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"&lt;p&gt;Tom Waits tells the same stories all the time &amp;#x2014; the small-time gangster who gets blown away by the big boys, the tough whore who sleeps with a torn-up teddy bear under her pillow, the barely employed sucker who spends his spare time and puny paycheck at the local saloon &amp;#x2014; but he makes each one sound different. That&amp;apos;s why he&amp;apos;s a great storyteller.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;wm:embed type=\"related\"&gt;&lt;/wm:embed&gt;&lt;p&gt;On &lt;em&gt;Blue Valentine&lt;/em&gt;, the small-time gangster dies in a movie-theater balcony with a bullet in his heart and Cagney on the screen (&amp;quot;Romeo Is Bleeding&amp;quot;). The tough whore writes from jail that she wishes she had all the money she&amp;apos;d spent on dope because then she&amp;apos;d buy a used-car lot and drive a different car each day (&amp;quot;Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis&amp;quot;). The barfly gets valentines he can&amp;apos;t cope with every year from an old girlfriend (&amp;quot;Blue Valentines&amp;quot;). The general ideas are old hat, but the details &amp;#x2014; &amp;quot;There&amp;apos;s a dark huddle at the bus stop/Umbrellas arranged in a sad bouquet&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;The ghost of your memory is the thistle in the kiss&amp;quot; &amp;#x2014; are priceless.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;Would that Waits&amp;apos; music were that resourceful. His melodies tend toward standard bluesy riffs and endless piano vamps, while his singing is sometimes reduced to a mere gurgle of phlegm in the back of his throat. Yet the deterioration of his voice and the lugubriousness of his tunes aren&amp;apos;t anything new. True, they make the album hard to listen to, but sometimes you can tune out the voice and you can always stick with the lyric sheet.&lt;/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;On the whole, though, &lt;em&gt;Blue Valentine&lt;/em&gt; is as solid a record as Waits has made. While there&amp;apos;s nothing quite as snappy and funny as &amp;quot;Step Right Up,&amp;quot; there&amp;apos;s nothing as overblown and pretentious as &amp;quot;Potter&amp;apos;s Field&amp;quot; either. And the LP&amp;apos;s best cuts &amp;#x2014; &amp;quot;Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis,&amp;quot; the title track, &amp;quot;$29.00&amp;quot; &amp;#x2014; rank high among the sentimental sagas that contain Tom Waits&amp;apos; strongest writing.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/blue-valentine-19790322>