Tom Waits: then (1970s-1980s) vs. now (1990s-present); also, Bob Dylan now

Are Tom Waits's recordings from the 1970s, 1980s, or thereafter the more memorable efforts?

Waits's recent recordings have received rave reviews. In the 1970s, however, reviewers were decidedly lukewarm about Waits's offerings of sweet melodies, retro instrumentation, improvisational bohemianism, and occasional innovative strangeness (e.g., "Potter's Field"). One uncharacteristically harsh recent reviewer argued that Waits has been "rewriting 'Rain Dogs' [1983] for the past 20 years." I don't think that is literally true, but the general thrust of the argument -- that Waits's last several recordings have been less inventive that his 80s efforts -- seems accurate.

The turning point in Waits's musical career seems to have been his marriage to Kathleen Brennan circa 1980, when his milieu changed from romantic idealism to experimental eccentricity. His next few releases -- "Swordfishtrombones," "Rain Dogs," and "Frank's Wild Years" -- are, arguably, his best recordings. His more recent recordings have a "do-it-yourself" quality.

A similar trend (somewhat surprising rave reviews) is evident in reviews of Bob Dylan's last several recordings -- according to the compendium website "Metacritic," anyway. Both Waits and Dylan are now living legends. (Of course, Dylan has been butchering his own legendary tracks in embarrassingly bad live shows since the 70s; most obviously, he tried to do the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower," when the original was a brilliant piece of evocative minimalism.) These rave reviews have an honorific quality: most reviewers seem hesitant to be overly harsh with living legends.

Hola from Mallorca in the beautiful Mediterranean sea.

Just wanted to stop by and say that I totally agree with your thoughts on Tom Waits. In some ways I wish he **was** re-writing Rain Dogs still after 20 years. There's little past the FWY album that compares to what went before, in my eyes. I'm still a big, big fan however.