Review Summary: Tom Waits descends into the darkest depths of his career on this, his most focused and consistently compelling album.
I am aware that most people will be immediately put off by a review that rates an album a perfect five. Even more so if the artist is as much of an acquired taste as Mr Waits. I beg you to bear with me, however, as I attempt to justify the score.
People who have heard Waits before will be most likely split between two camps - Those who "get" him and those who think that his music is either the worst example of cacophonous noise they have ever heard or just that he is simply not for them. Thankfully for me I fall into the former category. I do, however, concede that Waits is idiosyncratic to the point that much of his material is hard work to listen to. On the other hand, with perseverance comes great reward. No other artist that I can think of is capable of offering so much within a single record. Whereas in the 1970s Waits was known for piano-based songs that told of eccentric and seedy characters that frequented bars, slums and brothels,
Bone Machine showcases Waits' love of the avant-garde. Think Don Van Vliet tackling an album of Brecht and Weill compositions and you are someway there.
While
Bone Machine is far from Waits' most accessible work it is, in my opinion, his most focused output. While most of his albums tend to suffer from a lack of fluidity,
Bone Machine flows extremely well. The only obstacle to enjoying this album then is the songs themselves. I say this because, unless you come to the record with an idea of what to expect, it will take an unusual kind of person to immediately like an album with songs like
Earth Died Screaming. Waits' trademark "Bone" percussion is prominent throughout the track and really lends an atmosphere of near-apocalyptic foreboding to what is without a doubt one of the highlights of the album. Its appearance on the film Twelve Monkeys is an indication of the kind of song this is.
The song is followed by a typical Waits ballad, providing a stark contrast to the bizarre opening track.
Dirt in the ground is a truly beautiful song. Content-wise it is not a million miles from the opening track, but its feeling of acceptance of morality lends it a rather different feel.
Throughout the album we are treated to the many sides of Tom Waits. His latest offering "Orphans" handily categorises these different styles into 3 discernable discs - Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards.
Bone Machine has its fair share of all three. It is an indication of the wealth of material that is available here that Waits can provide an assortment of gorgeous ballads and a collection of disturbing rock songs, complete with skeletal percussion and his famed gravelly, bellowed vocals. The songs are predominantly guitar-based, at least in comparison to Waits' 70s albums, but various examples of instrumentation, from violins to brass, are present. As is often the way with Waits, the best songs here are the ballads,
Black Wings and
Whistle down the wind being notable examples. However, there are other treats.
The ocean doesn't want me is a spoken word track, much like "What's he building in there?" from 1999's
Mule Variations.
Essentially,
Bone Machine is a special album. It does what most of Waits' albums fail to do. Even his best work, such as
Rain Dogs or
Swordfishtrombones, tends to suffer from the inconsistency that I mentioned earlier.
Bone Machine manages to avoid this without compromising what makes a Tom Waits album great. It is by no means going to appeal to everything but the best thing that can be suggested is to download a few tracks. Try it and see. If you get sucked in, it will be the start of a long and very rewarding journey into one of America's most under-appreciated and commercially ignored songwriters.
