Alice
Studio album / soundtrack by
Tom Waits
ReleasedMay 7, 2002 (2002-05-07)
StudioIn The Pocket, Forestville, California
Genre
Length48:23
LabelANTI-
ProducerKathleen Brennan, Tom Waits
Tom Waits chronology
Mule Variations
(1999)		 Alice
(2002)		 Blood Money
(2002)
Singles from Alice
  1. "Alice"
    Released: 2002
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic90/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
The Guardian[6]
Los Angeles Times[7]
NME8/10[8]
Pitchfork9.0/10[9]
Q[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Spin7/10[12]
Uncut[13]

Alice is the fourteenth studio album by Tom Waits, released in 2002 on Epitaph Records (under the Anti sub-label). It consists of recordings from the early 1990s.

Background

The album contains the majority of songs written for the play Alice. The adaptation was directed by Robert Wilson, whom Waits had previously worked with on the play The Black Rider, and originally set up at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg in 1992. The play has since been performed in various theatres around the world.

The album was co-released with Blood Money, an album containing songs from Wilson and Waits' 2000 musical Woyzeck.

Alice was ranked #2 in Metacritic's Top 30 albums of 2002.[14]

The songs had been released as a bootleg in several different versions called The Alice Demos many years before its official release. The source is believed to be studio recordings taken when Waits' car was broken into in late 1992.[15]

The song "Poor Edward" is about Edward Mordake.

In 2006 it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association,[16] which indicated sales of at least 250,000 copies throughout Europe. As of 2003, Alice has sold 140,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Soundscan.[17]

Track listing

All tracks written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan.

  1. "Alice" – 4:28
  2. "Everything You Can Think" – 3:10
  3. "Flower's Grave" – 3:28
  4. "No One Knows I'm Gone" – 1:42
  5. "Kommienezuspadt" – 3:10
  6. "Poor Edward" – 3:42
  7. "Table Top Joe" – 4:14
  8. "Lost in the Harbour" – 3:45
  9. "We're All Mad Here" – 2:31
  10. "Watch Her Disappear" – 2:33
  11. "Reeperbahn" – 4:02
  12. "I'm Still Here" – 1:49
  13. "Fish & Bird" – 3:59
  14. "Barcarolle" – 3:59
  15. "Fawn" – 1:43 (Instrumental)

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.[18]

Musicians
Technical
  • Jeff Abarta – art direction
  • Gerd Bessler – engineer (8)
  • Kathleen Brennan – producer
  • Richard Fisher – studio support
  • Oz Fritz – engineer (1-11, 13, 15), mixing
  • Jacquire King – engineer (12, 14), mixing (3, 8)
  • Matt Mahurin – photography, concept
  • Ralfinoe – design
  • Doug Sax – mastering
  • Jeff Sloan – second engineer
  • Tom Waits – producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Alice
Chart (2002) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 26
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20] 3
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] 7
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[22] 3
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 16
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] 48
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[25] 27
French Albums (SNEP)[26] 27
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 10
Italian Albums (FIMI)[28] 5
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[29] 3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[30] 13
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 24
UK Albums (OCC)[32] 20
US Billboard 200[33] 33

Year-end charts

2002 year-end chart performance for Alice
Chart (2002) Position
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[34] 130

Certifications and sales

Certifications for Alice
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Netherlands (NVPI)[35] Gold 40,000^
United States — 140,000[17]
Summaries
Europe — 250,000[16]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 Jacobs, Jay S. (2006). Wild Years: The Music and Myth of Tom Waits. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1550227161. Alice is a mix of Brechtian balladry, Dixieland jazz, and chamber music.
  2. ↑ Kessel, Corinne, ed. (2008). The Words and Music of Tom Waits. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 38. ISBN 978-1569763124. The delicate jazz-tinged music on Alice is graceful and intoxicating and generally evades the harsh carnival clank and groan in which Waits has been submersed since Swordfishtrombones.
  3. ↑ "Reviews for Alice by Tom Waits". Metacritic. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  4. ↑ Jurek, Thom. "Alice – Tom Waits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  5. ↑ Sinclair, Tom (May 10, 2002). "Blood Money / Alice". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 25, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  6. ↑ Costa, Maddy (May 3, 2002). "We're all mad here". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  7. ↑ Cromelin, Richard (May 5, 2002). "The Rasp Man Goes Operatic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  8. ↑ McNamee, Paul (May 18, 2002). "Waits, Tom : Alice". NME. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  9. ↑ Bowers, William (May 13, 2002). "Tom Waits: Alice / Blood Money". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Tom Waits: Alice". Q (190): 114. May 2002.
  11. ↑ Fricke, David (April 25, 2002). "Alice". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ Milner, Greg (June 2002). "Nowhere Men". Spin. 18 (6): 109. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Tom Waits: Alice". Uncut (61): 106. June 2002.
  14. ↑ "Best of 2002". metacritic.com. 2002. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  15. ↑ Keith Phipps (2002-05-29). "Interview: Tom Waits". avclub.com. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  16. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2017-08-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. 1 2 "Billboard Bits: Waits, Bozulich, Santa Fe Jazz Fest". Billboard. 21 August 2003.
  18. ↑ "Tom Waits - Alice". Discogs. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Tom Waits – Alice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  20. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Tom Waits – Alice" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  21. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Tom Waits – Alice" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  22. ↑ "Danishcharts.dk – Tom Waits – Alice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  23. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Waits – Alice" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  24. ↑ "Charts.nz – Tom Waits – Alice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  25. ↑ "Tom Waits: Alice" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  26. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Tom Waits – Alice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  27. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Waits – Alice" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  28. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Tom Waits – Alice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  29. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tom Waits – Alice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  30. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Tom Waits – Alice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  31. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Tom Waits – Alice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  32. ↑ "Tom Waits | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  33. ↑ "Tom Waits Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  34. ↑ "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 2, 2004. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – Tom Waits – Alice" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved November 11, 2023. Enter Alice in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2012 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
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