Swordfishtrombones
(48/100 Greatest Albums Ever)

Swordfishtrombones is a sonically dazzling album, but the most compelling aspect of it is, as ever, Tom Waits’ extraordinary voice. It’s an incredible instrument, full of howl and rasp, yet with enough sensitivity to carry the album's quieter moments.
The heartfelt ballad ‘Johnsburg, Illinois’ is a polished diamond, buried among the delicious junkyard arrangements elsewhere. There are few artists as singular as Waits, and Swordfishtrombones finds him as gloriously uncompromising as ever.