Season 21 launches into an opening track with surprising energy, as guest host Shani Erez joins Sam and Martin to climb the Real Gone mountain towards the top of that hill. The sonic qualities of this album, Waits's attitude to the stories he's telling, bawdy seafaring jokes about genetalia, and the utter delight of 1980s metal… it's a pretty standard episode really.

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Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Top of the Hill, Real Gone (remastered), Tom Waits (2004/2017) Run To The Hills, The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden (1982) Top of the Hill, Real Gone (original), Tom Waits (2004)

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