Uppermidfi could possibly change his moniker to "Lowerlevelatormusic". Now back to the question: I feel that there are three periods in Wait's music, although you will not find any great line dividing them if you were to listen to all his albums in chronological order. His early work is that of the singer/songwriter with folk roots, the second is a more urban beat poet-type thing and the third, the more mature Waits with its own dark and quirky side, is the hardest for a lot of folks to appreciate. I recommend his first album if you want to hear his early stuff as a baseline of sorts; "Nighthawks at the Diner" (an early live in the studio album) is a must for his "beat poet" stuff; "Swordfishtrombone" marks the beginning of the mature and often difficult to appreciate period, so no one should judge on a first listen. More recently "Mule Variations" is a must. I guess I am a Wait's fan. Not Pablum in any way, so, I fully agree: all Donna Summer fans should look elsewhere. Interestingly, his voice has gone steadily downhill in singing terms, while gaining so much in expressiveness: just goes to show you that music and nicey-nice sounds are not necessarily bound to each other.
