''Bad as Me'' is the seventeenth and most recent studio album by American singer-songwriter
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
, released on October 21, 2011 by
Anti- Records
Anti- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label to Epitaph Records. While Epitaph's focus has mostly been on punk rock, Anti-'s roster includes gospel (Mavis Staples), country (Merle Haggard), hip hop (Sage Francis, The Cou ...
.
The album is known to have been recorded as early as February 2011 and was officially announced for release on August 23, 2011 on Waits' official web site
and various
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
networks. On the same day, the title track, "
Bad as Me
''Bad as Me'' is the seventeenth and most recent studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released on October 21, 2011 by Anti- Records. The album is known to have been recorded as early as February 2011 and was officially announced ...
", was released as the album's first
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
.
The album is Waits' first album consisting completely of new material in seven years since ''
Real Gone'' (2004). Waits' label, Anti-, had recently agreed on a distribution deal with
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
allowing them to release the album internationally. This marks Waits' first release through the Warner organization since ''
Heartattack and Vine
''Heartattack and Vine'' is the seventh studio album by Tom Waits, released on September 9, 1980, and his final album to be released on the Asylum Records, Asylum label.
"On the Nickel" was recorded for On the Nickel, the Ralph Waite film of the ...
'' (1980). Upon its release, ''Bad as Me'' received widespread critical acclaim.
The album was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...
.
Release
On August 16, 2011, amid the rise of many rumours concerning ''Bad as Me'', Waits announced on his official web site and through various
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
outlets that he would "set the rumors straight" on August 23. On this date, the title track was released as a digital single through
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
,
a video with previews of the album was released on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, and was followed by a press release on his site and Anti-'s
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
, which read:
''Bad As Me'' is Tom Waits' first studio album of all new music in seven years. This pivotal work refines the music that has come before and signals a new direction. Waits, in possibly the finest voice of his career, worked with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. From the opening horn-fueled chug of "Chicago," to the closing barroom chorale of "New Year's Eve," ''Bad As Me'' displays the full career range of Waits' songwriting, from beautiful ballads like "Last Leaf," to the avant cinematic soundscape of "Hell Broke Luce," a battlefront dispatch. On tracks like "Talking at the Same Time," Waits shows off a supple falsetto, while on blues burners like "Raised Right Men" and the gospel tinged "Satisfied" he spits, stutters and howls. Like a good boxer, these songs are lean and mean, with strong hooks and tight running times. A pervasive sense of players delighting in each other's musical company brings a feeling of loose joy even to the album's saddest songs.
The album was made available to stream on October 17, 2011 and released digitally on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
on October 21,
where it was previously available for pre-order. Domestic versions of the album were released worldwide on October 24, 2011
in three formats: a
digipak
Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage.
Jewel case
A ...
CD version with a 32-page booklet and free
digital download in
FLAC
FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference software p ...
,
AAC
AAC may refer to:
Aviation
* Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California
* Alaskan Air Command, a radar network
* American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New York
* American Aviation, a company from Cleveland, ...
, or
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
; a deluxe edition two-CD version with 40-page booklet and free digital download; and a 180 gram
LP and CD with a lyric sheet and free digital download.
In an interview regarding ''Bad as Me'', Waits confirmed the influence of
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...
, who had died earlier the same year.
Reception
''Bad as Me'' was released to widespread critical acclaim. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, based on 40 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Thom Jurek said that "''Bad as Me'' is an aural portrait of all the places he's traveled as a recording artist, which is, in and of itself, illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable," awarding the album four out of five stars.
Amanda Petrusich
Amanda Petrusich (born c. 1980) is an American music journalist. She is a staff writer at ''The New Yorker'' and the author of three books: ''Pink Moon'' (2007), '' It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American M ...
of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' noted that the album's "tracks are concise and expertly edited", adding that "''Bad as Me'' feels as new as it does ancient."
In a five-star review, Helen Brown of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' praised the album's "rattling bawlers", adding that each were "distinctively turbocharged with reckless and richly textured energy," while also mentioning that the "ballads run poignantly on their rims, leaking emotion."
Michael Wheeler, in his 9/10 review for ''
Drowned in Sound
''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
History
''D ...
'', praised its "exhilarating, terrifying, heartbreaking, tear jerking, bone-rattling style,"
Andy Gill in ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' praised the album for containing "no filler at all" and gave it top marks,
while Noel Murray of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' called it "Waits' embrace of a legacy that now includes enshrinement in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame," concluding that "for longtime fans it's a fun reminder of Waits' ability to be a badass when necessary".
In ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Dave Simpson called Waits's lyrics "as unpredictable and inspired as ever", while claiming his "songs hurtle past in waves of blistering energy and imagery."
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
s Will Hermes spoke highly of the album in a four out of five star review, saying that it was Waits's "most sharply focused record since the game-changing tag team ''
Swordfishtrombones
''Swordfishtrombones'' is the eighth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits produced himself. Stylistically different from his previous albums, ''Swordfishtrombones'' ...
'' and ''
Rain Dogs
''Rain Dogs'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, ''Rain Dogs'' is generally considered the middle ...
'' decades ago."
In a review for ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'', Jesse Cataldo stated that ''Bad as Me'' was "a self-affirming collection of the things Waits attempts to represent,"
and, in an equally positive appraisal, Dan Weiss of ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' said that the album "burns at fuse speed."
Likewise, Andrew Mueller of ''
Uncut
Uncut may refer to:
* ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship
* ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997
* '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
'' concluded a glowing review by calling the album "the sound of a supremely confident artist convening a raucous celebration of his own myth, and is multifariously marvellous."
''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
*Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* '' ...
'' placed the album at number 9 on its list of "Top 50 albums of 2011" while ''Uncut'' placed the album at number 13.
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
*
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
– vocals
(tracks 1–13), guitar
(1–4, 6, 7, 9–11, 13) piano
(1, 6, 8, 9), percussion
(1, 4, 5, 12), banjo
(1),
tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబలఠ...
s
(2),
pump organ
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
(11)
*
Marc Ribot
Marc Ribot (;
born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.
His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wait ...
– guitar
(1–8, 10–12)
*Clint Maedgen – saxophone
(1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 13)
*Casey Waits – drums
(1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12)
*
David Hidalgo
David Kent Hidalgo (born October 6, 1954, in Los Angeles.) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requin ...
– guitar
(3, 4, 6, 7, 12), violin
(6), percussion
(7), accordion, bass guitar, background vocals
(13)
*Ben Jaffe – trombone
(1, 3, 4),
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
(1),
tuba
The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...
(12, 13)
*
Charlie Musselwhite
Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...
– harmonica
(1, 2, 8, 10, 12)
*
Patrick Warren
Patrick Warren (born March 26, 1957) is an American musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Magnolia'', ''Fifty Shades of Grey'', ''Boogie Nights'' and ''Red State'', as well as the television series '' ...
– keyboards
(3–5, 10, 13)
*James Whiton – bass
(3, 5–7, 11)
*
Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
– guitar
(1, 10–12), vocals
(11)
*
Augie Meyers
August "Augie" Meyers (born May 31, 1940) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, performer, studio musician, record producer, and record label owner. He is perhaps best known as a founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas ...
– vox organ
(2), piano
(3), accordion
(6)
*
Gino Robair
Gino Robair is an American composer, improvisor, drummer, percussionist, and magazine editor. In his own music work (as a soloist and in improvisation ensembles), he plays prepared/modified percussion, analog synthesizer, ebow and prepared piano ...
– percussion
(3, 5, 10),
vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...
(6)
*
Larry Taylor
Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Le ...
– guitar
(1, 2), bass
(1, 4)
*Chris Grady – trumpet
(3, 12, 13)
*
Flea
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
– bass
(2, 12)
*
Will Bernard
Will Bernard is a guitarist and band leader. He has led the Will Bernard Band, Will Bernard Trio, Will Bernard 4-tet, and Motherbug.
Career
In the 1980s Bernard was a member of the Hieroglyphics Ensemble led by Peter Apfelbaum. In the 1990s he f ...
– guitar
(6, 12)
*Dawn Harms – violin
(5)
*Marcus Shelby – bass
(9)
*
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...
– bass
(10)
*Zack Sumner – bass
(13)
Technical personnel
*
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
–
producer
*
Kathleen Brennan
Kathleen Patricia Brennan (born 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and artist. She is known for her work as a co-writer, producer, and influence on the work of her husband Tom Waits.
Biography
Brennan was born in Cork, ...
– producer
*Julianne Deery – assistant producer
*Karl Derfler –
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
,
mixing
*Zack Sumner – assistant engineer
*
Bernie Grundman
Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer.
He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...
–
mastering
*Trevor Hernandez –
art direction
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...
**
Jesse Dylan
Jesse Byron Dylan (born January 6, 1966) is an American film director and production executive. He is the founder of the media production company Wondros and Lybba, a non-profit organization. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relat ...
– photography
**Tom Waits – additional photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Singles
''Bad as Me'' earned Waits his best sales week since
Nielsen SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
launched in 1991, entering at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number two on the Top Rock Albums chart; by 2013 it had sold 190,000 copies. As of January 2012 UK sales stand at 40,305 copies according to ''The Guardian''. In 2012 it was awarded a diamond certification from the
Independent Music Companies Association
The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...
,
which indicated sales of at least 200,000 copies throughout Europe.
Release history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad as Me
2011 albums
Tom Waits albums
Anti- (record label) albums