Waits fans will love ‘Glitter & Doom’

Barry Courter: Barry: Tom Waits is known for his gravely voice and brilliant, if sometimes off-kilter, songwriting. The 17 songs on “Glitter & Doom Live” were taken from concerts he performed in 2008 in the United States, including in Knoxville and Atlanta, and Europe.

Waits claimed in a press conference video earlier this year that the tour route of his 12 American performances was planned to follow the shape of the constellation Hydra. It’s just part of the show that is Tom Waits.

Casey Phillips: Few artists are as polarizing as Waits. Those unmistakable vocals, which sound like they’ve been blackened in a tire fire and cooled in a vat of bourbon, can be off-putting to some. That included me until I really sat down and soaked up the brilliance of “Rain Dogs.” I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily a huge fan, but I came to appreciate his off-kilter brilliance.

This compilation, however, is clearly aimed at fans, pretty much all of whom are die-hard. The set list is bound to please those fans. The selections cover Waits’ albums from 1985’s “Rain Dogs” through 2004’s “Real Gone.” Heavy emphasis is placed on the latter and 1992’s “Bone Machine,” which together account for seven of the tracks.

Barry: The two-CD set also includes a second disc of Tom Tales, the stories and tales and odd facts that the singer includes in his shows. It’s an added bonus presented this way.

Casey: Just a few out takes from the 36-minute monologue include fun facts about animal reproductive parts and weird laws in Oklahoma. It’s left-field humor told like a midnight radio show in a New Orleans graveyard.

Barry: The set list for “Glitter & Doom Live” gives a good sense of what Waits does, but for me the recording quality is so uneven it diminishes the value of the record. It’s possible we just got a bad copy because the packaging is otherwise first-rate.

The opening track, “Lucinda — Ain’t Goin Down” sounds like it was recorded on a portable cassette recorder. “Dirt In The Ground,” and “Live Circus,” however, are fine and vintage Waits.

Casey: I wasn’t particularly bothered by the sound quality, but I would have liked more intro material. Most of that material seems to have been confined to a late-disc track, “Story,” and the entirety of the second disc.

Barry: I kind of like it on the second disc. While funny and interesting, I don’t want to hear them on repeated listens.

Casey: Also, only one track is an original, the aforementioned “Live Circus,” a darkly humorous spoken poem that reminded me favorably of Rain Dogs’ “Cemetery Polka.”

Barry: Waits is backed by a killer band that includes his son, Casey, on drums and a guest appearance by another son, Sullivan, who plays sax and clarinet. The band adds a bluesier and jazzier feel to the songs.

Casey: The album’s strongest feature is the enthusiasm of the crowd. Since Waits’ fans are so fanatic, the packed rooms are practically vibrating with excitement. I love live albums where the audience is engaged, and “Glitter & Doom” is among the best examples of an engaged audience. If you’re a Waits fan, you should already be listening to it.

Barry: It’s a good Waits record that would have scored higher for me with better sound quality.