Tom Waits – Bad As Me (2011)

Yet another charity shop purchase from last week's Stamford visit, a quid for a Tom Waits album I'd oft listened to, but hadn't got round to buying (only Blue Valentine left to find now).

I was going to say that it's the sort of thing Waits seems to turn out effortlessly, although the seven year gap between this and Real Gone, and our fourteen year (so far) wait for the follow up suggests otherwise.

It's an album which has everything you'd expect from Waits - slow, reflective, absolutely beautiful ballads with a slightly clunky feel to complement his voice (Face To The Highway, Back In The Crowd, New Year's Eve and the sensual Kiss Me (Like A Stranger)), bluesy rockers (Chicago, Raised Right Men. Get Lost), a bar room ballad in Last Leaf, a lonely accordion in Pay Me, a gospel sound in Talking At The Same Time as well as a couple of moments of absolute mayhem in Bad As Me and Hell Broke Loose.

There's not a note out of place in the arrangements and Waits brings the finest musicians and themes from a lifetime to craft a fantastic set of songs, which never allows the listener to settle into lazy background listening. There's even a guest appearance from Rolling Stone, Keith Richards, on several songs, notably on Satisfied, where he's namechecked.

I'd genuinely forgotten how great this album is, possibly a little more reflective than the few which came before. We've waited long enough, Tom. Let's have some more!

Link to album tracks

5* - a stunning collection of songs. Tom Waits at his best.