Tom Waits Alice

This Friday Tom Waits will release the 20th anniversary limited edition vinyl reissues of his 2002 albums ‘Alice’ and ‘Blood Money’. New live performances of five tracks per record will also be made available digitally in a digital deluxe version.

"Alice" is a ghostly, atmospheric chamber piece dedicated to Charles Dodgson's obsessive, forbidden love for Alice Liddell, for whom Alice in Wonderland was created.

Alice, once dubbed "the lost Tom Waits masterpiece" by the press, was originally done as an avant-garde opera directed by Robert Wilson for Hamburg's Thalia Theater in the winter of 1992. "Alice" was based loosely on Lewis Carroll's obsession with young Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired his Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. Working with wife and collaborator Kathleen Brennan, they wrote fifteen songs for the Wilson opera in the summer of 1992. The Thalia performed "Alice" for eighteen months, with an eclectic orchestra of Waits' design.

Alice, once dubbed "the lost Tom Waits masterpiece" by the press, was originally done as an avant-garde opera directed by Robert Wilson for Hamburg's Thalia Theater in the winter of 1992. "Alice" was based loosely on Lewis Carroll's obsession with young Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired his Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. Working with wife and collaborator Kathleen Brennan, they wrote fifteen songs for the Wilson opera in the summer of 1992. The Thalia performed "Alice" for eighteen months, with an eclectic orchestra of Waits' design.

[CUT]
Tom Waits - Alice (The Original Demos), 1992 г., bootleg
tracks: 23
total time: 74:37

1. 4:05 There's Only Alice
2. 2:03 And No One Knows I'm Gone
3. 3:15 Tabletop Joe
4. 3:04 Komme Nie Zo Spat
5. 2:37 Hang Me In The Bottle
6. 2:58 Down The Reperbahn
7. 3:31 One, Two And Through
8. 2:58 Everthing You Can Think Of Is True
9. 3:44 ...But There's Never A Rose
10. 6:05 What Became Of Old Father Craft
11. 3:31 Chained Together For Life
12. 1:37 Falling Down The Lane
13. 4:06 Untitled
14. 2:34 Instrumental Pieces
15. 3:23 Instrumental Pieces
16. 3:29 Instrumental Pieces
17. 2:26 Instrumental Pieces
18. 4:42 Instrumental Pieces
19. 3:18 Instrumental Pieces
20. 1:38 Instrumental Pieces
21. 2:21 Instrumental Pieces
22. 2:56 Instrumental Pieces
23. 4:13 Instrumental Pieces

"ALICE" was originally performed
at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, December 1992.
Directed and stage design by Robert Wilson,
music and lyrics by Tom Waits and Kathlene Brennan,
texts by Paul Schmidt
These pieces of music were recorded by the composer
himself and session musicians in Hamburg, Germany, late 1992
APE+CUE+LOG, 370M
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MP3 VBR(Q=0), 130M
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ОБЛОЖКИ

Tom Waits - Alice, 2002 г., ANTI
tracks: 14
total time: 42:28

1. 4:28 Alice
2. 2:56 Everything You Can Think
3. 3:29 Flowers Grave
4. 2:00 No One Knows I'm Gone
5. 3:11 Kommienezuepadt
6. 3:42 Poor Edward
7. 3:11 Table Top Joe
8. 2:32 We're All Mad Here
9. 2:31 WatchNer Desappear
10. 2:56 Reeperbahn
11. 1:50 I'm Still Here
12. 3:59 Fish &Bird
13. 3:59 Barcarolle
14. 1:39 Fawn

Andrew Borger - Drums, Frame Drum, Percussion
Ara Anderson - Trumpet (Muted)
Bent Clausen - Piano, Swiss Hand Bells
Carla Kihlstedt - Violin
Colin Stetson - Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Baritone), Saxophone
Doug Sax - Mastering
Eric Perney - Bass
Gerd Bessler - Engineer
Gino Robair - Drums, Percussion
Heather Fremling - Balance Engineer
Jacquire King - Engineer, Mixing
Jeff Abarta - A&R, Art Direction
Jeff Sloan - Engineer, Production Coordination
Joe Gore - Guitar (Electric)
Kathleen Brennan - Guitar (Acoustic), Percussion, Producer
Larry Taylor - Bass, Guitar (Electric)
Matt Mahurin - Concept, Photography
Matthew Brubeck - Bass, Cello
Myles Boisen - Banjo
Nick Phelps - French Horn, Trumpet
Oz Fritz - Engineer, Mixing
Ralfinoe - Design
Richard Fisher - Studio Support
Stewart Copeland - Trap Kit
Tim Allen - Scraper
Tom Waits - chamberlain, Glockenspiel, Main Performer, Mellotron, Organ (Pump), Piano, Producer, Stomping, Violin, Vocals
APE+CUE+LOG, 270M
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MP3 VBR(Q=0), 85M
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This album is very unique for Tom Waits, it is much slower, and much much sadder than most of his stuff. He also returns to his piano, which is kind of rare for his newer stuff. But except for "Table Top Joe" and "Kommienezuspadt" the album is incredibly downbeat and rather tragic. However, the first track "Alice" is one of my favorite Waits song that i've heard. In short, this is a great album for when your in that mood. Great from beginning to end, and the last song "Fawn" is almost happy in its saddness, with no lyrics, just mostly strings, and a lot of beauty. But this album is not for everyone, but give it a chance anyway.

The songs had been unofficially released in several different versions of a bootleg called The Alice Demos many years before its official release, and this is the Canadian bootleg version of Alice. The source is believed to be studio recordings taken when Waits' car was broken into in late 1992 (as confirmed by Waits).