Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Billboard | Positive |
| Rolling Stone | positive |
| Mojo | |
Upon its release, Closing Time was received by the American music press with positive critical acclaim, although its coverage was limited. In its original Rolling Stone review, the album was positively referred to as "a remarkable debut album", compared to Randy Newman, and was branded as a "boozier, earthier version of same and delights in rummaging through the attics of nostalgia, the persona that emerges from this remarkable debut album is Waits's own, at once sardonic, vulnerable and emotionally charged" while former Village Voice editor and Pazz & Jop reviewer Robert Christgau noted that with his "jazz-schooled piano and drawling delivery Waits exploits an honest sentimentality which he undercuts just enough to be credible", also noting his similarity to Newman. Allmusic held the album in high regard, describing "his lovelorn lyrics" as being "sentimental without being penetrating. But he also has a gift for gently rolling pop melodies" and his "self-conscious melancholy can be surprisingly moving." Billboard referred to the album upon its release as "hauntingly lovely which captures the essence of a moment, a thought or a love."
The album received little coverage the United Kingdom and elsewhere internationally, with its promotion being little more than a featured advert in the NME. However, in recent years, NME has described Waits as a "veteran singer-songwriter." Closing Time did not chart upon its release although in 2000, the album peaked at number 28 in the Irish Albums Chart. The album was certified Silver in the United Kingdom in 2004 with shipments of over 60,000 copies and was later certified Gold in 2012 with shipments of over 100,000 copies.
Read more about this topic: Closing Time (album)
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)