Tom Waits earns highest Chart positions in his 30 year plus career, entering Billboard's Top 200 at No 28 and the Top Independent Chart at No 1; Also doing extremely well in the European Charts

LOS ANGELES (ANTI) - TOM WAITS, whose new album - REAL GONE - was released last week, has garnered some of his best chart debuts in his four decade career, entering the Billboard "Top 200 Chart" at No 28 and their "Top Independent Chart" at No 1. Meanwhile, REAL GONE is No 2 on CMJ's "College Radio Chart."

Elsewhere in the world, Waits is earning the same honors with high entries such as the European chart at No 9, Poland at No 17, UK at No 16 (his record debut in his career) and No 1 on the Independent chart, while Real Gone is currently Top 10 in Italy, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

At the same time, the rave reviews continue to pour in, and the critics agree that this is a landmark album in Waits' already stellar career. As Philadelphia Inquirer critic Tom Moon unambiguously declared on NPR's All Songs Considered, Real Gone is "Unbelievable. It sounds great.
I think it's the best thing he's done since Rain Dogs."

In a 4-star review for Paste, Mark Richardson notes that "Waits' lyrics are sharp as ever, packed with memorable phrases and strange-yet-familiar poetic imagery...REAL GONE marks another interesting uptick in Waits' exceptional career."

The reviews are just as glowing overseas, where Mojo calls REAL GONE "a blackened jewel of a record," insisting that "it deserves - no, needs - to be heard."
The critical consensus is perhaps summed up best by The Guardian, which simply states, "There is plenty that is remarkable about Real Gone."