User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info
- Summary: Tom Waits produced the album and wrote 12 of the 13 tracks.
- Record Label: Pointblank
- Genre(s): Blues
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 10 out of 10
-
Mixed: 0 out of 10
-
Negative: 0 out of 10
-
His album of Waits' penned-and-produced songs may be the masterwork of Hammond's long career, as well as further testament to Waits' unique genius.
-
Wicked Grin is a rousingly successful experiment. The album's best moments equal -- and often surpass -- anything in both artists' consistently creative careers.
-
A near-perfect mix of two sympathetic talents operating in top form.
-
Wicked Grin is a bona fide revelation.... A rambunctious joy from beginning to end.
-
The collaboration ultimately benefits both players, adding a touch of art house abandon to Hammond's at times studied formalism, and authenticity to Waits' Martian grease-monkey blues.
-
Hammond's vocal, minus Waits's affected (and annoying) growl, puts the emphasis where it belongs--on the songs. The effect is to make peculiar vistas like "Jockey Full Of Bourbon" and "Murder In The Red Barn" even more vivid and the tunes truly sound like artifacts from another era.
-
The material is perfectly suited to Hammond's subtle syncopation and sauntering vocals. The warmth of the recording makes it seem all the more like listening to a master storyteller sharing tales that have been passed down through generations.
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 4 out of 4
-
Mixed: 0 out of 4
-
Negative: 0 out of 4
-
CarlM.Mar 11, 2002Damn Decent
-
-
DavidF.Sep 28, 2001Blues sensibility added to Los Angeles retro-sleaze/ romanticism. But nobody does "Heart Attack and Vine" quite as good as Waits.
-
-
Jan 31, 2012
-
-
KaceyE.Sep 17, 2002
-