Any Tom Waits album is worth the wait, and what a long wait it has been - it's been seven years since Real Gone. The rest seems to have done Waits a bit of good, since Bad As Me is definitely one of his best out of his latter output. I still have a weakness for his first four, nay, six albums, when you watched the classic bar-hoppin' singer-songwriter become infused with more and more grit, blazing a trail of chaos not seen since Captain Beefheart went to live in his trailer.
Waits has the enviable position of being Bob Dylan's dark, more evil twin. Both can write songs that break your heart, but only Waits can inhabit an alternative world made of carneys, hucksters, and freaks without looking like a poser. From the frantic song Chicago, the rockabilly swing of Get Lost, the ballad Back In The Crowd, to the aggression of Hell Broke Luce, the album Bad As Me never misses a step or rings hollow.
Highly recommended - perhaps the best release of 2011.
Available on LP, CD, and a MP3 download. There is also a deluxe CD that includes three extra tracks that are not available on the LP or basic CD release.
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