Customer Reviews
classic first album - By: gary t, 18 Jun 2008 
I first heard "RainDogs"in the 1980's. We probably have most of Tom Waits' albums now. "Closing Time" remains an absolute classic & is highly recommended.. some plaintive tracks backed by piano and, of course, thoughtful lyrics & a great voice. I like his later albums too, but this is much more mellow. There isn't one bad song on the album, & that's why I rate it a "classic".
I just can't understand some of the negative listings on here... "almost a demo.. an album 'our' tom would prefer to forget." I just don't get it. It takes all sorts, really.
This is a great album
Closing Time - The Best of Tom Waits ? - By: SMc, 01 Apr 2008 Quite simply - & like many artists with a first album - Tom Waits never improved upon this 1973 masterpiece. Sure "Small Change" from 1974 is good & the individual song, "Kentucky Avenue" (from "Blue Valentine")is heartbreakingly sad, but yet uplifting too.
[And along with Clifford T. Ward's "For Debbie And Her Friends" - from 1973's "Mantlepieces" album & Kenny Roger's "Ruby (Don't Take Your Love To Town from 1969) - are uplifting songs about peoplein wheelchairs.In CTW's case, his daughter.]
However "Closing Time" is as good a debut album as anyone could muster, even the instrumental title track. Now, my son thinks this is the worst & weakest of the Tom Waits canon, but he prefers the later albums which are too harsh &in some cases, even tunelessin my humble opinion. No, Waits never bettered this album & it's worth the accredited five stars.
Almost a demo - By: Mr. S. Douglas, 07 Feb 2008 
Probably an album our Tom would prefer to forget.
I started listening to TW about the time of Swordfishtrombones & worked my way back through his albums. Once I got to Closing Time, Asylum were trying to release Early Years much against TW's wishes & after listening to Closing Time I could understand why. It's vanilla & instantly forgettable against practically anything TW has produced since.
I dare say there will be some who will like this, but I'm guessing they will have Eagles Greatest Hits & Fleetwood Mac's Rumours near the front of their record collection too.
The American genius - By: Mark Bracewell, 25 Jan 2008 You know how it happens. You hear an album by someone, & you think, I wonder what his earlier stuff was like?
I first got introduced to Tom Waitsin Cretein 1980, listening to "the heart of saturday night" & I was hooked.
So I bought this. Its a bit more stripped down than the above, butin some ways cleaner. The man is, of course, a genius, & can bring tears to the eyes of anyone. I'm probably preaching to the converted, but the first time I heard "Martha" I cried. But for sheer beauty, nothing beats "Grapefruit Moon". I could go on but there is no point. Buy it. And revelin the real debut of a complete genius. All hail Mr Waits.
Nowt as queer as folk... - By: Mixed Bag, 06 Sep 2007 I was gobsmacked to read one reviewer here saying they "can't see the attraction". This is one of my (and my wife's) most frequently played albums. This was our introduction to Tom Waits & though we have many other albums from across his varied repertoire, this is the one we enjoy most; some of the others impress, others interest, & others have their moments, but Closing Time will always be THE Waits album for me.
Hope this helps to introduce someone else to a huge talent.
