Review: “Bad As Me” by Tom Waits

Tom Waits, the gravelly-voiced god of modern beatniks, returns with his first album of new material in seven years. Fans of Waits, however, have not been left high and dry; in 2006, “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards,” a collection of b-sides and rarities, was released, and 2009 saw a live album, “Glitter & Doom.” With “Bad As Me,” Waits hones in on the blues-driven sound at which he has slowly been hinting for years.

As with many Waits records, “Bad As Me” starts out with a raucous blues-based number, “Chicago,” before stumbling and barreling through a collection of jazz, folk, rockabilly and blues tunes absolutely drenched in his trademark junkyard vocals. Other highlights from the track list include the spastic ode to rambling and longtime love “Get Lost,” the Keith Richards featuring and referencing blues rocker “Satisfied,” and the sparse, jazz vocal number lamenting the complacency that comes in long-term relationships.

What sets this album apart from others in his output is the focus on keeping the songs short and sweet, undoubtedly due, at least in part, to the influence of his wife and collaborator, Kathleen Brennan, whom he met on a film set in 1980. Brennan has been given co-writing and co-producing credits since their partnership began, and at this point it is nearly impossibly to draw the line between where her contribution ends and her husband’s begins.

Waits’s listeners will find their patience well rewarded by this latest collection and, fortunately, those unfamiliar with his work will find many of the songs more accessible than in the past.

Artist:  Tom Waits
Album:  “Bad as Me”
Label:  Anti
Released:  Oct. 25, 2011
Rating:  ★★★★★ out of ★★★★★