Tom Waits
Small Change

THE REVIEW

What can be said about Tom Waits... I have read many reviews and comments regarding him, but I believe that the one who literally managed to take the words out of my mouth was a certain "Vinicio Capossela" (whom you naturally know all too well) in the preface he wrote for the book "Wild Years: The Life and Myth of Tom Waits" which I want to quote verbatim because I think they convey the concept better than any other...

"The problem with Tom Waits is that his music doesn’t settle for staying within that ring of Saturn that suits it, that insubstantial dust around the leaden body of Jupiter, of earthly trouble!
No, it doesn’t want to leave you alone. It wants to come down to earth, into life, and hit it, wants to take part in it. It wants something in return. It’s not enough to listen to it, that music of his, enjoy it, take it for a walk, have a quickie with it in the car stereo... no, no, it infiltrates your life and wants you to live in its way, until you truly find yourself on those trucks, inside those motels.
His songs are the Trojan horse with which he enters your life and takes over your person!
It’s not content to be your background music, your soundtrack. No! If you're not careful, you become the human column of his music!
Tom Waits is like the Bible. He doesn’t entertain you; he convinces you.
You become a believer. And then you’ll need an exorcist!
Maybe he’d like to play the thief's role, but he gets listened to like the messiah.
We are no longer in the world of entertainment here; we are close to voodoo rituals, popular beliefs. He puts a curse on you, and he does it to rid himself of it, so he can stay home in peace and mind his own business!
When you think about it, he's the kind of person who has understood the predicament he's in, and if he doesn’t pass it on to others, he's screwed.
It's like with vampires; once you're bitten, there's no going back, you can only bite someone else. You think he's healing you, but he’s actually giving you his disease.
You appeal to him. Do you feel alone? You listen to his songs and then you really become so.
The ancients used to say: "To listen to the greats, you need a great soul, to avoid seeing in them our own small limits." But here, you also need tough skin. A wetsuit. The affliction is involved! They scratch and throw it on you.
It’s no longer a matter of entertainment. Infatuation is involved, dear Albert. In fact, while we're at it, maybe you should change the subtitle of the book and put the right emphasis.
"Music is the myth of Tom Waits!"."

That said, if you still haven’t changed reviews given the "brief" necessary comment on Tom and his music reported above, I just have to say a few more words about the album in question.
I think "Small Change" is one of the best, if not the best, of the albums released in the early career of our guy. The tracks are of undeniable quality, and the voice finally begins to take on the characteristic unmistakable trademark of our old street dog. Pieces like "Invitation To The Blues" leave something inside you that cannot be explained in words... and so do "I Wish I Was In New Orleans" and "Tom Traubert’s Blues."
Then there’s also room for more upbeat songs like "Step Right Up" or "Pasties And A G-String" and the crazy ballad "The Piano As Been Drinking (Not Me)" and so on.
I believe this is a great album that I recommend everyone listen to at least once in their lifetime... then it's like faith... it touches your soul or it doesn’t.