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Track Listings
| 1. Big In Japan |
| 2. Lowside Of The Road |
| 3. Hold On |
| 4. Get Behind The Mule |
| 5. House Where Nobody Lives |
| 6. Cold Water |
| 7. Pony |
| 8. What's He Building |
| 9. Black Market Baby |
| 10. Eyeball Kid |
| 11. Picture In A Frame |
| 12. Chocolate Jesus |
| 13. Georgia Lee |
| 14. Fillipino Box Spring Hog |
| 15. Take It With Me |
| 16. Come On Up To The House |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Seven years passed between the release of Bone Machine and Mule Variations. During that time Tom Waits eschewed cutting another "conventional" (the term used loosely here) song collection, occupying his time with acting projects, a soundtrack (Night on Earth), a stage project (The Black Rider), and sundry smaller diversions. What's surprising about Mule Variations is how little he's strayed from the old Bone yard through the years. As with his Grammy-winning 1992 outing, Waits intersperses the tough and the tender, mixing exercises in creative noisemaking with tunes that fall on just the right side of maudlin. As with Bone Machine's "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me", "What's He Building?" is an experiment in word jazz that owes a debt to its creator, Ken Nordine. Waits has again assembled a crew of attuned sidemen (including Primus and steadfast backers Ralph Carney, Larry Taylor, and Joe Gore). And, as always, Waits and his wife-co-songwriter-co-producer Kathleen Brennan exhibit an uncanny ear for the arcane. In the end, Mule Variations is the aural equivalent of a salvage shop that, while largely familiar, still has a few secluded chambers and trap doors. --Steven Stolder
CD Description
Since 1993's BLACK RIDER album consisted of music written by Waits and William Burroughs to accompany a Robert Wilson play, hard-liners consider '92's BONE MACHINE to be the last "official" Waits album before the seven-year wait that endedwith the release of MULE VARIATIONS. Unsurprisingly, Waits lives up to the expectations engendered by that lengthy wait. In fact, there are more stylistic threads connecting MULE VARIATIONS to BONE MACHINE than to BLACK RIDER.
The chugging rock drive of the opener "Big in Japan" (featuring Primus) recalls "Goin' Out West". "What's He Building?" is a wonderfully devilish spoken word piece a la Ken Nordine (one of Waits' heroes) much akin to BONE MACHINE's "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me Today". Waits also continues BONE MACHINE's exploration/deconstruction of traditional blues and gospel, makingfor some of MULE VARIATIONS strongest tracks (the bluesy "Get Behind the Mule" and "Chocolate Jesus"). Ultimately, witha few exceptions, this is Waits' most low-key, ballad-heavyalbum in some time, and he's at his simplest and most affecting on tunes like "Take It With Me", which represent an unprecedented level of emotional nakedness in his writing.
Seven years passed between the release of Bone Machine and Mule Variations. During that time Tom Waits eschewed cutting another "conventional" (the term used loosely here) song collection, occupying his time with acting projects, a soundtrack (Night on Earth), a stage project (The Black Rider), and sundry smaller diversions. What's surprising about Mule Variations is how little he's strayed from the old Bone yard through the years. As with his Grammy-winning 1992 outing, Waits intersperses the tough and the tender, mixing exercises in creative noisemaking with tunes that fall on just the right side of maudlin. As with Bone Machine's "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me", "What's He Building?" is an experiment in word jazz that owes a debt to its creator, Ken Nordine. Waits has again assembled a crew of attuned sidemen (including Primus and steadfast backers Ralph Carney, Larry Taylor, and Joe Gore). And, as always, Waits and his wife-co-songwriter-co-producer Kathleen Brennan exhibit an uncanny ear for the arcane. In the end, Mule Variations is the aural equivalent of a salvage shop that, while largely familiar, still has a few secluded chambers and trap doors. --Steven Stolder
CD Description
Since 1993's BLACK RIDER album consisted of music written by Waits and William Burroughs to accompany a Robert Wilson play, hard-liners consider '92's BONE MACHINE to be the last "official" Waits album before the seven-year wait that endedwith the release of MULE VARIATIONS. Unsurprisingly, Waits lives up to the expectations engendered by that lengthy wait. In fact, there are more stylistic threads connecting MULE VARIATIONS to BONE MACHINE than to BLACK RIDER.
The chugging rock drive of the opener "Big in Japan" (featuring Primus) recalls "Goin' Out West". "What's He Building?" is a wonderfully devilish spoken word piece a la Ken Nordine (one of Waits' heroes) much akin to BONE MACHINE's "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me Today". Waits also continues BONE MACHINE's exploration/deconstruction of traditional blues and gospel, makingfor some of MULE VARIATIONS strongest tracks (the bluesy "Get Behind the Mule" and "Chocolate Jesus"). Ultimately, witha few exceptions, this is Waits' most low-key, ballad-heavyalbum in some time, and he's at his simplest and most affecting on tunes like "Take It With Me", which represent an unprecedented level of emotional nakedness in his writing.
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