Tom Waits

By bridging the jagged experimentalism of his '80s work and the elegance of his early ballads, Bone Machine is a major arrival for Waits. Clanking percussion and fuzz guitar make chest-beating rockers like "Goin' Out West" and "Jesus Gonna Be Here" strut with exultant sleaziness, and the cold-blooded narratives of "Black Wings" and "Murder In The Red Barn" reveal a powerful stylist at the top of his game. But for all the thrills and chills, its heartbreakers like "Who Are You" or "A Little Rain" that push things over the edge to make this a gothic mid-career masterpiece.

For more than twenty years, Tom Waits has chronicled the small wins and grotesque losses
of the seedy underworld. Bone Machine, his first full-length studio album since Frank's Wild
Years (1987), continues observing a world of deathly mysteries, half-baked gospel truths
and secular ambitions. His drunken bluster to the fore, Waits tramples melodies with an ear
for twisting clichés. The music matches Waits's hollers with plenty of upright bas... More >

Ace arranger in thrall to fourflushing singer-songwriter ("Goin' Out West," "All Stripped Down," "I Don't Wanna Grow Up") (Grade - **)