News

ROLLING STONE: “The growler disguises a hot new album in a three-disc rarities set…a definitive album.” Robert Christgau, 11/30/06

THE ONION: “…for a collection…gathered from hither and yon, they hang together remarkably well. What’s more, many of them rank among Waits’ best output. Waits may call them orphans, but another artist would call this a career.” Keith Phipps, 12/5/06

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: “Adds a truckload of characters to [Waits’] dramatis personae…often dressed in scrap-yard percussion and sublime guitar noise, each – from hobo to suicide bomber – familiar, compelling, and tugging out empathy.” A rating, Will Hermes, 10/30/06

HARP: “…the one-of-a-kind Waits unleashes a dizzying and dazzling collection…” Mark Kemp, 12/06

FILTER: “Tom Waits has maintained a practically immortal consistency.” 90% Kevin Friedman, Holiday Issue 2006

RELIX: “On his new triple-disc set Orphans, Waits has inadvertently released the most thoroughly modern collection imaginable…” John Adamian, Dec/Jan ‘06/’07

SPIN: “The life and times of the world’s most prolific…troubadour…” Aaron Burgess, 12/06

BLENDER: “The jumble of stuff that spills out—from Delta blues to nineteenth-century ballads to spoken-word rambles—is…transcendent…a rich depiction of his Ahab-like quest for the pulpy pancreas of popular song.” Jon Dolan, 12/06

PASTE: “The man with the cement-mixer growl brilliantly summarizes his career output…because every sonic approach he has ever used is represented here…his voice is so compelling he doesn’t even need a song structure to create a successful performance…songs that rank with his best work.” Geoffrey Himes, 12/06

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (CA): “I consider his evolution, from 1973’s Beat-driven’ Closing Time through the wild reinvention of his ‘80s and further daring of his ‘90s and now, to be the greatest example of fearless creativity forging into the unknown…Orphans, it’s odds and ends cultivated into something far greater, is indeed some kind of fractured masterpiece. It’s filled with at least a score of songs…that rank with his very best…Consider what I’ve said enticement to drop the dough to savor the trove, or perhaps, to discover his remarkable talent for the first time. (It’s as good a place as any to start.) Ben Wener, 12/11/06

ALTERNATIVE PRESS: “For over three decades, singer songwriter Tom Waits has achingly captured all the facets of the human experience…probably one of the greatest storytellers of the…century, Tom continually offers us bitter wisdom, ramshackle heartache and a shot of rum in your coffee when you’ve spent your last dollar on a Greyhound bus to nowhere.” Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance), 1/07

MOJO (UK): “Mojo Instant Classic..Masterpiece isn't the right word for such a profusion of profound delights...exhibition is better…With his unfussy brushstrokes, umber hues, and humanely honest delight in warts and all, he is the Rembrandt of modern music.” 5 stars out of 5, Mat Snow, 12/06

THE DETROIT FREE PRESS: “the one-of-a-kind Waits unleashes a dizzying and dazzling collection.” Martin Bandyke, 4 stars out of 4, 11/19/06

THE BOSTON GLOBE: “…some of the best and most vital work of Waits long career.” James Reed, 11/21/06

LOS ANGELES TIMES: “a fulfillment of the ideal Waits…This is one to salt away to sustain you through many winters of the soul.” Richard Cromelin, 4 stars out of 4, 11/19/06

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: “career-defining circus act.” Dan DeLuca, 12/7/06

PITCHFORK.COM: “About as perfect a summary of Waits’ appeal as can be found on the open market…smoking-gun evidence of Waits’ remarkable longevity…enough to add another layer of invulnerability to the already untouchable critical status of Tom Waits.”

NEW YORK POST: “It all gells on his new Orphans, a three-disc effort that encompasses the many facets of Waits’ career and stands a as fan’s ‘must have’ recording.” Dan Aquilante, 4 stars of 4 stars, 11/12/06

READER’S DIGEST: “5 Things We Don’t Want You To Miss—On this three-disc Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards, raw voiced iconoclast Tom Waits lets loose a batch of new tunes and rare gems that capture his love of American roots music.” 12/06

THE BOSTON PHOENIX: “Riveting.” Ted Drozdowski, 12/1/06

VILLAGE VOICE: “Tom Waits…remains out preeminent iconoclast.” Bret Gladstone, 11/22/06

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The jumble of past and present suits a songwriter who (collaborating with his wife, Kathleen Brennan) has long abducted vintage Americana—blues, ballads, rockabilly, hymns, saloon songs, Tin Pan Alley—and dragged it into the sonic dark alleys of his own…It’s atmospheric and gallows-humored, but Mr. Waits sounds even better with a melody to growl.” Jon Pareles, 11/24/06

CREATIVE LOAFING (Charlotte, NC): “…a must-own three-disc set…it’s that unpredictable mix of the playful and the profane, the adventurous and the familiar, that makes Orphans another essential component in this American music giant’s catalog.” John Schacht, 11/15/06

THE STRANGER (Seattle, WA): “If you’ve ever doubted that Waits should be canonized as a national treasure, this collection, will swiftly change your mind.” Hannah Levin, 11/16/06

CBS THIS MORNING: “No contemporary musician embodies the twin virtues of elegance and piracy better than Tom Waits. He is a gravel-voiced poet, the Edward Hopper of rock n’ roll. Waits has a three CD set of new and previously obscure material called Orphans which make a powerful case for his being in the first rank of American songwriters.” Bill Flanagan, 10/1/06

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: “Excellent.” Nick Marino, 11/15/06

POPMATTERS.COM: “There are literally no words left to throw at Waits other than to say the three-disc 56-track Orphans is magnificence in creative packaging, one of his most skillful blends of beauty and horror ever, only one with the pleasing effect of being three times long as usual.” Jeff Vrabel, 12/6/06

AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: “…vignettes of unadulterated eloquence.” Michael Hoinski, 12/6/06

BILLBOARD: “Vast in scope, rich in trope and full of hope.” Wayne Robins, 11/20/06

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: “Orphans is a defining statement, the kind of album that summarizes and culminates an era in which Waits evolved from a saloon balladeer into a sonic adventurer, the writer not just of resonant songs but of surreal mini-movies for the mind.” Greg Kot, 11/21/06

PLAYBOY.COM: “Is there anyone who still questions Tom Waits’ place in the pantheon of great American songwriters? If so, sit them down with Orphans, 54 tracks of new recordings and rarities. That this one sprawling work can actually be listened to in one sitting (and sounds the great the whole way) speaks volumes about Waits’ extraordinary range.” David Peisner, 4 bunnies out of 4 = fucking brilliant, 12/12/06