Alice

by

Tom Waits

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Forbidden love is one of the perennial themes of mankind; when a genius like Tom Waits tackles this theme, the results--as here--can be awesome.

The album is based loosely around the life and work of Charles Dodgson, known to the world as Lewis Carroll, author of the Alice in Wonderland books. The songs mostly comment on his famous obsession with a neighbor girl named Alice, for whom he wrote the beloved books. However, this album is not, as some critics maintain, about "intergenerational relationships", but more about hopeless love in general.

The album's tone is that of a sinister fairy-tale for grownups. It begins with the brilliantly sultry title song, which sets forth the subject and obsession of the entire work. The next track, "Everything you can Think," paints a vivid and surrealist picture of a horrifying sort of wonderland--"Everything you can think of is true / the dish ran away with the spoon / look deep in your heart for the little, red glow / we're decomposing as we go."

As many critics have pointed out, Alice is more weighted toward soft, slow ballads than the average Waits album. This is true; musically it is more accessible than, say, Bone Machine. But there is enough other material to make the CD feel balanced. "Kommienezeupadt", though many object to its presence on this disc, is actually a nice contrast to the other material and is an enjoyably insane track. "Table-Top Joe" is a very fun song, and reveals the amazing versatility of Tom Waits' voice.

But the real strength comes in the heartbreaking ballads. It is impossible to choose a favorite song on here, since there really are no weak links. Newcomers to this music might find Waits an unlikely balladeer, but the "die-hard" fans who consistently describe his voice as "beautiful" are not making things up--I think if you listen to the sort of incredible pathos and experience his voice has accrued over the years, and the way he uses it to communicate so directly to the deepest human emotions, you will agree that comments about his "growliness" become irrelevant. His voice is a remarkable instrument, and he knows exactly how to use it. If this album were sung by someone with perfect technique and melliifluous tone, I think it would lose most of its impact.

The first time I listened to Alice all the way through, my first thought was of the classical definition of tragedy: an art form that causes catharsis by producing pity and fear in the observer. As we listen to this work, we feel great pity for the character(s) Waits portrays as situations become increasingly hopeless, but by the last two songs, a true state of emotional rest has been reached. For me, Alice is the most remarkable work to have yet issued from the popular music world.

Well, it appears certain now, on the evidence of "Alice" and "Blood Money", that Tom Waits has settled into a late-career rut and will never again reach the lofty heights he managed on masterpieces like "Swordfishtrombones" or "Bone Machine". Don't get me wrong: it's not like these two new offerings are bad records (they both have a handful of worthy, off-kilter tunes), it's just that they sound kind of lazy and uninspired to my ears, and that's a real letdown -- especially at a time when fellow enigmatic oldtimers like Bob Dylan ("Love and Theft") and Elvis Costello ("When I Was Cruel") are releasing five-star classics....