Tom Waits is notorious for taking listeners to bizarre and gritty soundscapes. His musical prowess has been punctuated with sharp horn melodies, drunken carnival-esque sounds and bitter drunken piano ballads, all the while sung through an ever-grittier, gravel-in-the-throat voice. Bad as Me puts the listener back on the musical odyssey with Waits, but in unexpected ways.
For an artist like Waits, the evolution of creativity cannot be stymied. Starting off the album, a crisp horn section plays, accompanied by what is perhaps the clearest growl Waits has ever made. “Chicago” is an archetypal album opener. Its narrator invites the listener to travel along and “to leave all we’ve ever known / for a place we’ve never seen,” which is slightly misleading; Bad as Me comes off as a musical reinvention of familiar territory that Waits has already tread.
A musical magpie, Waits has borrowed, appropriated and reinvented instruments and sounds to craft an experience that is nailed together with supple and creative lyrics. By no means is this a Peter Gabriel reimagining, but more like an aged Waitsian visitation to his storied history, as viewed through whiskey-coloured lenses. Think of it as an entry into the potentially difficult catalogue of one of music’s most creative forces.
The melodic “Last Leaf” sounds like a “Blue Valentine” melody and “Face to the Highway” could have come from the same musical milieu of “Mule Variations.” The varied nature of the album is a departure from his narrative fare of Swordfishtrombones or even Blood Money, but that’s OK; Waits isn’t known for playing by conventions. “Hell Broke Luce,” a stomping wartime reportage as narrated by a soldier, is Waits’ riskiest foray by far. While there is a youthful jangle to his voice in a few cuts, “Talking at the Same Time” has Waits’ clearest falsetto ever recorded.
Waits has stated in interviews that his musical learning has been reversed — starting in a formulaic writing format, he later progressed to a more responsive, primitive sound, exploring a wider gamut of melodic emotions. Bad as Me is the first new album in seven years, with only a B-sides compilation and a live album to satiate the fans in the interim.
For those to whom Waits is a stranger, he has been a part of the pop music scene for a long time. The Eagles and Rod Stewart have recorded his songs as hits. Waits has worked on movie scores for Jim Jaramush and Francis Ford Coppola. Bad as Me is a creative progression for Waits. He has cleared his sound from the dusty resonance of the last 12 years. It is perhaps one of the more accessible Waits albums since 1987’s Rain Dogs (and it’s still not an easy task).
For a man who is turning 62, few match the exuberance and diversity of sound. There aren’t many of his contemporaries that can take such bold risks and be honest to the artistic forces that drive them. Waits says it best on “Kiss Me,” asking the listener to “kiss me like a stranger, once again.”
4 1/2 stars out of 5
