Tom Waits: The world yelling back at itself?

Have you listened to Tom Waits? If so, what did you think of his music? Recently I've been listening to his album, "Real Gone".

I've identified two types of Waits' songs: those in which he roars and screams in a frenetic and often scary manner; and those which are ballad-like, with Waits crooning lyrics that are engaging and often moving.

Listening to songs in the first category is like listening to a tone-deaf primary school student practising the recorder--very painful. I quickly hit the 'skip' button on the cd player.

The songs in the second category I play over and over. They tell stories that are quirky, fantastic, very ordinary and, sometimes, downright strange. Often Waits reflects on the these stories by posing a question. Take the song "How's it gonna end?", which I've been loving:

He had 3 whole dollars,
a worn out car
And a wife who was leaving for good

Life’s made of trouble,
worry, pain and struggle
She wrote 'good bye' in the dust on the hood

They found a map of Missouri
Lipstick on the glass
They must of left in the middle of the nite

And I want to know the same thing
Everyone wants to know
How's it going to end? (Chorus)

At first, I'd thought Waits' songs could be described as "the world yelling back at itself". But with the 'second category' I've been surprised: Waits' range of delivery is broad and his lyrics astute.