5/5 Waits Live Again! Finally!!!
  by G P Padillo (Portland, ME United States)
This is easily Tom's best album in years. Doing what he does best, but too rarely - play live -his latest effort sparkles and pulses with a ferocity of life that leaps out of your sound system - and pulls you - screaming or willingly - into the live freak show that is "Glitter and Doom." Recorded over the course of his 2008 tour, the two discs are separated and mixed into a sort of hybrid (one singing/one talking) that somehow feels perfectly natural and in all reality plays exactly how most listeners will want it, rather than breaking up the songs with too-long narratives that play well in a club, but tend to drag down a purely aural experience.

The 17 songs of Disc One play out at over 70 minutes of electrifying music with Waits and his band running the gamut from his own unique version of "high energy" carnival music to full on, break your heart ballads all delivered in that inimitable voice that season-after-season increases its rasp and its grasp on his audience.

It would be impossible to single out a "best" number, but there are several that - on first hearing - stood out a bit above the rest. "The Part You Throw Away" (recorded in Edinburgh) from the album "Blood Money" with its pizzicato strings and the endless pathetic waltz undulating, beneath and a old world Spanish-style guitar solo is one of those timeless numbers that could have come from the Jacques Brel Songbook - or written a century ago.

In similar fashion, Disc One's closer, "Lucky Day" (recorded in Atlanta) is a gooseflesh and teary-eyed finale that has that Waits ballad operatic feel

Along the way there is that Waits prose that paints pictures in the mind more than almost any songwriter in the last 50 years. For instance, who but Mr. Waits could come up with lyrics like those in Circus Lyrics ((here, "Live Circus"):

"Topping the bill was Horse Face Ethel
And her 'Marvellous Pigs In Satin'"

The ambient audience noise feels natural and non-intrusive - and Waits feeds off their respective energies like a vampire at a blood orgy. Everybody wins with "Glitter and Doom."


5/5 Make it a double
  by o dubhthaigh (north rustico, pei, canada)
if I knew when the world was gonna end, I'd wanna be in a diner with Tom Waits (he likely'd have other thoughts) with Allie K after a proper booze up in time to get the first rasher of bacon off the grill before heading to the sheets for the big climax. Until then, there is his music and this is as pure a Waitsian joy as you'll ever hear. At times a burr mixer, at times the last Nighthawk out before dawn, Waits surveys the landscape of his catalogue and comes up strong with each selection. I hope like he#@ there is a DVD on the way. And the Tom's Tales is sheer genius.

5/5 This one's for the fans
  by Christopher Downing (Nacogdoches, TX)
If you are new to Tom Waits, then you need to start with his earlier recordings. My recommendation is either 'Closing Time' (if your preferences run to country or jazz-blues) or 'Swordfishtrombones' (if you are into alternative rock). From those two albums, you can begin to branch out. When you start to get into Tom's more contemporary albums (1999 to present), there is a lot of raw blues, more than his earlier records, and his voice is even rougher than before. But his songwriting is, as always, brilliant. With 'Glitter & Doom' there is alot to like, and some that is not so good, as is typical with a Waits album. Actually, in this case, there isn't much that isn't good. This is really a great album. The first six tracks are fantastic. Some are reinterpreted, like 'Such a Scream,' which took me by surprise, because I didn't really like the original version (on 'Bone Machine'). Here it is very tight and sounds awesome, largely because of the band, which really has done their share of the work for these shows. 'Going Out West' and 'Make It Rain' are always highlights of a great Tom Waits show, and its good to see them included here. There are some so-so songs here, like 'The Part You Throw Away,' and'Trampled Rose,' but thats only my opinion. Some will like those songs, as they are pretty good in their own right. Then there's 'Circus,' which I've heard before, but I believe this is the first time it's been released officially. This is one of Wait's stranger numbers, reminescent of a Kerouac/Ginsberg style ramble. It's amusing, but it is kinda weird. Basically, if you enjoyed Orphans, this set is a great companion to that piece. If youre a Waits fan, don't hesitate. Its worth it.

5/5 Tom Turns It Up For Fans
  by chairman meow (new zealand)
I think the amazing thing about Tom Waits music over the years is his ability to change and transcend to different levels. I have everything he has ever released and would not still be buying if it was all Closing Time and Blue Valentine stuff, which would become very boring. Every single album, right down to the ethereal Alice and the stomping of Orphans is mind-blowing. This brings me to Glitter and Doom - aahh, what an album Lucinda off this Glitter and Doom is a rollicking pirate song, Going out West makes you want to get in the car and drive, down to the gentle Lucky Day and I'll Shoot The Moon, he has something for every grateful fan. Alas he will never tour again to Australia or ever even get to New Zealand, but this is the next best thing for us down here and I savour every minute - he makes the world a far more interesting place. This is an album and an artist who stretches all musical boundaries with consummate skill and ease - and his fans appreciate it - if you want boring and mainstream go away and listen to Ronan, Rod or whoever - if you want interesting, upbeat and mindblowing, buy this album and have a blast, its awesome.

3/5 Dull Glitter
  by B. Vercher (Baton Rouge, LA)
So you see this album and you think "A live Tom Waits album? It's got to be good," because you know Tom Waits is one of the most incredible performers of our time, and he's certainly going to have some pretty amazing musicians in tow. And on these two points, you're right. But, unfortunately, this set is a pretty lackluster record of Tom's latest tour. It's not that the performances are underwhelming; quite the contrary, actually. The music is amazing. Unfortunately, the entire album sounds like it was bootlegged by an audience member. Tom's vocals are so flat and full of low end as to be unintelligible and, at times, distorted. As for the rest of the band, I can't bring myself to believe that the instruments were actually tracked seperately, as they bleed into each other so heavily you often can't discern anything more than the general harmonic structure of the tune. When anyone solos, it only makes what's already a piss poor job all the more painstakingly obvious. In fact, the applause and shouts of the audience often sound clearer and more distinct than the music itself, to the extent of sometimes drowning it out, lending even more credence to my impression that the show was recorded by an external source rather than a direct soundboard.

Surely an artist as successful and committed to their art as Tom could have afforded a better production than this. I would have given this one star, had Disc 2 not come to the rescue. The second half of this 2 disc set is a single track titled simply "Tom's Tales", which threads together a half hour's worth of Tom's musings, shared with the audience between songs, all packed to the brim with Zen-like absurdity and dark humor. This alone makes the set worth buying; just don't expect much from the music.