The New Tom Waits: Like Drinking at Your Favorite Bar
Tom Waits — Bad As Me
Anti Records
By Leah Brezinski
Listening to Tom Waits is like drinking at your favorite dive bar—oddly comforting in its familiar sleaziness, but likely holding with a few exhilarating surprises.
His 20th studio album, Bad as Me, is an impressive showcase of the many styles that make him an undisputed living legend. It also has a few interesting twists and features equally impressive guest appearances by Flea, Keith Richards, and Les Claypool, among others.
“I’m the last leaf on the tree / the autumn took the rest / but they won’t take me,” croon Waits and Richards on “Last Leaf”, one of the more personal, tender offerings. Other standouts include the rhythm-and-bluesy opening track “Chicago,” the gritty-growler title track “Bad As Me,” and the near-falsetto vocals on “Back in the Crowd.”
Waits certainly proves on this latest jaunt that he may have always been an old soul but he can still learn new tricks. – (7.5/10)