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Bad As Me
 
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Bad As Me

Tom WaitsMP3 Music
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)

Price: $9.49
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  • Original Release Date: October 21, 2011
  • Format - Music: MP3
  • Compatible with MP3 Players (including with iPod®), iTunes, Windows Media Player
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  Song Title Time Price  
Play   1. Chicago 2:15 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play   2. Raised Right Men 3:24 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play   3. Talking At The Same Time 4:13 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play   4. Get Lost 2:42 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play   5. Face To The Highway 3:42 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play   6. Pay Me 3:14 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play   7. Back In The Crowd 2:49 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play   8. Bad As Me 3:10 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play   9. Kiss Me 3:41 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play 10. Satisfied 4:05 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play 11. Last Leaf 2:55 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play 12. Hell Broke Luce 3:57 $1.29  Buy MP3 
Play 13. New Year's Eve 4:31 $1.29  Buy MP3 
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Customer Reviews

Sounds good to me. D. Keene  |  10 reviewers made a similar statement
So I'm not a Waits fanatic, I think he's great, I just never went crazy getting his stuff. Venkman  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
102 of 114 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Anyone thumbing through Tim Adams revealing interview with Tom Waits in last weeks Observer (23/10/11) should also read the subsequent comments upon it by Waits aficionados who are a particularly articulate bunch. One summarizes his Waits infatuation with the immortal line that "Tom Waits. He's the Dad I never had, the brother who wouldn't play with me, and the sister with the strangely deep voice". You know what he means. Tom Waits is both a one-man history of American music but also a vivid reflection of our lives ribald joys, drunken disasters, tender moments and defeated heartaches. He is a first class honours American maverick and the most genuinely original artist in modern rock music. On "Bad as me" he is back in over powering form and rocking harder than he has done for years. "Anyone who has ever played a piano," Waits has previously stated, "would really like to hear how it sounds when dropped from a 12th-floor window" and on his 17th album he does on occasions make a mighty racket. He is helped in this task by the presence on the album of his wife Kathleen Brennan, guitarist Marc Ribot, Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and a previous collaborator that other old blues reprobate Keith Richards.

The album starts with "Chicago" a roaring blast of horns and fast chops which sees Waits in fine voice and doing a Casey Jones style "all aboard" chant. He follows it by outdoing Nick Cave in the dirty blues stakes with "Raised Right Man" where Waits exclaims "Heavens to murkatroid/Miners to coal/A good women can make a diamond out of a measly lump of coal". Throughout the album Waits serves up a Royal Variety Performance in terms of styles whether it be on the ghostly rolling "Talking at the same time" which is the nearest Waits has come to delivering a falsetto or the whiskey soaked "Last leaf" destined to soundtrack many deep stares into the bottom of a glass where Richards and Waits draw upon all their vast expertise.

In broad terms "Bad as me" is a very approachable and accessible album and certainly those whose "boats are floated" by the experimentation of "Swordfishrombones" with its mix of German cabaret and free jazz leanings may find it too straightforward. Thus for example "Satisfied" is a great rock stomp and will delight live audiences but were it done by anyone other than Waits it could be seen as derivative. Yet as always with the great man appearances deceive. The pounding almost industrial drums on "Hell broke Luce" reveal a blues sensibility that modern music has lacked since Captain Beefheart popped his clogs and the weird imagery of the swirling title track shows his continued ability to challenge.

It is great to see strong song structures back at the heart of his work and when they come in the form of the brilliant "Face the highway" or the gorgeous `Put me back in the crowd" which has been described by Waits as "Elvis meets Jim Reeves" this should be a cause for unbounded celebration. This feeling will be further confirmed after listening to the irrepressible rockabilly of "Get lost" which is almost pure New Orleans funk and guaranteed to storm any party. Waits as ever obliges by giving you an equally exquisite comedown in the form of the classic heartbreak ballad "Pay me" standing in the fine tradition of lonely laments such as "Nobody knows when I'm gone"

Ultimately "Bad as me" is a fiercely intelligent and savvy album which profitably raids the junkyard of American music. Tom Waits is certainly a magpie but he takes this old base metal and forges something that is indefinably his own. This rare ability is fully recognised by his contemporaries where Elton John has recently hailed Waits as "the Jackson Pollock of song" and Neil Young said of him at Waits induction to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame that 'I will say that this next man is indescribable and I'm here to describe him... this man is a great singer, actor, magician, spirit guide, changeling and performer for you.' After a seven year silence the return of Tom Waits with the truly excellent "Bad of Me" brings a warm feeling and the knowledge that the world has just become a significantly better place.
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35 of 40 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Up there with his best October 24, 2011
Format:Audio CD
Up until now, Rain Dogs, Bone Machine and Mule Variations were my favourite Waits albums - and I love all his work: early and latter, drunk and sober, soft and loud. Bad As Me is right up there with them and might even be better. I won't do a song-by-song analysis - someone will do this way better than me. But all the slower tempo songs are superb, with a few traces of DNA to earlier years (the start of Blue Valentines is repeated). The uptempo songs don't fall into any simple category - there's a great tasty musical stew boiling - including some sounds that haven't been made before by anybody (Hell Broke Luce is Tom at his most brutal and most innovative). So it's sort of like the White Album, but without all the weaker songs. And Keef is on 3 tracks, including a touching duet. How cool is that!
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41 of 49 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Let's be grateful for a new Tom album, but realistic November 25, 2011
Format:Audio CD
I've been reading a number of the reviews stating that Tom is a genius, national treasure, tapped into the soul of America, etc. IMHO, all of these things are true, and I think his great works (Rain Dogs, Swordfishtrombones, Mule Variations) are absolute, must have, desert island classics. Sadly, I don't believe that "Bad as Me" ranks up there with any of these works, nor do I think the album deserves the deluge of 5-star ratings being thrown at it.

Undoubtedly a new Tom Waits album is an event, and as aways he manages to say things in his unique fashion. Ironically, however, my problem is that the album's "strengths" highlighted by most of the other reviewers are in fact it's weaknesses, when measured against Tom's previous outputs and his status as our favorite off-beat icon. I agree fully that the songs are tightly-knit - the backing band is packed with luminaries, melodies and arrangements are carefully constructed, and Tom displays just about all of his various vocal persona's through the album. All of this makes for an easily accessible album with catchy hooks, but this isn't what I'm looking for when I sit down to listen to Tom. I can't shake the feeling that we are being treated to something formulaic, with all of the elements we know and love - some quirky instruments, a well-placed howl or growl, the gamut of emotions from rage to despair - being in attendance, but somehow Tom is going through the motions, showing off his skills and smarts, but neither baring his soul nor showing any new insights or musical directions. In many ways, it sounds more like an end-of career retrospective than a new beginning or "return to form".

Maybe I expect too much, but I think some realism is required amongst the idolatry amongst these reviews- this is a solid and polished album, but it is not a great one. It may also be a good introduction for those who don't know Tom's music (could this be possible?), but it doesn't get anywhere near to exposing his real genius.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars ok
I have all Tom Waits albums. This one is not his best. I still love Tom! Looking forward to his next one.
Published 8 days ago by matilda2
5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Waits is a musical god
I am bias, I admit. I love Tom Waits and don't even know the guy. His music is among my favorites, it is rough, fresh, sometimes frustrating, and always a new experience well... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Gary
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the money
I have most of Tom Waits albums. I would rate this as one of my favorites along with small change.
Published 25 days ago by TONY FITZSIMMONS
5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Waits as expected
This was a gift for my husband, but I love this record. A true poet along the Bukowski lines with music added. Love the cd and would highly recommend it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by V. L. Hayden
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!!!
You will need this if you love Tom Waits!!! Great CD!! Thanks Amazon for a great price and fast shipping!!! You can listen to this one over and over....
Published 2 months ago by Jenifer E. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!
Bad as me both met and exceeded my expectations because Tom waits is awesome. :-) My son's comments as it was a gift for him.
Published 3 months ago by spades
2.0 out of 5 stars Older Work is Better
Tom Waits is an acquired taste but in the end I think his older stuff is better than albums like this, his newer work. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Trevor
5.0 out of 5 stars Waits gets better and better.
Waits is brilliant! With Bad as Me, he has put it all together. It is his best effort and his greatest contribution.
Published 4 months ago by Rob Merrifield
1.0 out of 5 stars Man,this guy can't sing.
I had a friend years ago,recommend that I get one of Tom Waits' CDs.At a local Harmony House I bought one. Read more
Published 4 months ago by SideshowBob
4.0 out of 5 stars Tom Waits
The songs are creative, sad, and intense. This album is worth listening to. Love the descriptors and the visuals. w
Published 5 months ago by Micaiah T Shultz
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