The Super Network

Certainly Tom Waits is a well-known musician and one that is almost a bit of an acquired taste. I love the guy and his music; I welcomed this 20th studio album without any real expectations. Music is one thing that I go into with no expectations, I am either going to enjoy it or it’ll feel like nails on a chalkboard. It will click with me or I will ultimately think it is rubbish. Bad As Me is an album that was just an instant click and I highly enjoyed it.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to it through as much as I wanted to before writing anything down, but I might as well get my feelings out, as I don’t think they are going to change. Bad As Me was intended to be something a little more simplistic, as advised by Waits’ musical collaborator and wife Kathleen Brennan, and in many ways it kind of is. It isn’t really over complicated and the collaborators are welcome additions to the album (including Flea, Keith Richards, Ben Jaffe ect).

This really took me back to such albums as Rain Dogs; they kind of share a strange similarity. My reaction to Bad As Me honestly reminded me of my own first impressions of Rain Dogs when I listened to that for the first time many years ago. For me this is easy listening, I don’t need to be in a specific mood or anything to listen to Bad As Me. I can just put it on, sit back and do whatever and listen to it. It can be somewhat of an annoyance when you feel like listening to something in particular but you just can’t because the mood isn’t right. There are no frustrations here, it plays so well and right now I can’t get enough.

This is not the best thing Waits has done, nor is it the worst, I don’t tend to rank albums as best/worst. More along the lines of how they make me feel and how much the musician/s have managed to connect with me and what stories they are telling. There are singers out there who might not be as fine turned as other, but the emotions behind what they are playing/singing is there. For me this is how Waits really reaches me, and Bad As Me certainly did that for me.

If I have to name any standout tracks, I’ll go with ‘Face To The Highway’, which is a little mellower. The lyrics are strangely beautiful and the music really compliments it. ‘Bad As Me’ is quite an interesting title track, the performance by Waits is phenomenal and a really great choice over all.

Simply put if you are a fan of Waits this is a must, I was impressed and certainly not let down. If you are a casual fan of Waits you should enjoy this as well, it feels in tone with as I said the Rain Dogs stuff. If you aren’t too familiar with Waits this is a great introduction and it should lead you to check out his earlier stuff.

The album is out now and comes as a regular release and as a deluxe edition. The deluxe edition comes with a lyrical book including photography by Waits and a bonus CD.

| Purchase the audio CD here | Purchase the deluxe edition here |