Tom Waits: Bad As Me

Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste
For his 20th studio album, Tom Waits’ wife and longtime musical collaborator, Kathleen Brennan, advised the gravelly voiced Rock and Roll Hall of Famer to keep it simple. No long, winding epic songs about soldiers at war, no massive, meandering epics. “Get in, get out. No fucking around,” Waits told Pitchfork. Much of Bad as Me sticks to this modus operandi, especially its best tracks like quick, horn-led opener “Chicago,” the hiccuping, rollicking “Get Lost” and monster single “Bad as Me.” Bottling Waits’ overflowing personality and unusual voice serves to make it that much more frenetic and affecting.