Remembering Tom Waits’s extraordinary mid-career

[misterc6]

The day they were announced I ordered Rain Dogs & Franks Wild Years on vinyl from KingsRoad Merch in Germany to fill some gaps in my collection. Both sound absolutely perfect, I can detect no surface noise, and the mastering is excellent.
I’m now going to replace my recent vinyl repress of Swordfishtrombones with the new remaster.
I have Bone Machine & The Black Rider on CD but have never really got into them but I’ll try again and maybe get those vinyl remasters as well.

 

[gavreid]

Here's a snap shot from my copy of Bone Machine to show you the issues, the black ticks are defects. Track 1 - track 3 on side 1 are the main culprits. You can see the relative magnitude of them - it's commonly known as a mess but where is the QC?

 

[JustJohn]

The replacement copy of Bone Machine landed earlier, all good, bar an amount of paper dust. I'll put it through the cleaner in the week.

 

[gavreid]

I'm pleased to say Black Rider is much, much better. Again, highly dynamic in places, even more so than the original CD this time. There's still a couple of very big clicks - audiophile prices and 180g without the pressing quality. That gives me the energy to return Bone Machine though

 

[Big Tabs]

I'm pleased to say Black Rider is much, much better. Again, highly dynamic in places, even more so than the original CD this time. There's still a couple of very big clicks - audiophile prices and 180g without the pressing quality. That gives me the energy to return Bone Machine though

Yes - my Black Rider arrived today - not many, but some clicks. Sod it, I am not going through the ‘get a clean copy’ dance with this one. My Franks Wild Years plays clean and that was the one that I was most interested in re: the remasters.
I have enough records to be getting on with, apart from the jazz albums that breed like rabbits.

 

[foxwelljsly]

Me neither, nor Black Rider. Although I think the trilogy of Swordfish, Raindogs and Bone Machine are essential.

Those 3 and the corresponding earlier trilogy of Saturday night, nighthawks and small change does it for me.

 

[gavreid]

Well the new copy of Bone Machine is here. I wish I had better news to report! A little better 4000 odd few corrections on side 1 but still 10 000! Side 2 is noisier. This is very poor quality from GZ

 

[Graham H]

Well the new copy of Bone Machine is here. I wish I had better news to report! A little better 4000 odd few corrections on side 1 but still 10 000! Side 2 is noisier. This is very poor quality from GZ

Thanks for your reports, Gavin. Think I’ll be avoiding them. I’m not unhappy with the LPs and CDs I already have, they sound excellent, but it would have been nice to have Bone Machine on LP. Never had much luck with GZ in the past. Pity they didn’t use Optimal, Pallas or RTI.

 

[Woodface]

I just bought a normal CD copy of Bone Machine, really like it.

 

[PigletsDad]

Just been enjoying "Black Ryders". Uneven, but some great stuff in there.

 

[guey]

Tom will be joining Iggy Pop for a special on BBC6 Music, December 3rd.

 

[onlyconnect]

Vinyl, done properly, certainly has the potential to be an improvement on CD, even done properly (which is often not the case more recently,) I don't think there's any real disputing that. A grail for me is more about chasing original pressings no matter the cost.

CD, done properly, certainly has the potential to be an improvement on vinyl, particularly as the stylus heads towards the inner grooves. I don't think there is any real disputing that. However in practice vinyl can be better, for example when mastered with more dynamic range or when early vinyl has better source tapes.