A few things from the posts above I don't quite agree with: a) I wouldn't call Tom Waits a talentless hack, but I would say he is very fake. Whether that's a bad thing depends on how you take it. I don't think he intends to deceive anyone. I just think he loves the aesthetic of smokey old jazz of a particular kind, so he tries to evoke that kind of vibe. His vocal style and voice is obviously 100% affected, so it's really up to how you take it as a listener. Is he successfully evoking a style or is he unintentionally parodying it? You be the judge.
B) The notion that the only kind of jazz worth listening to is the kind that is built around improvisation. I happen to quite like vocal jazz of the kind that was popular before jazz became too weird for mainstream audiences. It's just a problem that a lot of jazz like that is incredibly, offensively dull.
And that kind of brings us to this record. It's not quite horribly dull, but I'm not exactly riveted by it either. It's very mannered, very controlled, very carefully manicured to sound in a very particular way. Old Hollywood romanticism and exactly that kind of romantic ideal of jazz that Waits was all about in his early years. I kind of like it from a conceptual standpoint and could mention a couple records of a similar style that do it right, but One From The Heart really threatens to put me to sleep. Aside from a few scattered moments, the music is pretty much just... there.
I'm not too sold on either vocalist either. Waits can do better, but I don't know anything about Crystal Gayle. I'd guess she's a country singer, but I don't know. She doesn't sound like a jazz singer to me.
If I was watching the movie that this is the soundtrack for, I'd probably find the music perfectly fitting, but as an album experience, it doesn't quite work for me. I'm finding it nearly impossible to stay attentive for more than a couple minutes at a time. I'm just bored out of my mind long before the 42 minute mark, where the album bows out.
So what to make of it? In small doses, it's perfectly pretty and well made, but I'm also bored and can't really be bothered with paying much attention to most of the material on the album. That's not a good sign. What good is it going to do to defend it by pointing out how well made it is, if it just doesn't do much to move me? Music should be involving. I think my conclusion will be that this album is probably pretty good, but not my cup of tea. If I want to hear something similar, with a similar vibe, I'll put on the Joni Mitchell album Both Sides Now.
4/10. Just below average. Sort of nice, but also sort of boring. Like a wedding celebration with a bunch of people you don't really have anything in common with. Waits can do better - and in a similar style too.
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Linear Mode
