Mule Variations

Tom Waits

SKU: 865475

Barcode: 045778654758

33.00 £33.00
  • Genre: Rock And Pop
  • Label: Anti
  • Released Date: 20th September 2024
  • Buying Format:
    2LP Coloured Vinyl

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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 ended with 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, making for some of MULE VARIATIONS strongest tracks (the bluesy “Get Behind the Mule” and “Chocolate Jesus”). Ultimately, with a few exceptions, this is Waits’ most low-key, ballad-heavy album 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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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

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