# The first Tom Waits album he ever enjoyed: “Trying too hard”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-first-tom-waits-album-he-ever-enjoyed-trying-too-hard/
- Published: 2026-07-24T14:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-28T22:04:49+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/first-tom-waits-album-ever-enjoyed/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Waits first liked his own work with 1983’s ‘Swordfishtrombones’.
- He felt his earlier albums were “trying too hard”.
- The album launched his more experimental musical period.

## Summary

Tom Waits has said he did not enjoy his own records until the 1983 album ‘Swordfishtrombones’, describing his earlier work as feeling like it was “trying too hard”. The comment highlights the sharp creative change represented by the album, which began the experimental, rough-edged style that became central to his later reputation.

Before ‘Swordfishtrombones’, Waits was associated with jazz-inflected piano ballads and beat-poet imagery, but the record replaced much of that approach with unusual percussion, distorted instrumentation and stranger character-driven songs. It marked his first release after moving to Island Records and collaborating closely with his wife, Kathleen Brennan, and is widely viewed as a turning point in his career.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.