Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones

180-gram vinyl

Remastered in high resolution 192kHz/24-bit audio from an original EQ'd 1/2" production master tape

Lacquers cut by Alex Abrash at AA Mastering

Remastering supervised by Waits' longtime engineer Karl Derfler and approved by Waits together with his wife Kathleen Brennan

Five albums released by singer-songwriter Tom Waits for Island Records between 1983 and 1993 are being reissued. The first three include Swordfishtrombones (1983), Rain Dogs (1985) and Franks Wild Years (1987), releasing to stores on Sept. 1, 2023. Two more, Bone Machine (1992) and The Black Rider (1993) are releasing Oct. 6.

The albums have been remastered in high-resolution 192kHz/24-bit audio from original sources — an original EQ'd 1/2" production master for Swordfishtrombones, and 1/2" flat master tapes for the rest. Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering serves as mastering engineer, and Alex Abrash at AA Mastering has cut the new vinyl lacquers.

Swordfishtrombones was the start of a new artistic era for the acclaimed singer-songwriter Tom Waits, who both wrote and produced the now timeless album, his first for Island Records.

Swordfishtrombones ushered in a new and critically-acclaimed musical era for Waits and his longtime songwriting and production partner, his wife, Kathleen Brennan. Waits went from ‘70's-era "bluesy, boozy" wordsmith and melodist with seven albums behind him to sound sculptor, miner of the subconscious, abstract orchestrator, sonic cubist-while retaining his innate lyricism, melodic invention, and humanity.

As he put it in a 1983 interview: "I tried to listen to the noise in my head and invent some junkyard orchestral deviation — a mutant apparatus to drive this noise into a wreck collection." It's a Waits-arranged pastiche, a variety of atmospheres from different sound planets. There is the warped, marching-army-ants music of "Underground," an imitating chant about people living below cities, but there was also the poignancy of the spare piano ballad, "Soldier's Things," the good bar yarn, "Frank's Wild Years," the tender, minimalist paean to Waits' wife and muse, Kathleen, "Johnsburg, Illinois," and the raggedy anthem to neighborhood chaos, "In the Neighborhood."

The album is newly remastered in high resolution 192kHz/24-bit audio for the first time ever from the original EQ'ed ½" production master tape and personally overseen by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering under the guidance of Waits' longtime audio engineer, Karl Derfler. The album packaging has also been restored. Available on 180-gram black vinyl.

1. Underground

2. Shore Leave

3. Dave The Butcher

4. Johnsburg, Illinois

5. 16 Shells From A 30.6

6. Town With No Cheer

7. In The Neighborhood

8. Just Another Sucker On The Vine

9. Frank's Wild Years

10. Swordfishtrombone

11. Down,Down,Down

12. Soldier's Things

13. Gin Soaked Boy

14. Trouble's Braids

15. Rainbirds

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