Red Mosquito

Looking forward to Sins of My Father. The studio version isn't a favorite

so far I dig this version a bit more, basically for the same reasons McP prefers the original

sins has a lonley plains campfire kind of feel to it that I'm digging.


So far:

Top of the Hill: +
Hoist that Rag: -
Sins: +

Sins has some great lyrics

Digging the cleaner remix of Shake It a bit more, especially the verses (still don't like the chorus), but Shake It was towards the bottom of my list so it had nowhere to go but up

Don't Go Into That Barn is poppier, if that word can be used (it's not a great fit but I've got nothing better right now). I dig it, but Barn is in my top 4 on this album (How's It Gonna End, Make it Rain, and Day After Tomorrow are ahead of it), and I think I prefer the original. But this is a fun remix. I dig it as an option.

Top of the Hill: +
Hoist that Rag: -
Sins: +
Shake It: +
Don't Go Into That Barn: =



To someone's point earlier (KD?'s) this is a real remix/remastering (apologies for what is no doubt sloppy terminology). If you know the songs well you will hear the differences, but it's not like a techno remix or all acoustic version or something utterly different.

Okay, seconds into How's It Gonna End I'm feeling the atmosphere stripped from this song in favor of a cleaner performance. Since this is one of my absolute favorite TW songs, and one of the points on Real Gone where I think the mood captured by the original performance masterfully enhances the song this is definitely a let done

Top of the Hill: +
Hoist that Rag: -
Sins: +
Shake It: +
Don't Go Into That Barn: =
How's It Gonna End: -

Fun fact. How's It Gonna End may be my favorite Tom Waits lyric of all time, and he's a masterful writer. Top to bottom it's just the best.

There's a killer and he's coming through the rye
Or maybe he's the father of that lost little girl
It's hard to tell in this light...

I think the pattern is clear. The songs I didn't really much I prefer here since this showcases the underlying composition, and TW knows what he's doing. Where I appreciated the atmosphere, it suffers.


Metropolitan Glide is an improvement, but it's not like this mix has made me fall in love with the song


Dead and Lovely is a tie, but the song subject matter works well with the smokey nightclub vibe of this mix. It comes across more like a warning, than like a predatory confession. Either fits.

Circus was never a favorite spoken word. I think this cleaner version enabled me to focus on the story a bit more. Slight improvement.

Prefer this version of trampled rose. I do like the version on Real Gone, but I prefer the cleaner composition. It's not a song where the muddy atmosphere enhanced what was going on.

Top of the Hill: +
Hoist that Rag: -
Sins: ++
Shake It: +
Don't Go Into That Barn: =
How's It Gonna End: -
Metroplitan Glide: +
Dead and Lovely: =/+
Circus: =/+
Trampled Rose: +

A "cleaner" Real Gone could not sound less appealing to me

I feel pretty much the same way about Green Grass as I do about Trampled Rose. Tom Waits is a singer who imparts so many nooks and crannies into even the most simple composition that sometimes it's nice to just listen to him in an unadorned way. Green Grass was a song I liked on the original mix, but I like the demo quality of this version better

The vocal percussive stuff TW did on this album was hit or miss for me. It was a miss on Baby's Gonna Leave Me, so this slightly less abrasive version is an improvement, though, like Metropolitan Glide, it hasn't bumped this up to a song I'd seek out (which I would say about Top of the Hill or Sins)

Clang Boom Steam is an interlude track. I like this one a bit more since the pipe banging triangle sound is a bit clearer, but it's a whatever.


Top of the Hill: +
Hoist that Rag: -
Sins: ++
Shake It: +
Don't Go Into That Barn: =
How's It Gonna End: -
Metroplitan Glide: +
Dead and Lovely: =/+
Circus: =/+
Trampled Rose: +
Green Grass: +
Baby Gonna Leave Me: =/+
Clang Boom Steam: =/+

LoathedVermin72 wrote:A "cleaner" Real Gone could not sound less appealing to me

for a certain value of 'clean'. It would still be a filthy record by anyone else's standards.

I'm really digging this version of Make It Rain, which is a bit of a surprise, since the original is a such a rip your guts out song. The original is better, but this one is really good too. The blues roots are a little more prominent.

It's been a long time since I listened to the original, so a major caveat to anything I just posted is that some of this may just be me recalling the album after some distance. Then again, this was a mid tier album for me.



Day after tomorrow sounds a little too busy and a bit too forward. The awkward cadence needs the more halting and uncertain performance on the album.

Top of the Hill: +
Hoist that Rag: -
Sins: ++
Shake It: +
Don't Go Into That Barn: =
How's It Gonna End: -
Metroplitan Glide: +
Dead and Lovely: =/+
Circus: =/+
Trampled Rose: +
Green Grass: +
Baby Gonna Leave Me: =/+
Clang Boom Steam: =/+
Make it Rain: =
Day After Tomorrow: -


Overall Day after Tomorrow, How's It Gonna End, and Hoist That Rag are a step backwards (granted these are 3 of the best songs on the album). Don't Go Into that Barn and Make It Rain are not improvements, but they are worthwhile alternate takes. The rest of the mid teri songs (Green Grass, Trampled Rose, and Dead and Lovely) are all a bit better, and for the most part the weaker songs present better here. Sins of My Father was a nice pickup for me.


As soon as I can access some digital files of this mix i will definitely be making a hybrid mix of these two albums

I, too, have always found Tom Waits to be the english muffins of singers.

If Tom Waits was selling an english muffin you better believe I'd buy it

I still think it doesnt dramatically alter all that is Real Gone. There are some added flourishes and different vibes to some songs but nothing as offensive as what pearl jam does to their music.

A song like Make It Rain really pops now and that's up to you if you like it or not. Things are brighter and more puncy and pronounced.

A song like Dead and Lovely sounds a bit more crisp rather than like you are listening to it on a gramophone or in a seedy basement hooker parlor.

stip wrote:also tom waits will probably be the next mega tournament

I like that they didn't fuck with How's It Gonna End too much.