I just purchased the new Tom Waits album, Real Gone, from the iTunes Music Store. And while I would like to pretend that I could write a good review of this, I can't. By good review, I don't mean positive, but rather, "a review that could do it justice."
Real Gone is raw rough goodness. The piano is gone, the strings are gone, and a good amount of the percussion is Waits himself - human beatbox style (but in a style you're unlikely to come across anywhere you'd want to find yourself outside of a beer and tequila haze). Waits recorded hours of material himself on tape at home, and wanted to build directly on that. In many cases the band, which features Mark Ribot (who last appeared with Waits clear back on Rain Dogs), plays over these tapes and quite often, the first takes were used. Mics were overloaded. Many of the tracks thump, holler, and spit.
And then there are the tracks Sins of the Father and Day After Tomorrow. Sins of the Father is a ten and a half minute slow rolling dub reggae style piece, with lyrics like "everybody knows the game was rigged / justice wears suspenders and a powdered wig." But it's Day After Tomorrow that's getting the most notice. It's the most stripped down song of the album, reminiscent of Johnny Cash's first American Recordings album (which featured a song penned by Waits). The story of Day After Tomorrow is a letter home from a soldier. It's raw, beautiful, and sad, as the soldier knows that the guys on the other side are probably praying to the same God that the soldier and his side are, and asks "And Tell me how does God Choose, who’s prayers does he Refuse?"