#397: Tom Waits' Rain Dogs

With Rain Dogs, Waits continued down the unorthodox path he blazed on 1983's Swordfishtrombones. Gone are the piano ballads and string arrangements of earlier albums, replaced by a more eccentric sound informed by three penny opera and carnival music, and characterized by a somewhat abstract and chaotic songwriting approach. The opening trifecta of "Singapore," "Clap Hands" and "Cemetery Polka" boldly announces his intent. This was Waits' first record with Marc Ribot, whose guitar leads take their place among the jumble of marimbas, brass and pump organs that bouy Waits' gravelly cautionary tales and misfit elegies. Some throwbacks to the past remain: "Hang Down Your Head," "Time" and the often covered but never matched "Downtown Train" break the record up with a few melodic reminders of Wait's gift for conventional balladry. "9th & Hennepin" is an all too rare spoken word piece recalling a pimp war, while the Haggardesque "Blind Love" serves up one of Waits' first attempts at a country song. Rain Dogs' nineteen tracks reward patient Waits fans with a broader expanse of ground covered than those of its predecessor.

Some other thoughts:

#396, ZZ Top's Eliminator: It's easy to forget that Eliminator was more than one of the first MTV driven marketing blitzes of the '80s. It is, in fact, a remarkably tight record. ZZ Top managed to trade their blues-oriented roots for a pop-infused sound without sacrificing their songwriting edge. "Gimme All You Lovin," "Got Me Under Pressure" and "Sharp Dressed Man" sound as vibrant today as they did in 1983.

#395, Massive Attack's Blue Lines: I've never been one for lining up music in the service of sex. To me, the conceit has always seemed a little ridiculous, really nothing more than gilding the lily. That said, Blue Lines is one sexy record. Blending hip hop production techniques and live instrumentation, with vocal duties alternating between Shara Nelson, Tricky and Horace Andy, Massive Attack created the defining blueprint of what would emerge as trip hop and released a damn fine third date record in the process.