 | The Early Years, Vol. 1 by Tom Waits
Buy new: £7.38 1971: Demos, most of which ended up on the first two albums. Worth it for the ones that didn't make it. Suprisingly country in places.
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 | The Early Years, Vol. 2 by Tom Waits
Buy new: £7.38 / Used from: £3.99 1971: More demos. Not the place to start, but come back if you can't get enough early Waits. Vol. 1 is far more worthwhile than this album.
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 | Closing Time by Tom Waits
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.85 1973: The Eagles covered Ol' 45 off of this. Martha is heartbreaking and Ice Cream Man is pretty funny. Good music for a bar.
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 | The Heart Of Saturday Night by Tom Waits
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £3.95 1974: New Coat of Paint and Diamonds On My Windshield stand out, but this is his first really great album.
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 | Nighthawks At The Diner by Tom Waits
Buy new: £6.68 / Used from: £3.00 1975: Bad jokes and a drunk-sounding lounge act, which somehow works. Not the place to start enjoying Tom Waits, but ideal after Small Change or those above.
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 | Small Change by Tom Waits
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £3.59 1976: Waits' first classic and completely essential album. No duds, no filler, smarter lyrics and more experimental (but still 'normal' music).
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 | Foreign Affairs by Tom Waits
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.52 1977: Even a Better Midler duet sounds good on this album. More barfly and world-weary than Small Change, Potter's Field is an amazing mini-epic.
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 | Blue Valentine by Tom Waits
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £2.00 1978: Romeo Is Bleeding is another mini-epic, and Waits has really found his voice by now, both lyrically and musically.
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 | The Asylum Years by Tom Waits
Buy new: £4.68 / Used from: £1.74 1984: A compilation of the above albums, only worthwhile if you get an old copy with Mr. Henry on it from the deleted compilation 'Bounced Checks' (but by no means essential).
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 | Heartattack and Vine by Tom Waits
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £4.50 1980: Things are starting to get weirder here, but it's still all suitable for a night in a bar. Your dad might like it (or own it).
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 | One from the Heart by Tom Waits
Buy new: £5.78 / Used from: £4.30 1982: Probably everyone's least favourite Tom Waits album, it's actually pretty great, and shows more of Tom's country and musical leanings.
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 | Swordfishtrombones by Tom Waits
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.00 1983: Things suddenly go in a completely different direction, inspired by Captain Beefheart and Harry Partch, but it's still jazzy blues at heart. Now carnival music rather than bar music.
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 | Rain Dogs by Tom Waits
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.00 1985: Sequel to the above, with a quick concession to the pop form (Downtown Train), kind of a more respectable brother to Swordfishtrombones (but just as great underneath).
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 | Franks Wild Years by Tom Waits
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £2.78 1987: A musical version of the new 'dwarf marching band' style, inspired by song of the same name from Swordfishtrombones. Only essential when you're hooked on the previous two albums.
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 | Big Time (Re-Issue) by Tom Waits
Buy new: £4.48 / Used from: £2.37 1988: A sort of live best-of. Not fantastic, but demented and drunk sounding enough to be loveable.
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 | Night on Earth by Tom Waits
Buy used from: £49.97 1992: Soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch film of same name. Fantastic, mainly instrumental, but often hard to find.
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 | Bone Machine by Tom Waits
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.95 1992: Darker and dirtier than ever, but the most satisfying Tom Waits album since Rain Dogs. Lives up to its name.
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 | The Black Rider by Tom Waits
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.70 1993: VERY dark soundtrack to stage musical about a man making a deal with the Devil and shooting his lover by accident. Probably the most 'difficult' Tom Waits album.
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 | Mule Variations by Tom Waits
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £4.40 1999: Uneven, but satisfyingly bizarre and dirty, it is somehow a 'Tom Waits does Tom Waits' album that works.
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 | Blood Money by Tom Waits
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £4.15 2002: Another musical soundtrack, but more listenable than Black Rider. Still dark and crazy and carnivalesque.
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 | Alice by Tom Waits
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £3.99 2002: Inspired, somehow, by Lewis Carroll's relationship with 'Alice', this has some really beautiful moments in a very special Tom Waits way. One of his best since Bone Machine.
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 | Real Gone by Tom Waits
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £4.50 2004: Waits manages to re-invigorate a style that's managed to stay fresh for over 20 years. Different, but highly rewarding.
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 | Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards by Tom Waits
Buy new: £12.98 / Used from: £11.76 2006: Only Waits could turn in a b-sides and rarities box-set that is as satisfying and enjoyable as many of his best albums.
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 | Innocent When You Dream: Tom Waits: The Collected Interviews: Tom Waits - The Collected Interviews
Buy used from: £2.86 This is probably the only book on the man that's worth getting; most of the others add nothing to the enjoyment of his music.
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 | New Coat of Paint: Songs of Tom Waits by Various Artists
Buy used from: £4.85 And this isn't worth bothering with, except for a handful of tracks. Go and buy a Bukowski book or a collection of Diane Arbus photos instead.
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