating signs . “ There ' s always some killin ' you got to do around the farm ,” sings Waits . The album was recorded in a one-room basement studio with a concrete floor , lending the album its distinctive and stark resonance . “ All Stripped Down ” and its vision of divine judgment has a minimalist arrangement leaning on acoustic upright bass and frenzied rattlesnake percussion . Waits , Brennan , and banjoist Joe Marquez create the substructure on the apocalyptic “ Earth Died Screaming ” by playing sticks , suggesting a chorus line of dancing skeletons . Primus frontman and fellow surrealist Les Claypool plays bass on the song while Old Scratch shovels coal into the fire that burns the world to ash . The rebellious rejection of maturity “ I Don ’ t Wanna Grow Up ” was adopted and reshaped by punk rock torchbearers the Ramones , providing the band with a rare hit single on its 1995 farewell album Amigos . Pal Keith Richards returns on “ That Feel ,” sounding like a pair of woozy old mates holding up the bar at last call . David Phillips ’ s pedal steel cries and twists around muted parlor piano during “ A Little Rain ” with its sketches of characters who were dealt less than spectacular hands by fate . “ A little rain never hurt no one ,” sings Waits , but it ’ s cold comfort . " Whistle Down the Wind " hits the other end of the spectrum with the promise to look after a loved one , with stirring accordion and violin by Los Lobos ’ David Hidalgo . It ’ s a reminder that when he ’ s not raving about the end of theworld , Waits has a penchant for tender balladry . The Black Rider completed Waits ’ decade with Island . The album was developed to support an avant-garde musical fable and in partnership with maverick stage director Robert Wilson and influential Beat Generation author William S . Burroughs . The song cycle aligns with Waits ’ familiar preoccupations and is based on a German folktale , " Der Freischütz ," about a young file clerk who makes a doomed pact with the devil in return for the love of a huntsman ’ s daughter . Wilson ’ s production has been staged throughout Europe and has traveled to North America and Australia . Waits ’ music draws on early 20th-century cabaret and his cluttered kitchen sink of twisted vaudeville and the occasional Cossack dance . The album evokes dilapidated carnival rides hawked by a relentless barker and eerie forest scenes at night . Halloweenish visions flow through songs like “ Flash Pan Hunter ” and “ Tain ’ t No Sin .” “ Tain ’ t no sin to take off your skin and dance around in your bones ,” sings Burroughs in a deranged character . A bowed saw creates ghostly wails like wind through barren trees during “ November .” You can hear the knowing sneer in Waits ’ voice as the devil Pegleg offers charmed ammunition during “ The Right Bullets ,” seducing the young clerk and anticipating his downfall . “ I ’ ll Shoot the Moon ” is a love song from the young clerk with his deluded optimism . The shanty “ The Briar and the Rose ” is a touching reverie with visions of opposites that can never be unentwined . The Black Rider ends as the young clerk is driven mad by tragedy .
Across the board , the remastering is done with reverence for the source material . When compared to an older LP pressing , the refreshed audio of Swordfishtrombones is well-balanced with enhanced body and vivid detail . The LP pressings of Bone Machine and The Black Rider are the albums ’ first vinyl pressings to be released outside of Europe .
– Jeff Elbel
Swordfishtrombones Rain Dogs Frank ’ s Wild Years Bone Machine The Black Rider
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