VMP Magazine

Tom Waits is unlike any other working artist today. With equal parts vaudeville, blues, jazz, industrial, and experimental, Waits has made a body of work that spans nearly four decades and seventeen studio albums, with a slew of fantastic live albums to mention as well. He’s been covered by everyone from Bruce Springsteen and the Eagles to Rod Stewart, all the while maintaining his staunch personal mystique - part beat-poet-crooner, part bastardized Americana survivor, stalking the streets alongside the gin-soaked characters in his songs. So it’s no surprise that a walk through his catalogue is a journey certainly worth partaking in.

For the otherwise uninitiated, a foray into the immense discography of Tom Waits is a daunting task. Where does one begin? What period of his music is the best to listen to first, in order to best grasp the essence of the artist? Which of his seventeen albums contain the most interesting songs, but aren’t so far into the stratosphere of weirdness that they become tough to digest? After all, through his career Waits has made his way through a number of genres and styles, with guest musicians ranging from Les Claypool of Primus to Keith Richards to Carla Kihlstedt of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.

Below are ten fantastic Tom Waits albums to get you started on his immense body of work.