This is Waits's most harrowing album ever, thanks not only to such heartwarming sentiments as "What does it matter, a dream of love or a dream of lies / We're all going to be in the same place when we die" but also to the ravaged, shamanistic croak with which he delivers them. Death hangs like a bad suit on songs like "Jesus Gonna Be Here," "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me," and "Murder in the Red Barn." But the album is musically entrancing and richly poetic--"Are you still jumping out of windows in expensive clothes?" Waits asks a perennially unfaithful lover in "Who Are You." There's also room for some foolishness, as with "I Don't Wanna Grow Up," which has been memorably covered by the Ramones, and a boozy sing-along (with Keith Richards), "That Feel." --Daniel Durchholz

一九四九年十二月七日生於加州西南部的波姆那(Pomona)的汤姆‧威兹，在七○年代创作出结合关注分离状态、低收入生活人民的作品，并以他沙哑的嗓音娓娓道出这些边缘世界。八○年代起，他增加了在戏剧方面的活动，包括演出和作曲。在南加州长大的汤姆‧威兹引起贺伯‧柯恩﹝Herb Cohen，他同是时也是法兰克‧查帕(Frank Zappa)的经纪人﹞的注意，并在七○年代初签下了他。汤姆‧威兹正式首张专辑为一九七三年在Asylum唱片公司发行的的《Closing Time》，这张收录了单曲〈Ol' 55〉的作品在当时和老鹰合唱团(The Eagles)的《On the Border》专辑共同宣传，自此，汤姆‧威兹引起乐评和次文化听眾的注意，他接下来的作品包括了《The Heart of Saturday Night》(1974)、《Nighthawks at the Diner》(1975)、《Small Change》(1976)、《Foreign Affairs》(1977)、《Blue Valentine》(1978)及《Heart Attack and Vine》(1980)。
一九八三年，汤姆‧威兹转到Island唱片公司，发行了《Swordfishtrombones》，在这张专辑中，汤姆‧威兹尝试了管乐和打击乐器，并以不同的录音技术製作完成。八五年《Rain Dogs》发行；八七年，根据汤姆‧威兹去年的首部舞台剧製作的专辑发行；八八年，《Big Time》专辑发行，并同时推出了一部影片，是他的演唱会之一的纪录。九二年，《Bone Machine》发行，并获得葛莱美奖(Grammy Award)最佳另类音乐专辑。九三年，《The Black Rider》发行，这张音乐剧专辑是九○汤姆‧威兹和另类小说家威廉‧贝罗斯(William Burroughs)合著，是为歌剧导演劳勃‧威尔森(Robert Wilson)所写的。在一段长时间的音乐空白后，汤姆‧威兹於九八年推出了《Beautiful Maladies》，为他在Island唱片公司所发表过的作品的回顾，而至九九年才终於发行专辑《Mule Variations》。
七○ 年代晚期，汤姆‧威兹开始参与电影工作，首先是为《Paradise Alley》担纲作曲，并在戏中演奏钢琴；之后为《On the Nickel》(1980)编写主题曲。八○年代初，汤姆‧威兹开始与柯波拉(Francis Ford Coppola)合作，先是在《旧爱新欢》(One from the Heart, 1982)中担任配乐及幕后主唱，并获得奥斯卡提名。在这段工作期间，他和剧作家凯萨琳‧布雷南(Kathleen Brennan)相识，并结为连理，夫妇俩后来在工作上亦常搭挡。自《旧爱新欢》开始，汤姆‧威兹便成为柯波拉电影的常客，计有《小教父》(The Outsiders, 1983)中的一线角色(酒吧老闆)、《斗鱼》(Rumblefish, 1983)裏的班尼、《棉花俱乐部》裏的Irving Stark等。纵使常在大製作的电影中饰演疯子或精神病患者，汤姆‧威兹仍偏爱参与独立製片，贾木许的《法外之徒》就是他相当珍爱的一次演出经验。
八七年起，汤姆‧威兹开始参与一些主流电影，首先是《紫苑草》(Ironweed)，与杰克‧尼克逊(Jack Nicholson)和梅莉‧史翠普(Meryl Streep)同台；同年，又参与了《Candy Mountain》；八九年则是在《Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale》、《Cold Feet》、《Wait until Spring》中露脸；九○年参加了劳勃‧阿特曼(Robert Altman)的《银色、性、男女》(Short Cuts)。九一年参与的计有《Queens' Logic》、《奇幻城市》(The Fisher King)及《At Play in the Fields of the Lord》。九二年，他又分别在老朋友柯波拉的《吸血鬼》(Bram Stoker's Dracula)和贾木许的《地球之夜》中轧上一角。
多才多艺的汤姆‧威兹在镜头前后，都是个多姿多采、以冷幽默性格著称的独特之人，他的许多歌曲不论是大剌剌地宣告或在音乐风格上的暗示，也都在反映他自身对电影的喜好，甚至「身体力行」，此番作为著实是歌坛、影坛的一个异数。

It starts with a sunrise, it ends with "one star shining," and in between Closing Time contains an honest year's worth (1973, to be exact) of sweet, melodic, vintage Tom Waits--minus some of the vocal growl and thematic grit of his later stuff (but you can see it coming). Waltzes, lullabies, blues, jazz, you name it. Driving songs and drinking songs, even an honest to gosh country tune: "Rosie." There are torchers ("Lonely"), scorchers ("Ice Cream Man"), and back-porch senior citizen love songs ("Martha"): "Those were the days of roses/Poetry and prose, and/Martha, all I had was you and all you had was me." Other standouts are "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" (guess what--he does!) and "Grapefruit Moon," in which Waits croons: "Every time I hear that melody, something breaks inside." Hang on to your hearts and hats, folks. --Dan Leone

The middle album of the trilogy that includes Swordfishtrombones and Franks Wild Years, Rain Dogs is Waits's best overall effort. The songs are first-rate, and there are a lot of them--19 in all, ranging from grim nightlife memoirs ("9th and Hennepin," "Singapore") to portraits of small-time hustlers ("Gun Street Girl," "Union Square") to bursts of street-corner philosophy ("Blind Love," "Time"). The album also contains the original version of "Downtown Train," which Rod Stewart turned into a smash hit. The image of "rain dogs"--animals who've lost their way home because the rain has washed away their scent--is an appropriate symbol for the entire cast of characters Waits has brought to life over the years, and this album has thus far proved to be his most enduring effort. --Daniel Durchholz