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Dec 14, 2023 Web Exclusive By Matthew Berlyant

If you’re reading this, you likely know that this 1985 masterpiece is regarded by many Tom Waits fans and critics as one of his very best albums. Thankfully, this reissue does the album justice. It is released a year after ANTI-’s fantastic reissues of 2002’s Blood Money and Alice (both also released on the same day originally) and is part of a series of his five 1983-1993 albums from his back catalog that are being reissued simultaneously. Even with 53 minutes of music, both sides sound fine and you don’t even have to turn it up that much to fully hear everything that’s going on. My copy is perfect as well, free of the occasional pops and clicks that can afflict even brand new reissues.

And what a sound it is. Following up on the template set by his complete reinvention on 1983’s Swordfishtrombones from a piano balladeer at a bar on the edge of the world into something resembling Louis Armstrong singing Jack Kerouac while a Dixieland band on acid provides the soundtrack, Rain Dogs hits even harder, as more memorable songwriting and the addition of ace guitarist Marc Ribot make it one of Waits’ most enduring works.

“Downtown Train,” memorably covered by Rod Stewart in 1989, is this album’s most well-known song, but other songs on this album have endured and been covered by other renowned artists. “Hang Down Your Head” was covered by Lucinda Williams, Tori Amos did a version of “Time,” and “Jockey Full of Bourbon” has been covered by at least half a dozen musicians.

Ostensibly an album about “the urban dispossessed of New York City” and made after Waits lived in Chelsea for years, the album travels around geographically, starting in “Singapore” and even landing in Minneapolis for “9th and Hennepin.” Take the manic ride! (www.tomwaits.com)

Author rating: 9/10