Real Gone - Tom Waits
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
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  1. cokemachineglow
    82
    Real Gone... is Waits’ grittiest work to date and is an excellent introduction, for those unacquainted, to his hard-boiled thirty-year run.
  2. Delusions of Adequacy
    90
    Real Gone is incredible because of its songs, some of which stand among Waits' finest work.
  3. E! Online
    100
    Slapping his knees, spitting and grunting, Waits makes the already raw blues sound of songs like "Metropolitan Glide" and "Trampled Rose" sound even more grizzled.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    Often riveting--and even a little gangsta. [8 Oct 2004, p.114]
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  5. Filter
    90
    Another smartly executed step into the strange grandeur of Mr. Waits. [#12, p.94]
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  6. Playlouder
    100
    In ‘Real Gone’s fearsome complexity of rhythm, lyric and device, Tom Waits appropriates like a shoplifter without much time, and creates something entirely his own. A new music.
  7. Spin
    91
    Totally grimy. [Nov 2004, p.118]
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  8. The Guardian
    90
    There is plenty that is remarkable about Real Gone.

User Reviews

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User Score
9.4 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. Hein
    10
    Forget all your fucked up 80s revival bands. This is the real sugar!!!
  2. PaulS
    10
    I'm always saddened by the fact that so many people feel a need to define and/or review an album based on previous releases. Comments like; "well, it's similar to Bone Machine, but..." or "Different from Alice and Blood Money, but..." I think this is because professional reviewers are somewhat unimaginative and it's easier to define by comparison than actually review the album on its own merit. Real Gone is a great album, truly one of the most unique listening experiences in years. Tom Waits maintains his title as "king-of-the-risk takers" by throwing everything up against the side of the barn and seeing what sticks. In this case, most of it does, in a beautiful, tragic and more than a little funny, way. This is a "screaming in the car" album if ever there was one. Enjoy it.… Full Review »
  3. sophiastar(israel)
    10
    one more original, chaleging, smart, and highly beautifull albume for mr.waits to put in my collection! highly recomended to those who have their ears tuned up the right way!!… Full Review »
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