Tom Waits – Bad As Me

there is cool...and then there's "I have Keith Richards, Flea, and Les Claypool play on three different songs" cool

Dull, his last albums (since Mule Train) have been endless formulaic repetitions, the songs sound as if they were written by an algorithm (his wife?). I can't remember the last time he surprised me.

Black vinyl. Full black glossy inner sleeve.
And... coloured multipage booklet with photos and lyrics inside!

I hate the word 'poet'. Fairly sure I read TW isn't keen on it either. He is a reporter and taking a song like Talking At The Same Time, for example, his reports touch on where a human being is at on a domestic, mundane level as an individual and a wider one-society, war, economy, reality-all in his choice of words. Last Leaf On The Tree is beautiful and harrowing...this is another fine opus from TW, a bit of Mule Variations and a bit of SwordfishTrombones vibes mixed together

Hmmm, ijustspeak, that last bit is just the most perfect sentiment for the man, which casts a wink and a flashlight upon the very unique sense of the very one-of-a-kind depth of the mind of Tom Waits that his lifetime fan base proudly possesses, and also at their uncommon type of love for both the man and nearly every inch of his vast musical output - which is always shifting and nevertheless does not wane or abate. You sum up possibly the very way that I always wanted to describe him succinctly and yet with awe and gratitude and respect and yet an evergreen enigma - those words perfectly sum up my opinion of the masterful and timeless Tom Waits, who has here delivered his best work since the 90s ... and, respectfully, "How I [also] just want to hug his brain!" Before curling up within, alongside the Man Who Sleeps In His Hat ... and just watch his strange and unique way of thinking; probe his vast, and also very, very deep, reservoir of incredible lore and knowledge ...

My copy did not come with the CD.

A beautiful review I read recently, but even more than that, it is absolutely true.

"`Bad As Me is Tom Waits’ first studio album of all new music in seven years. This pivotal work refines the music that has come before and signals a new direction. Waits, in possibly the finest voice of his career, worked with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. From the opening horn-fueled chug of “Chicago,” to the closing barroom chorale of “New Year’s Eve,” Bad As Me displays the full career range of Waits’ songwriting, from beautiful ballads like “Last Leaf,” to the avant cinematic soundscape of “Hell Broke Luce,” a battlefront dispatch. On tracks like “Talking at the Same Time,” Waits shows off a supple falsetto, while on blues burners like “Raised Right Men” and the gospel tinged “Satisfied” he spits, stutters and howls. Like a good boxer, these songs are lean and mean, with strong hooks and tight running times. A pervasive sense of players delighting in each other’s musical company brings a feeling of loose joy even to the album’s saddest songs."

Tom Waits back in the essence. Raw grittiness and beautiful ballads. How i just want to hug his brain!