• Record Label: Anti
  • Release Date: Nov 21, 2006
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 170 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 15 out of 170

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  1. Dec 18, 2019
    6
    At the end of the day Tom Waits didn't make it, and the 70's never happened. All these different eras of Tom Waits were repugnant. Over all Tom's stylizations are behind the times, like he never heard about it, and just does his schtick.
  2. ToddW
    Nov 27, 2006
    5
    This is another one of those artists that I don't quite get what all the fuss is about. In that regard he reminds me somewhat of Beck. I know there's something there that I should be lauding, but I simply can't get past this guy's vocals. He flat out cannot sing, and I'm not talking about a Neil Young or Bob Dylan classification of cannot sing. This guy always This is another one of those artists that I don't quite get what all the fuss is about. In that regard he reminds me somewhat of Beck. I know there's something there that I should be lauding, but I simply can't get past this guy's vocals. He flat out cannot sing, and I'm not talking about a Neil Young or Bob Dylan classification of cannot sing. This guy always sounds like he has a mouth full of marbles. He reminds me of the crazy, Aqualung-type bum who mumbles at you on the boardwalk in Santa Monica, all the while accompanying himself on a guitar that looks like Robert Johnson might have played it. His songs also sometimes flow like he's lost his marbles. 'Rain Dogs' was the closest I'll ever get to this guy, and I still feel like I've got to take a shower after listening to it. Good alliteration, though. Expand
Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Orphans is a major work that goes beyond the origins of the material and drags everything past and present with sound and texture into a present to be presented as something utterly new, beyond anything he has previously issued.
  2. This set stands alongside Waits's finest work.
  3. An outstanding musical creation... that nods to almost every known genre of American music, and some that have yet to be named.