• Record Label: Epitaph
  • Release Date: Oct 5, 2004
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 34 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 34
  2. Negative: 2 out of 34

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  1. Hein
    May 4, 2006
    10
    Forget all your fucked up 80s revival bands. This is the real sugar!!!
  2. juniorw
    Nov 16, 2004
    9
    Crackle boom, cough, thump, pop, pop, zoom, crackle and boom. Haroomph. Oooh, yeah, Haroomph. This album reclaims twaits honor after a few releases which seemed a bit cartoonish even for waits. The songs here are less about music and more about art. Waits has come to terms with his pallette and knows how to use it.
  3. DavidM
    Nov 4, 2004
    9
    This album rocks. Very primitive load and aggressive sound. This is very raw, electric guitar sounding music., stripped down to the most purest form. One more thing, to all you people out their who think "CIRCUS" doesn't belong on this "ARE YOU STONED???" This is a friggin TOM WAITS CD !!! A CIRCUS RACONTEUR SONG BELONGS ON A TOM WAITS CD!!! C'MON PEOPLE!! THIS IS A GREAT POETIC This album rocks. Very primitive load and aggressive sound. This is very raw, electric guitar sounding music., stripped down to the most purest form. One more thing, to all you people out their who think "CIRCUS" doesn't belong on this "ARE YOU STONED???" This is a friggin TOM WAITS CD !!! A CIRCUS RACONTEUR SONG BELONGS ON A TOM WAITS CD!!! C'MON PEOPLE!! THIS IS A GREAT POETIC RANT THAT UNCATEGORICALLY IS A THUMBPRINT OF TOM WAITS!!!! Collapse
  4. ANDREWM
    Oct 22, 2004
    9
    Creeps up on you and bites you in the ass. This is Tom at his experimental best. If you loved Swordfishtrombones and Bone Machine, then this is for you. Toms dirty filthy rock root album ever.
  5. sophiastar(israel)
    Oct 11, 2004
    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!!
  6. PaulS
    Oct 9, 2004
    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 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. Expand
  7. FatherSCSI
    Oct 8, 2004
    8
    Waits has created yet another timeless treck through creativity and tomfoolery. This album is an extension in to the broad scope of Waits' diversity and inginuity.
  8. mbridgeman
    Oct 7, 2004
    10
    the only way this could possibly sound any better would be if it were on vinyl!
  9. BrandonM
    Oct 6, 2004
    10
    This album is much better than Alice and Blood Money. It is different, and while I was hoping for something more in line with his two songs from Big Bad Love, this album is a real gem. Waits is in good form here. Fans won?t be disappointed.
  10. aurelios
    Oct 6, 2004
    10
    a real masterpiece , another one from mr. waits...really very different from alice/ blood money the most similar cd is " bone machine"
  11. badgers
    Oct 5, 2004
    10
    ripping the scab off a festering wound this cd rubs gravel in it and then tom kisses it gently goodnight
  12. JarnoL
    Oct 5, 2004
    10
    Having read the reviews all over the internet, while listening to the CD (four times through now), I think that while most reviews have been (rightly) positive, some have obviously written their reviews after only one (if even that) listen. This is not a one-listen album. After one listen, it looks like a solid excentric effort, though ultimately not the best Waits can do - it may also Having read the reviews all over the internet, while listening to the CD (four times through now), I think that while most reviews have been (rightly) positive, some have obviously written their reviews after only one (if even that) listen. This is not a one-listen album. After one listen, it looks like a solid excentric effort, though ultimately not the best Waits can do - it may also sound sloppily produced at points. After the second listen, you start to "get" pieces, melodies vailed in the rythm of he more abbrasive songs, and a feeling creeps up that there are some masterpieces here.... After the third listen, the songs you may not have liked on the first listen, you look forward to. Also, the shock having waned, you start really listening to the ballads, and notice that there's great variety of moods on the album By the fourth listen you're Real Gone; the music's got you in it's claws, the cd's grown roots to the cd-player, and ain't gonna let go any time soon! A superlative addition to the Tom Waits catalogue. The impatient know not what they are missing. Expand
  13. GernB
    Oct 4, 2004
    10
    Waited so long for a new Tom Waits cd - and it's better than I imagined. Sounds like an old, drunk angel screwing me in the earhole. Perfect.
  14. JonH
    Oct 4, 2004
    10
    Another wonderful album from a artist whose had so many already, for those that love bone machine this is a sequeal in a way.
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 32
  2. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Rolling Stone
    60
    Waits retains his knack for recruiting world-class musicians... who can play like they're falling down the stairs of hell. [28 Oct 2004, p.98]
  2. A noisy, stamping, querulous assault on the senses that could have certainly benefited from more than a little editing.
  3. All the idiosyncrasies which either drew you to Waits or repelled you from him are present, and many songs hold a resemblance to past gems.