Tom Waits

Editor's Review:

Tom Waits has always existed on the fringes of conventionality. Never mind that he doesn’t perform but once a year (if that), and rarely talks to the press; forget that, despite critical acclaim and a fanatical public following, he doesn’t score vary high on a most recognizable stars list; and try not to think about the fact that his latest album, the long-awaited Mule Variations, was recently released on Southern California über-indie punk label, Epitaph Records.

What really makes Waits stand out is his blend of twisted beat poetry and beautiful story-telling technique presented in front of a varying range of aural backdrops. Early in his career—what some call his "bourbon days,"—Waits began winning fans with a most unique and eerily likeable sound, one that has since influenced poets, musicians and drunks alike, indeed anyone who has been though any hardship of any kind, and had to face themselves the next day. With Mule Variations, Waits continues to reach out to the general human condition, both lyrically and musically.

Some of Mule Variation’s tunes are strait ballads, sung in Waits’ honest, gruff yet soft voice, while others are bare bones, percussion-based blues and jazz tunes with guitar, harmonica and other melodic accompaniments. Both paint an accurate picture of Waits’ style. Based on the simplistic yet succinct piano and bass of "Picture In A Frame," the strong and satirically soulful "Come On Up To the House," and the mysterious and dark "Black Market Baby," it’s easy to say there aren’t many poets or musicians who can hold a candle to Waits.

Guests on Mule Variations include the members of Primus, Charlie Musselwhite, John Hammond and Marc Ribot, but it is Waits who shines through, yet again, despite the fact that he’s still doing it without much conventionality.

– Max Sidman
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Record Label Anti / Epitaph Records Released April 1999

Tracks 1. Big in Japan 2. Lowside of the Road 3. Hold On 4. Get Behind the Mule 5. House Where Nobody Lives 6. Cold Water 7. Pony 8. What's He Building? 9. Black Market Baby 10. Eyeball Kid 11. Picture in a Frame 12. Chocolate Jesus 13. Georgia Lee 14. Filipino Box Spring Hog 15. Take It With Me 16. Come on up to the House