Bone Machine

Not bad but I don't think I will listen again

Tom Waits is an acquired taste - and I am happy to have acquired a taste for his flavour of crazy many years ago. It just appealed to me at the first listen - not because my taste is something superior as it's not - but because I just have a deep appreciation for Tom's quirkiness, uniqueness, tendency to focus on the dirtier and darker aspects of life and smart storytelling. I would say this album is one of his least accessible for a new listener, as Tom really screams, howls and coughs through it all from the top of his smoke filled lungs and that's not pretty. However, to me, it is alluring.

Heel vage muziek. Industrial country of zo? Niet mijn ding, al erger ik me er ook niet echt aan. **

If I had to imagine what the Devil sounds like it'd be like the voice of Tom Waits Whistle down the wind, murder in the red barn, when the earth died screaming standouts Capable of putting alot of emotion into his voice 4/5

Standouts Goin' Out West

This is one of the hardest to rate for me so far. I like most of it a fair amount and thought there were some really good songs on this album. However, the songs I didn’t like I really didn’t like. It feels too good to be a 3 but also is it really a 4 if I disliked parts of the album that much?

Maybe my favorite album of his. It's dark, challenging and uncomfortable, but also very beautiful

This is a weird one. It sounds like music that the goblins in the Hobbit would enjoy. Waits vocals at times sounds like he is being stabbed, the percussion almost always sounds like it’s being played with bones. I didn’t love it, but also didn’t hate it.

Still not fully understanding the appeal of tom waits’ music, but I’d also much rather listen to this than a the national album. At least it’s interesting

Tom Waits is the best! Love almost all of his music.

The title of a made-for-TV horror film?

This album won a Grammy...

IM SCARED first album to make me say wtf. This made me uncomfy and I wanted to DNF so bad. Very eerie and raw. Respectfully, sounds like a deranged man on a street corner.

Somehow I missed listening to Tom Waits in my youth. This is good stuff.

not my thing but there are fleeting interesting moments

As a former paramedic, I have literally listened to people speaking their last words. None sounded like they were actively dying like Tom Waits does when he sings. Waits was popular among my friends in college, and with decades now behind me since then, I can’t help but wonder if it was all just an elaborate prank. Hard pass from me.

It's alright, Tom Waits just doesn't resonate with me.

Definitely one of his best. I was utterly obsessed in my early 20s. He really took the aesthetic from his classic 80s trilogy and then just pushed it a little further. The percussion on this album is fantastic. I remember it sounding particularly good on headphones. Such A Scream into All Stripped Down. I still think Black Wings is brilliantly creepy and my snarky mates saying it sounds like Chris Rea can still fuck off :D

Ehhhhh… I don’t know. It’s really interesting musically and quite experimental but ive not really listened to any of Tom Waits other stuff so im not sure if this si standard for him. Honestly its not bad, it did age me a while of on nd off listening though as I did get a bit bored of it. Hear me out… it wuld work really well as a soundtrack for a villain. I do love the eeriness of the tracks i dont think it deserves a 1 maybe a 1.5 similar to khaled maybe higher if im honest like a 1.75….

Antes de empezar pensé que es esta mierda, al empezar dije me va tocar escuchar 1 hora de esta mierda cuando terminé dije que mierda escuché

Echt weird aber irgendwie cool

Boring i fell asleep. Sounded like it was recorded with a smartphone

No, no, no! Five albums from this guy. Every one I’ve listened to so far is abysmal.

Wtf. This was just about this shittiest music ive ever heard

Listening to Tom Waits is an experience that's not for everyone. I find his work incredibly unique and fascinating. And the mood he creates with just his voice is undeniably quite a talent.

Tom Waits is an acquired taste. Just not my acquired taste

I expected to hate this, but I found I enjoyed a few of the tracks

Aika laidback, mutta sopivan rosoista tavaraa. Rummuissa hyvä viidakko/voodoo soundi. Kuten myös Tom Waitsin karheassa laulusoundissa. Levyllä vierailee mm. Keith Richards ja Les Claypool.

Before listening to this, I remembered there were five total Tom Waits albums from the books and none of them were really rated that high. It has almost been a year since I got my last and can see how musically different this one is from Nighthawks (earliest tom waits album in the generator). This is the latest to feature and while I enjoyed the sound, the lyrical themes and the guest appearances by Les Claypool and Keith Richards, are any of these albums really great in the grand scheme of things. Also, I felt one of the songs' industrial music sound is really similar to a video game soundtrack. Pretty good for the early 90s.

I like early TW, this stuff not so much. 2/5.

This was a very challenging listen; it’s grating, noisy experimental rock/folk. The lyrics are deep and there’s a lot of heart in the music, so that’s gonna save it from the basement of the ratings, but that’s where the positives end. Mr. Waits recorded this in his concrete basement, so the sound is shit, and he was going through an experimental percussion phase where he would just whack metal objects with hammers; it was not nice to have that piped directly into my ears. Also, his voice was described by a music critic as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." Elvis Costello also loves this album, so you know right away it’s gonna be pretty bad. Very low 2/5

This was a hard listen.

Almost unbearable, but I toughed it out. Not for me.

I cannot get past his horrible, awful voice. Any positive thought I have is completely overwhelmed by the sound of this bullfrog who smokes ten packs a day and eats glass for breakfast.

One of my biggest crosses to bear in this life is that all I want to do is listen to Tom Waits albums, and yet I'm condemned to live in a world full of Taylor Swift, ABBA, and mumble rap. This album doesn't even make my top 10 Tom Waits albums, yet it's still brilliant. It's not just the raw humanity in his lyrics or the hyper-emotional notes in his vocals - it's the small details, like the ghoulish harbor bell in Dirt In The Ground, the beauty of Tom and Kathleen's love and collaboration that shines through, and the simple melodies that arise from the dust on songs like I Don't Wanna Grow Up. This is probably more of a 4.5, but I can't penalize Waits for 1001 authors picking the wrong album of his

This album is described as “challenging”. It certainly is. There are a couple songs that justify the listen (like A Little Rain), but not enough to justify five stars.

Honestly I think this is my favorite Tom Waits album so far (Only have Nighthawks at the Diner left). Just a damn good experimental blues rock album. Earth Died Screaming, Dirt in the Ground, and Goin' Out West being the highlights. Love his really rough, Louis Armstrong like voice on some of these tracks.

#444/1001. I've owned this LP ever since it was released. For some reason I typically prefer Swordfishtrombones or Rain Dogs when I rarely nowadays put on Waits, but coming back to this reminds how good all the Waits albums from this era (and probably after that as well, but I have even less listening experience with them). Very distinctly crafted soundscapes, grainy textures meet minimal melodies and an even grainier voice. Tie together with primitive precision which at times seems to be created with what ever can be found in a garage, and it comes Bone Machine (and I suppose quite a few other Waits albums). Genius.

No. I still don’t like Tom Waits. Have there already been four others on here? Will more pop up? I don’t need to hear anything else by him ever.

JL : 2, A Little Rain (legit almost a 1 but at least it was interesting)

I don’t like this, but it’s really good. I don’t think I’ll listen to it again, but it has a great vibe.

Tom Waits is a yes or a no, there is no in-between for me. And this one is a 5 star yes

No fui fan

Day951 - i knew almost nothing about tom waits when i started this project and now he’s one of the few artists that i don’t get tired of and i look foward to every album of his on here

Terrible in every respect. Saved you a click.

I surprisingly enjoyed this. There were only one or two times it got toooooo grating.

Buen álbum. No me gustó tanto como el anterior pero tiene unas cosas muy piolas. Un loco de gustos que van a lo grotesco pero refinados. Una mezcla rara, que queda bien. 7/10

6/10 Surprised that I didn't dislike this more. I much prefer Tom Waits when he's rocking out over the clattering drum kit with a bit of crunchy guitar. I'm not going to get carried away - I started listening a second time and my interest waned - but better than I feared.

pretty cool, i like his vocals and the instrumentals, i like "in the colosseum"

Time Waits does have an interesting thing going it's just not my interesting thing

Weird.

Tom Waits has a bone to pick. Interesting record, but one I can imagine ever putting on for a casual listen. I am not one to pay much attention to lyrics, but this record def had some interesting things to say.

A weird, slightly dark album feeling somewhat cabaret style. I could never really tell when I would put this up, but I know for certain that this won't be an album I will only listen to once. overall a really fun experience and a great album.

Good

I feel like by the end of this, Tom Waits may become my nemesis. I don't think I've ever felt such a disconnect with an artist who receives such overwhelming critical praise but feels so inauthentic to me. Bone Machine is at least less derivative than the previous two Waits album I've had to review so far (Heart Attack & Vine and Swordfishtrombones), and it's probably the best one, although to be clear this is faint praise. Waits' affectations vary widely enough. Sometimes he's an apocalyptic preacher, sometimes an old bluesman, sometimes he's George Thorogood and sometimes he's Oscar the Grouch, so there's a little variety to maintain some interest across the album, if not within the actual songs themselves. There are some good backing tracks here ("Such a Scream," "Goin' Out West", "Murder In The Red Barn") but Waits himself is monotonous. You can listen to the first five seconds and know that's going to be the entire song. There are no peaks and valleys. His vocalizing is little more than an affectation, and that's why he feels fake to me.

Only time I come across Tom Waits or when I intentionally hear him is when he crops up on this list. Just checked and this is the fourth time. Bad news is that there’s still another album to come (endure). All my previous reviews go on about his voice or lack of it. This is no different. As I’ve also said previously this is a pity as there is the occasional musical interlude which is worth a listen. Which makes me wonder if by now a significant anniversary of an album has occurred and as is customary nowadays on such events a remastered 6 disc box set is released. This normally includes a previously unreleased instrumental version of the songs. Now that could be worth buying - well eventually when seen in a record store bargain bin - I’m not that stupid or made of money. 2/5 8/8/26

I barely recognise this as music. It's an old man drunk in a bar singing whatever comes into his head.

das Album muss uf irgend e Art wegwiisend gsi si. Oder de Durchschnitt vo Mensche verstaht nüd vo musig dass das Album es Must-Listen isch. ei mal Auge verdreihe

Speziel ja Musikalisch guet neineinei *

Tom Waits might be the exact opposite of “Easy Listening”. His gravelly vocals make Dylan sound like Pavarotti. I was actually glad that this selection popped up, so that at least I could sample his oeuvre; and I even found a couple of his repetitive phrases (“Earth Died Screaming”) sticking with me. But I can’t imagine a circumstance where I would say, “Hey, let’s put on some Tom Waits”, (unless I was sitting alone in the dark, smoking a cigarette and fingering a loaded revolver). Once was enough…

Minimalist and very well defined, a refined Waits built on top of so much of his oeuvre up to that point - I think it will need more digesting to appreciate the minutiae

Bone Machine - Tom Waits (1992) Maybe Tom's sinister, Tim-Burtonesque style is tedious to some. Maybe his wacky, out of touch musicality ends up hurting some ears. Maybe his Dastardly Whiplash like voice is tiresome to others (you actually can hear him coughing at the end of Jesus Gonna Be Here.) Not to me. Can't wait for the other Tom Waits albums to show up, Rain Dogs in particular. Fave tracks: Dirt In The Ground, Such A Scream, Goin' Out West, Black Wings, I Don't Wanna Grow Up, That Feel. Also liked the ballad Who Are You This Time, though it is very similar to Time from Rain Dogs. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 8.75/10 [This album was listened to and reviewed on October the 4th, 2026.]

I wish I liked Tom Waits more than I do.

I've had a run of Dimery's "terrible male singers but cool to be into" albums. This one was tough to get through. There are so many great singers in the U.S., Dimery. You don't need to do this to us.

First listen. I’m enjoying this. Tom’s vocals are interesting, layered and emotive. The lyrics are evocative. Some of the arrangements are wonderful. I’m not sure that I’d listen to this repeatedly, but it is a nice surprise.

Too many biftas

I think I'm a Waits convert--still have trouble with the voice, but the music and lyrics are always interesting and/or great. That said, even though it won a Grammy, this is my least favorite of his albums on this list so far. I think you really have to be on the Waits train to get this one.

its ok

This is not a boring album. It's not a thoughtless album. This is not a generic album. This is a highly enjoyable, listening, repeatable, fun album with a serious undertone.

Really enjoying listening to more Tom Waits during this journey.

𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 is deliberately harsh, primitive, and percussion-heavy, but I am not always convinced that this approach brings out the best in Tom Waits’ carefully cultivated persona. His growling voice and cast of broken characters should feel at home in such a grim setting, yet some of the more abrasive tracks strike me as theatrical in a rather forced way. The quieter ballads work much better. They give Waits the space to be strange, vulnerable, and compelling without burying him beneath all the clatter. An interesting album, certainly, but one I admire more often than I enjoy.

I can't realistically give this more than a 3 because as a whole, the album had a few misses, but when it hit, it really hit for me. Maybe I'll return to this

What better time to use the descriptor “Lynchian” than to describe an album with a cover like this that came out in the peak Twin Peaks era. Some wild tracks on this. A good little reinvention of Waits that doesn’t really sound dated despite the reputation of production in the early-90s.

The gravelly voice is really perfected on this one.

I really like Tom Waits, but this album just didn't really hit for me. There were a small handful of great songs, but most felt kind of "empty" to me and lacked the emotional punch his songs typically have.

I don't want to listen to an hour of this. I can appreciate any artist that wants to put out creative content but this is not going to be my cup of tea. I'm sorry, Tom.

Not one of his best....

To sing some of these, he must go yell at the top of his lungs for three hours while smoking several packs of cigs, then drink unsweetened lemonade in order to get the hoarse, deep, bubbly singing voice. Funny to hear "I don't wanna grow up" sung with such a deep gravelly voice. This one is a little more out-there as late-career successful Tom gets more and more exploratory.

Gravelly voice and random creepy musings. Don't really get it but has some interesting parts in it. Weird swamp music. 2/5

He's like durian fruit. Unfortunately, for me, it wretched and makes me feel sick. Gets two stars for the bluesy tunes.

Tom Waits is truly one of one. I think if anyone else tried to pull this album off, it would feel over the top, and not genuine but listening to this it's as real as it gets. You have to be in the right time and space to appreciate this, preferably somewhere quiet, once the sun goes down. In that setting, the magic comes to life and listening to this album front to back can be a pretty remarkable experience.

I know Tom Waits isn't everyone's cup of tea because it tastes a bit off (I'm getting metallic, musty, and smoky notes) and you feel a little funny after you drink it (someone definitely spiked this with whiskey and/or mezcal), but I'll sell a kidney to see him live if he ever tours again.

He’s just neat

forget brat summer, it's a Tom Waits summer for me.

Always a pleasure to have an album named after me

Magical and quirky and atmospheric. I refer to this stuff as "spooky music"

Appreciated the grotty texture but went a bit too OTT with it by the end

I get he’s not for everyone, but I love Tom Waits

I was going to try to be edgy and give this a 3 but there's am awful load of gruff crap. If someone that wasn't Tom Waits released this album it wouldn't be on the list

A marvellous album.

If the Uruk-Hai recorded an album, it would sound a lot like this

Album #226 Tom Waits: Bone Machine This isn’t my first time listening to one of Tom Waits albums, so I was not at all caught off guard by the Cookie Monster singing the blues over Donkey Kong Country instrumentals; rather, I was eagerly awaiting it. Of the Tom Waits music that I’ve heard, I’ve always enjoyed it, since he’s a pretty undeniable songwriter with a very compelling and distinct sound; however, sometimes I feel as though I conflate enjoyment with respect, since though there were absolutely songs that I liked, there were probably just as many that I didn’t care to hear again. Maybe I’m just getting used to Waits, but Bone Machine didn’t have that effect on me; almost every song here, even the abrasive interludes, felt enjoyable within the context of the album. This is a very bleak album, though from what I can tell that is par for the course with Waits, but that is what makes his music so engaging. The Dostoyevsky-esque aesthetic of a drunken scoundrel rambling in a bar on a dark rainy night is one that Waits has been able to get a lot of mileage out of, and one that I’m not sick of hearing. I could say that this is at least on par with Rain Dogs, and maybe even better, a really great, unique album that has maintained my faith in Waits. Best Songs: A Little Rain, Who Are You, Murder In The Red Barn Worst Song: All Stripped Down Score out of 10: 8.5

Sounds like a guy taking a shit while wandering around a warehouse hitting things.

There are some songs on here that could easily make it into my all time favourite lists… just love it.

absolutely love this album it rocks, Tom Waits has always been a fav I hadn't heard this in ages and forgot how good it was I think it must of been recorded in his home or something because it has homie feel

My all-time fav Thomas Alan Waits - easy 5.

I love Tom Waits. I really don’t like this album.

In the grand tradition of singers who can't sing but whose terrible voices somehow make them even better artists, Tom Waits stands tall. I know he's not the most inventive in terms of actual composition but damn it, that gravelly voice, theatrical delivery, and unique carnivalesque production is hard to deny!

Imagine your grandmother smoked 100 cigarettes, took one tab of LSD and started singing.

An incredible album. There’s no one like Waits.

Oh dear, it's another Tom Waits album. Swordfishtrombones was the first. Even beheaded this music is too much. Gave that a one. Since then my depths have sunken to kid rock so Waits that's your low bar. We're sinking cap'n an there's nothin I ken do. Tom Waits the falsetto. Tom Waits the distortion. Tom Waits the why? You know those guys who did "We love the moon, rathergood.com?" All stripped down sounds like he's imitating them. They were doing it for the lols. Tom, not so much. Catchy groove tho noah gonna lie. Ok now He's doing the vocal equivalent of blackface. Jesus Gonna track. There are several tracks with some seriously nice grooves. Goin' Out being one. We are in 2 territory.

Bad, he has so many good albums this ain’t one

I really want to like Tom Waits. I just can’t get into it.

Tom is never gonna be for me

I got Tom Waits barely a week ago! Not that I'm complaining, I've finally after all this time come around to his music, and now I'm on the last album of his! This feels much darker than his other already dark work, and the song writing is on point as always.

This album has the most unique drums I've ever heard Great release!

Tom Waits' experimental period reminds me of aural smelling salts. He occupies and embodies such a specific side of uniquely-American songwriting, running a 100-year spectrum of sound and texture and lyricism. This is maybe the weirdest of them all. Pretty great! "Who Are You" is the most normal song and my favorite above all else.

I wish this was satire

I’m not fully convinced that Tom Waits isn’t actually a fictional character invented by Hunter S. Thompson

A good Tom Waits album is measured by the weirdness:ballad ratio. This album has 7 weird tracks to 3 ballads and 6 tracks that borderline the two (I Don't Wanna Grow Up and The Feel are fine examples of "borderline). I'd say that's a fine ratio, wouldn't you?

God damn Tom Waits may be one of the coolest singers I've ever heard. Love how much style the guy has and how versatile his voice is, allowing him to create characters ranging from melancholic drunkard and creepy old guy that narrates macabre stories to menacing masculine guy. As for the album itself, it starts with "The Earth Died Screaming", setting incredibly well the pessimism that radiates this whole project. Well, the music of the song itself isn't that dark. The guitar has a bluesy tone and the percussion is... unique. I find it hard to describe it properly, but what comes to mind is the sound of bones colliding. So what truly makes the song gray are the lyrics, describing an apocalyptic scenery. And if the initial track is very gloomy, the next one, "Dirt in The Ground" takes the darkness to a whole other level. Everything in this song is bleak and hopelessness. The nihilistic lyrics, the dramatic singing and the slow piano and saxophone... all paint an incredibly grim, devastating, raw and emotional picture that contaminates one with its depression. The sorrow doesn't last long, as the next pair of tracks "Such A Scream" and "All Stripped Down" lift the mood quite a bit. First one has probably my favourite vocal deliver from the singer, thanks to its extremely emphasized pronunciation filled with attitude that is incredibly satisfying to hear. It is accompanied by some light saxophone and guitar licks that are super infectious. Then, the song bleeds into "All Stripped Down", a very distorted song that actually has some fun performances with the songwriter switching between two different voices, one very high-pitched and the other very growled. A bit weird to call if fun when the lyrics are actually bitter, referring to how worthless becomes everything one once owned upon dead. Next is "Who Are You", the first of the four Americana ballads. Not my favourite moments of the album, but being so little and with Tom Waits being so expressive and melancholic I actually don't mind them at all, even adding a lot of value to the album. What I do really like is how incredibly eerie and unsettling "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me" is, thanks to its minimalism, super uneasy sounds and a story about a person who wishes to drown themself. It might be very short, but does really make an impact upon listen. Following up is "Jesus Gonna Be Here", a nice bluesy song, with minimal rhythms, an occasional bass playing two notes and Tom Waits singing like a madman who is literally waiting for Jesus to take him. Not the most remarkable one, but still great with a lot of style. Then comes another of the Americana ballads, "A Little Rain", a very passionate and heartfelt song with its sad atmosphere being torn apart by the next track, "In the Colosseum", a peculiar piece with a lot of clanking as percussion and both a twisted bass and singing, but also has quite the catchy choruses I must add. That track might be great, but it isn't as good "Goin' Out West". The amount of attitude and style the song has is incredibly. Absolutely loved the guitars distortion and how they sound like if they came from a spies movie; and loved the vocals performance as well, which has to be one of the bests of the whole, coming very close to that same attitude and roughness of "Such a Scream". Afterwards is "Murder In the Red Barn", very similar in sound to "In the Colosseum", but without the metallic sounds and an additional banjo. Not the strongest piece, but thankfully the upcoming one, "Black Wings" is more remarkable thanks to its very mysterious sound and lyrics about a cryptic and unwanted figure, often compared with the devil itself in the lyrics. Next two songs in line are "Whistle Down the Wind", the third ballad that is as sorrowful as the others, and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up", a song that, despite of its innocent and childish melodies buried behind the distortion, its a very bitter song talking about a person (implied to be a child) who refuses to age as a result of contemplating the awful things that adults do (like parents fighting) or other terrible things that are awaiting as a result of becoming old. Finally, the album ends with the pair "Let Me Get Up On It" and "That Feel". The first one is a short with a lot of industrial sounds track, so it almost counts as an interlude without real impact. The final song is the last of the ballads, but in this instance, it sets itself apart from the others, as the message is more optimistic , ending a very dark project in a very positive note, with the lyrics stating that in spite of all the horrible things it my happen, there is at least one feeling remaining. They never clarify which one, so it is up to interpretation, but I'm guessing is either hope or love. Overall, fantastic album filled with emotion, twists and turns, a wide palette of sounds and absolutely killer performances, specially from the voices.

He growls, he croons, he bellows, he occasionally even sings! Yes, Tom Waits is in full Tom Waits mode on this one, his voice is often craggy, and the band sounds like a bunch of guys banging on walls and tables at times, but it all adds to the charm. One bona fide hit in there, with 'Way Out West', and whilst the rest is not as accessible (my family were like 'what the fuck are you listening to???'), it makes for an interesting collection.

If anyone is familiar with pathfinder, this what I imagine the risen band of a dirge bard would sound like. Gary the Ghoul on the vocals, Bart the Bone Lich on percussion, and Vinny and his Vertebrates taking up the rest of the work. This is the second Tom Waits album I’ve listened to on this process, I’ve seen that there’s many. That being said, this one is waaaaayyy better. He has only gotten more edgy and the instrumentals on this album are really cool. I don’t know what the hell kinda bongo they’re banging on in this album but it’s really cool. The harsher rock songs are jazzy, moody, and a little silly, but it comes together in a way I really liked. The slower piano led songs are spectacular, I really enjoy his lyrics writing on this album. Fav songs: Dirt in the Ground, The Ocean Doesnt Want Me 4/5

Ok

It’s dark and twisted and I regret all the decisions that lead to me not hearing it in the 90s when it came out. This is expression and because it’s sometimes uncomfortable it’s not for everyone.

My third one of these and I'm still surprised by how well Tom Waits can bring out these feelings in me. Half the album sounds like he has a band of cartoon rats banging on stuff in a junkyard, but that's right at home on this album. I've always been a bigger fan of Waits' ballads, and there are some really good ones here. I feel like I need to give Rain Dogs another listen now because he's been weirdly consistent with such an offbeat style.

I just don't get Tom Waits.

If I get one more fuckass tom waits album. I’m going to find the creator of this list and strap a bomb to their chest.

I think there’s a lot of context I’m missing to Tom Waits, but in both acclaimed albums I’ve now listened to, I’m just really not compelled to seek that context out. I’m sure there’s plenty of people he appeals to, but not me. I do appreciate the really creative instrumental direction and subtle production, but that voice is basically intolerable.

90s folk rock. Creepy, rough blues. Spooky, unique. Cool rhythms.

Horrível. 0.5

6/10

Wind chimes made of human bones rattling away in a stiff breeze whilst your scary Uncle Barry jibbers on about some imagined injustice he suffered at work thirty-odd years ago. The wind whistles down the chimney as a pigeon falls into the grate, bringing down years' worth of soot. The pigeon shuffles around on its one unbroken leg rasping out its final breaths as Uncle Barry prepares to put it out of its misery with a tibia taken from the wind chimes. Auntie Lou pops her head round the corner intending to ask Barry if he'd like a nice cup of tea, but sees the struggling pigeon and steps in front of her demented, dribbling husband just as he brings down the tibia with all of his frustrated strength. Auntie Lou screams as tibia meets skull. Her skull...

Delightfully swampy, but completely incoherent and shrill.

Strikes a good balance between interesting and crazy. Very visceral and bare stuff. Instrumentals are very good

It’s so improbable that Tom Waits would become a rock and roll star and lasting influence on the art form. His voice is … iconic and grating. But it works. These are great songs, steeped in the dark corners of dark bars. Only Waits can deliver them in this way. It’s not always an easy listen, but it was very worth it. A 4.

A gruff ol' beast. Waits' voice on this one is like a chainsaw trying to sing the blues. Not pretty, but it really works. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - A Little Rain - Goin' Out West - I Don't Wanna Grow Up

Tony Franciosa used to date my ma. Nobody writes a ballad like Tom Waits. 5

I like this album and really most anything Tom Waits releases. He has released a lot of albums and there is some breadth to his sound and style but this is a limited list and you want to be sure to include as broad a variety as possible (or so I would think). Maybe two Tom Waits albums would be okay--one from early career and one from later. This is better than a 3 compared to a large number of other people's albums, but there are other Tom Waits I would select for this list before this one.

What’s the point of listening to a Tom Waits album if “Step Right Up” isn’t on it?

Tom Waits doesn't just create songs, he creates entire worlds filled with enticing, flawed characters that come to life through the music. The worlds are ugly and unforgiving, and the people in them are broken and depraved, but theres something lived-in and authentic about them nonetheless. He sounds like a madman, and his band like the spirits of the dead whacking on ribcages with femurs, and it all comes together to create something unique and inspired. It's ugly and rough around the edges, but it's real. 5/5

It definitely is something different but my god am I having a bad time listening to Tom Waits. Sorry folks, maybe the next Waits album on this list will turn me around.

Who is this guy and why does he sound like that

Uplifting.

2.5 I have to be in the mood for Tom Waits and I wasn't particularly in the mood today

Seems like a very divisive album - some love it, some hate ut. Unfortunately I’m on the side of those who don’t like it. Creepy at moments, with a sometimes umpleasant voice. It does sound authentic and original, I’ll give it that. It’s also certainly cohesive. Music to ambient a haunted mansion in halloween.

I found it funky. I liked it.

Had a friend who was super into Tom Waits. I still don't fully get it, but it's interesting enough not to hate.

That was weird, but in an artsy way I can appreciate. I should hate it, but I don't. His falsetto is terrible and that annoyed me, but I got past it.

*sigh*

I like Tom Waits...usually. This album, not so much. The lo-fi production, kindergarten class percussion, and the bizarre (even by Waits' standards) vocals just make a combination that I don't enjoy. The lyrics are interesting, but there's just too much noise to get through to appreciate them.

Furchtbar! Wie kann man sowas veröffentlichen. Klingt nach einer Kombination von Alkoholismus, Psychiatrie und Größenwahn!

Sounds like most other Tom waits albums. Gravelly griping down in a great poetic form

Whilst I do enjoy Tom Waits, I tend to prefer it when there’s a bit more melody in the music. You know what you are getting with the voice, but if there was a bit more instrumentation this would be better. It’s not bad, but it is uneven.

nahhhh

I like this one slightly more than the others I've heard. 3/5

I tried.... I really did. Just couldn't do it...

Рычи в зоопарке

i love you tom waits

Goin' Out West I Don't Wanna Grow Up

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 (rounded up for the cohesive whole) GOD DAYUM!!!! Nighthawks at the Diner can kiss my ass! So glad I gave Tom Waits another chance, because Bone Machine is just incredible. I don't know what makes this click more than, say, my middling reaction to Pere Ubu (though the fact that I keep mentioning them is worth something), but the totally bizarre parts of this album still coalesce into a zero-miss lineup. I tried to like this a lot less than I did, but I was giddier with each new track. Delightfully creepy, miraculously dissonant, and surprisingly emotional in its highs and lows for a piss-drunk ghoul repeatedly slamming the silverware drawer. 1: Bad | 2: Okay, No Desire to Revisit | 3: Good, Conditionally (OR Inconsistent Mix of Qualities) | 4: Great (OR Technically amazing but missing the sauce emotionally) | 5: Amazing

This was a very specific experience, and I have to give Tom Waits credit for dreaming up and executing that specific experience. Was it for me? No, but it was still clearly borne out of talent and vision. Vocally, I was confused and unsettled, but lyrically, there was some good storytelling and vivid imagery. Honestly, if he had a more tolerable voice, this would've been a 4!

It sounds like a skeleton being thrown down the stairs which apparently I find surprisingly listenable

achei um horror, lamento

Too mental for me to listen to in a single serving. By turns dissonant, claustrophobic, then occasionally lovely. I don't dislike most of this it's just it gets cumulatively more stifling and uncomfortable. What's he building in there? A mad mess of hobo poetry and metal music, that's what.

Maybe I was just in the right mood for this, but I found this to be extremely entertaining, and usually I find Tom Waits a little …cartoonish? for my tastes, even though I respect his artistry. Something about the instrumental arrangements on this album just made the songs click. Ragged and raw but restrained, too. Really cool! Must-listen #359

Si un álbum fuera una película de terror sería esto💜

Not my thing unfortunately, made me continuously uncomfortable. Which is the point in a way, so it's not quite getting one star.

too long

Never really got Tom Waits - a stripped down Beefheart with all the good and bad weirdness that implies. Then every few tracks, along comes a country love song with a tortured sounding protagonist. This is an hour of that. It's alright but I don't get anything much from it. Maybe another one of his on here will do it.

Tom Waits is one of the few where I do genuinely love some of the songs but often ask wtf on others, even on the same album.

I found my lost punk daddy and my life is complete.

Blind album, know the artist by name. Some songs give me captain beefheart vibes but more modern and polished, but gritter vocals too. And then theres nore singer/songwriter style, with folk, it blends all very well. I surprisingly liked this and some hooks are insanely catchy. TIL Keith Richards and Les Claypool (favorite bassist) are both featured on this album. 4.

🤪

I guess it has some artistic merit, its certainly unique and interesting. But man will I never listen to this one again, in fact probably would have been just fine not listening to it at all.

No.....just, no.

Tom Waits (90s era) is not for the faint-hearted. I was already familiar with the album and I think this is actually a very good album. And, definitely, an interesting one. May reach 5 stars if a bit shorter. Songs I particularly enjoy: "Dirt in the Ground", "Who Are You", "In The Colosseum", "Going'Out West" (probably my favourite), "Black Wings", "Whistle Down The Wind", or "I Don't Wanna Grow Up",

- i cant ts genuinely not for me - its so gotham city walk down the street with grayscale to the max - id rather suck dih than listen to ts - i owe burger music apology

- so like decent album but it’s completely ahh so like nah, goin out west is the only listenable song The dude has decent lyrics but bro his voice just lowk get on my nerves

Not for me. 1/5

Moving in the right direction on this album. I didn't like Heartattack and Vine but this is an improvement, though I'm still not sure I fully get Tom Waits. To me his music comes across as esoteric comedy music, when he's doing these weird voices like somebody doing a parody of Billy Gibbons on the opening track or Mark Lanegan on Who Are You. If these are supposed to be sincere and heartfelt, they don't come across that way to me I like some of the weirdness and dark parts, The Ocean Doesn't Want Me is creepy and sinister. Jesus Gonna Be Here and Goin' Out West are some good twisted southern twang. All Stripped Down also reminded me of Misfit Love by QOTSA in a way I wasn't sick of this by the end like I was with Heart Attack and Vine but it's still pretty mixed. He does have 3 (!!!) more albums on the generator so I suppose he's getting 3 more chances Highlights: Goin' Out West, All Stripped Down

Utmanande lyssning. Först tänkte jag: herregud, vad är detta? Bara oväsen och sedan övergick det till: herregud, vad vackert. Vissa låtar är goosebumps faktiskt medan andra är nästan olyssningsbara. Svårt att inte bli fascinerad och nyfiken på mer. Jag kan lugnt säga att jag aldrig hört ett album som detta förut och det måste väl ändå vara poängen? Tom Waits röst är hjärtskärande och det blir så vackert ibland att det gör lite ont. Konstigt och underbart på samma gång.

Es ist kein Experiment, sondern ein akustischer Trümmerhaufen – ein Album, das in seiner eigenen Finsternis versinkt und den Hörer gleich mit hinunterzieht. Tom Waits hat hier ein Werk geschaffen, das klingt, als wäre es in einem Betonbunker mit rostigem Werkzeug eingespielt worden – was nicht einmal übertrieben ist: Das Album wurde tatsächlich in einem kargen Kellerraum mit „Zementboden und Warmwasserboiler“ aufgenommen, was seinen rauen, scheppernden Sound prägt Doch statt roher Magie entsteht ein Lärmgebilde, das sich selbst genügt und den Zuhörer außen vor lässt. Die Songs kreisen obsessiv um Tod, Verfall und apokalyptische Bilder. Selbst die Balladen, die früher einmal Waits’ Rettungsanker waren, tragen hier eine nihilistische Schwere, die jede emotionale Regung erstickt. „A Little Rain“ mag poetisch gemeint sein, doch im Kontext dieses Albums wirkt es wie ein letzter, müder Seufzer inmitten eines endlosen Sturms aus Düsternis und Geräuschkulisse. Die rohe Produktion, die absichtlich schiefe Instrumentierung, die überzeichneten Vokalattacken: All das ergibt ein Werk, das eher wie eine Parodie auf Tom Waits klingt als wie eine gescheitere Satire. Es bleibt ein Experiment, das sich selbst überschätzt – ein klappernder, lärmender Totentanz auf das vergeudete Talent eines mäßig begabten Künstler.

As much as I love this one, I'd gladly swap it for Mule Variations for this era of Waits. This one's dirtier, that one's purdier. This one's probably more nihilistic, that one more hopeful. We're chained to the world and we all gotta pull, indeed.

Very interesting and varied album that has some very good songs. However, the slow folk songs and country tracks are unequivocally terrible. 2.5/5.0: Mixed

this has some really fantastic songs on it but despite that its weakest tom waits albums weve had

hell yeah opening your album with clattering bones, we're in the haunted bayou baby! I like to clown on him, because come on, the man sounds on the verge of tears through damn near every verse, and makes it spooky. He commits to his bit, I gotta give him that. Its weird and its original.

Yeah that’s the haunted Mardi Gras bullshit I was expecting from Tom Waits!

Nicht mein Favorit

Bah

It was... interesting. Definitely kept my attention for most of it. And I like the drama of the whole thing, as well as the instrumentals/percussion, which felt raw and inventive! But... Waits's voice was definitely grating at the best of times.

nice tunes, but the voice is too much for me.

How have I not listened straight through this one before? It must have been raining mackerel and trout.

Nice to see some alternative music on here, what the list should be for

Wildly interesting

The schtick don’t stick on this one, and the carnival barked knives, murders and roadkill come off quotidian, the music unsurprising. Where’s the pulse?

I really enjoyed this - I had written-off later Tom Waits based on the preceding trio, which have too much carnival and too little personality. Pleasingly, "Bone Machine" plays to the strengths of both his melodic and abrasive tendencies in an authentic manner. Happy to hear the early melancholy beauty of "Martha" and "Grapefruit Moon" carried through to "A Little Rain" and "That Feel" here. I'll have to investigate the subsequent ones.

So many textures in his vocalizations. Lyrics are inspired not sure by what but inspired nonetheless. Sometimes a bit of a difficult listen but he is somehow worth it.

The “Good Weird” to Nick Cave’s “Bad Weird”

Great

3/10 Not my thing, dude sounds like he needs a sip of water so badly.

This whole album feels like a dark musical, im not a big fan of his voice tho.

Hold on, are you telling me this guy has more albums on the list than Pink Floyd?

you have got to be fucking kidding me.

He's such a creative song writer. So original. I don't exactly enjoy listening to his songs or his singing, but I do like getting into them. If that makes sense. Prolly doesn't.

Are there any bad Waits tracks?

After over 130 albums, my first 1 Funny enough, I liked some of the stuff near the end, but that was too few too late.

I dig Tom Waits but haven't listened to this album before. This album just doesn't really stick with me. It's unmistakably Tom Waits but not at his best. Still decent but nothing I'm very excited about. Also I really really hate the cover art on this album.

Uhh what's wrong with this guy's voice. I wanted to toss my headphones out while listening to "All Stripped Down". Annnnd I'm calling it quits at "In The Colosseum". DNF

that was weird.

This is right in line with the handful of post-70s Tom Waits songs I've heard over the years: there's melody and tenderness there but it's almost buried under harsh and sometimes highly distorted singing and effects. He's a great songwriter, but his boundary-pushing sounds are often hard to listen to.

Not sure what I’m missing with Tom Waits but this was terrible (like his other albums I’ve had here) and can’t believe he isn’t in the lowest rated artists list.. there is no way he should have 5 albums here (benefit of the doubt that some were replaced from earlier editions but I don’t know).

I like Tom Waits voice, reminds me of The Wire theme song he did.

wow

I had to wait almost a year to finally get a Tom Waits album, easily one of my all time favourite artists. While this is still a very characteristic sound, it's very different from his '80s run. Waits sounds more mature, serious and sinister. Bone Machine offers a constant clash of tone that oddly works. At one moment you're listening to a...well, a literal bone machine, and at the other you'll stumble upon an emotional piano ballad. It's a frequent contrast present in many Tom Waits albums, but it was never this obvious, in my opinion. With that being said, the result is slightly inconsistent. It's one of those incredibly rare albums you'd call backloaded. The second half of this album consists of wall-to-wall bangers and it's one of Waits' finest hours as an artist. The first half is great as well, but there are definitely a couple of tracks I'll skip during a casual listen, and I don't really feel the need to do so with many of his other albums. Still, this was a great beginning of a new phase in his career that he'll only proceed to perfect with his upcoming albums. Favourite track: Goin' Out West

I am aware of the existence of Tom Waits, and currently have 3 songs liked by him on Spotify. 2 are from the "Dead Man Walking" movie soundtrack album ("The Fall of Troy" and "Walk Away"), and 1 is "Yesterday is Here" from the "Frank Wild Years" album. I have never done a deep dive into any of his catalog - so I am curious how this goes. Thoughts after listening 3 times... None of this grabbed me enough to want to listen to any of it again. I'm positive I can name 100 albums that are better than this one, that aren't on this list. I can't believe I will be forced to listen to 4 more albums by this guy. Liked songs on Spotify: 0/16 Rating: 1/5 (should be zero)

Bone Machine is a beautiful album. I like everything about it.

Starting to really love this upon multiple listens - way for accessible than I expected and some great tracks I can't wait to revisit (who are you, jesus gonna be here).

Tom Waits is interesting but a little goes a long way for me. Favorite track: Goin' Out West

Probably one of Tom Wait's darkest, most visceral work, going further than ever before into experimental territory. Mixing hallucinated percussions with soulful Delta blues arrangements, it's both raw and sophisticated, ominous and beautiful. It's also incredibly rich, with such a variety of moods and rythms that it never feels repetitive. I love every minute of it, even though I understand it's not for everyone - it does sound like it's been made by drunk hoboes in a junkyard. It really doesn't deserve such a low rating though, and I wish more listeners would be open to new and chaotic experiences. This is a tortured album that absolutely WANTS you to feel uncomfortable, musically and thematically. You have to embrace the unease to appreciate it, just like you have to embrace the horror of life to fully enjoy it. As such, one could say it's the ultimate embodiment of the spirit of blues - suffering sublimated into exhilarating music. It's been part of my rotation for years, and I never get tired of Tom Wait's silly broken voice. 9/10

Really not my favourite Tom Waits

Je n'ai pas compris l'album qui -disons le poliment- est expérimental avec une bande de copains bourrés qui s'essayent à la musique... mais quelle voix !!! Par sympathie je lui donne 2 étoiles

I remember listening to this one back when I was getting into Johnny Cash’s late career era, long after it came out. It really feels rooted in the 90s to me, dark, raw, and genuinely organic, way more than yesterday’s supposedly “organic” Talk Talk record. Strong identity throughout, with that mix of melancholy and cynicism running under the surface. Varied, adventurous, and never too comfortable. I like this one quite a bit.

The best of the best

Love this album. I am a big fan of his “Early Years” albums, but this one is part of his more experimental forays. As always, his voice adds a gravitas to the songs, but the percussion is what makes this album. “I don’t wanna grow up” is among his best compositions and I loved the bluesy “Jesus gonna be here”. It’s all very funereal and just a great trip

There’re is nothing Tom does that I don’t love …. but Bone machine is near the top of my personal faves.

This sound is what I think of when I think of this artist. Just a death rattle to start off the album, followed by clanking and growling. He certainly has a specific sound.

6/10

Я такое не понимаю, но это прикол 3/5

Starts off intriguing, but the gravely vocal schtick and pared down instrumentation gets really old really fast. Maybe would have if it had half the runtime, but there's nothing all that musically interesting. At its strongest when the songs are songs instead of abstract set pieces. Top tracks: Dirt in the Ground, Goin' Out West

# In-Depth Review: *Bone Machine* by Tom Waits (1992) ## Lyrics The lyrical universe of *Bone Machine* is a stark departure from the romanticized barflies and sentimental hookers of Waits's earlier work. Instead, we find a landscape populated by "brimstone-spewing demons, withering bluesmen, lynch mob justice, politicians gorging on blood and rapine, suicidal seafarers, and small-town murder." **Key Lyrical Approaches:** - **Biblical and Apocalyptic Imagery:** Waits drew heavily from the Bible, particularly the Book of Revelations, which his wife and collaborator Kathleen Brennan introduced to his creative process. Songs like "The Earth Died Screaming" depict literal end-times scenarios with locusts taking the sky, while "Dirt in the Ground" retells Cain and Abel's murder with the line, "Now Cain slew Abel / Killed him with a stone / The sky cracked open / And the thunder groaned." "Murder in the Red Barn" directly quotes the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house / Or covet thy neighbour's wife." - **Grotesque Romanticism:** Even love songs are filtered through death and decay. "Such a Scream," a twisted romantic ode to Brennan, features lines like "She just goes clank and boom and steam / A halo, wings, horns, and a tail / Shoveling coal inside my dreams" and "Inside the dollhouse of her skull." - **Character-Driven Narratives:** "Black Wings" presents a mythological drifter in the American Southwest who "can turn himself into a stranger," with rumors that "he killed a man with a guitar string." "A Little Rain" offers tender vignettes of a German dwarf, a fingerless guitarist, and a teenage runaway who "climbed into a van / With a vagabond / And the last thing she said / Was 'I love you, mom.'" - **Humor and Braggadocio:** "Goin' Out West" is a testosterone-fueled litany of boasts—"I know karate / Voodoo too / I got hair on my chest / I look good without a shirt"—that rivals hip-hop braggadocio while maintaining a tongue-in-cheek quality. --- ## Music & Arrangements Musically, *Bone Machine* represents the furthest extreme of Waits's "Line B" aesthetic—a term critic Luc Sante uses to describe his post-*Swordfishtrombones* experimental direction, distinct from his 1970s Tin Pan Alley-influenced "Line A." **Instrumentation & Style:** - **Percussion-First Approach:** The album is rhythm and percussion-led, with much of the percussion inspired by avant-garde composer Harry Partch. Waits used objects that are not traditional instruments—"sticks, chairs dragged across the floor, broken abandoned tools, metal machinery"—to create what one reviewer called "basement brutality." - **Genre Collage:** The record merges primitive blues with avant-garde experimentation, gospel blues, industrial noise, spaghetti-western guitar (on "Black Wings"), and Voodoo-influenced rhythms (on "Such a Scream"). Minimalistic guitar strumming alternates with "the hammering clang of trashcan drums," while "blaring saxophones trade-off with dusty piano chords." - **Vocal Range:** Waits employs multiple vocal personas—from the serrated bark of "The Earth Died Screaming" to the raspy falsetto (inspired by Prince) on "Dirt in the Ground," to the ailing old-timer delivery of "Jesus Gonna Be Here." - **Unusual Instruments:** The album features a Chamberlin (an ancestor of the synthesizer) and an instrument Waits designed himself called "the conundrum." --- ## Production The production of *Bone Machine* is integral to its atmosphere. Recorded in a studio's storage room, the album was given an intentionally claustrophobic, cavernous sound. **Production Characteristics:** - **Raw and Immediate:** Waits adopted a Luddite attitude toward "aseptic computerized recording innovations," preferring to capture sounds in their most immediate and natural forms. This rawness is epitomized by "Let Me Get Up On It," a track Waits liked so much as a home demo—featuring yelped, indecipherable lyrics over what sounds like banging pots and pans—that he released it essentially as-is. - **Intimate Atmosphere:** The recording environment creates what one critic described as the feeling of being "part of the jug band sitting on the porch of the clapboard shack" during "Jesus Gonna Be Here." The level of intimacy makes the listener feel present in the space. - **Atmospheric Cohesion:** The production unifies the album's disparate elements, giving even the quietest moments a sense of dread and the loudest moments a feeling of being trapped in a confined industrial space. --- ## Themes *Bone Machine* functions as a concept album, with death as its central, unifying meditation. Nearly all 16 tracks touch on mortality in some form. **Core Themes:** - **Death as the Great Equalizer:** From the cosmic scale ("The Earth Died Screaming") to the personal ("Dirt in the Ground"), the album insists that death is "the epitome of the profane, a reversion into nothingness" rather than a sacred passage. The refrain of "Dirt in the Ground"—"We're all gonna be dirt in the ground"—was reportedly inspired by a pickup line Waits heard from saxophonist Teddy Edwards. - **Man's Inhumanity to Man:** "In the Colosseum" compares the Senate floor to the Roman Colosseum, suggesting that humanity's bloodlust has merely been repressed rather than eliminated. The song depicts "the dog-eat-dog entropy" that follows societal collapse. - **Religion and Deception:** "Jesus Gonna Be Here" presents blind faith with both reverence and irony, while the album as a whole questions "the role of religion in deceiving followers into thinking life has an innate purpose." - **The Failed American Dream:** The album continues Waits's exploration of "a marginalized America, an underworld of outcasts, forgotten people and lowlifes." It embraces "resentment and fear" and builds stories upon the failed promise of the American Dream. - **Resilience:** "A Little Rain" offers a counterpoint to the surrounding dread, suggesting that "a little rain never hurt no one" and that one must "risk something that matters" to truly live. --- ## Influence & Legacy *Bone Machine* has proven extraordinarily influential across multiple genres and artists: - **Alternative Rock & Beyond:** Its Grammy win for Best Alternative Music Album legitimized a sound that defied easy categorization. One listener noted it sounds "like nothing I've heard before," comparing it only to Eels' *Electro-Shock Blues* as a similarly dark, percussion-led work. - **Cover Versions:** The strength of the songwriting beneath the abrasive production is evidenced by the number of covers by other artists, which often reveal melodies hidden beneath the noisy arrangements. "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" was notably covered by the Ramones. - **The "Apocalypse Trilogy":** Critics have identified *Bone Machine* as the first installment in an unofficial "apocalypse trilogy," followed by *Mule Variations* (1999) as post-apocalyptic folk and *Real Gone* (2004) as final dispatches from survivors. - **Kathleen Brennan's Role:** The album cemented Brennan's importance to Waits's creative vision. She encouraged him to lean into his artistic vision, produce his own records, and embrace an increasingly idiosyncratic aesthetic. Her co-writing contributions increased significantly here. - **Keith Richards Collaboration:** The closing track "That Feel," co-written with and featuring Keith Richards, has been praised as "the best song Keith Richards has written since 1975," with loose, drunken playing that perfectly realizes the song's themes. --- ## Pros | Strength | Details | |----------|---------| | **Uncompromising Vision** | Waits pushes his experimental aesthetic to its logical extreme without losing the thread of actual songwriting. | | **Lyrical Depth** | The biblical, apocalyptic, and grotesque imagery creates a cohesive literary world. | | **Atmospheric Production** | The storage-room recording gives the album a unique, immersive sonic identity. | | **Vocal Versatility** | Waits shifts between barks, falsettos, and spoken-word with remarkable range. | | **Thematic Cohesion** | As a concept album about death, it maintains thematic unity across 16 tracks without becoming monotonous. | | **Emotional Range** | From the terror of "Black Wings" to the heartbreaking tenderness of "A Little Rain," the album covers vast emotional territory. | | **Influence** | It opened doors for experimental, percussion-driven alternative music and influenced artists across genres. | | **"Goin' Out West"** | A career-highlight track that combines humor, groove, and menace. | --- ## Cons | Weakness | Details | |----------|---------| | **Accessibility** | The abrasive percussion, guttural vocals, and bleak subject matter make it a challenging entry point for new listeners. One critic's friend complained that Waits "stopped writing 'proper songs' and just started screaming over recordings of trash cans." | | **Homogeneity Risk** | The relentless darkness and industrial percussion can feel oppressive over a 16-track runtime; some listeners find it "hard to listen to in heavy rotation." | | **"Let Me Get Up On It"** | The inclusion of a near-indecipherable home demo, while interesting as a production choice, can feel like a throwaway track to some listeners. | | **Niche Appeal** | The album's extreme aesthetic—what one reviewer called "a trip through machinated Hell"—limits its audience to those willing to engage with its ugliness. | | **Vocals as Barrier** | Waits's gravelly delivery, while expressive, is polarizing; as one reviewer noted, "If you can live with the gravel vocals (and I can) this is an easy 5 stars," implying it's a significant hurdle for some. | --- ## Verdict *Bone Machine* is a masterpiece of artistic extremity. It is not an album that meets the listener halfway—it demands full engagement and rewards it with one of the most vividly realized sonic and lyrical worlds in modern music. Waits confronts mortality not with depression but with a grotesque, biblical theatricality that is "dangerous, addictive and sinister." While its abrasive qualities may alienate casual listeners, those who surrender to its dark logic find an album of rare depth, humor, and emotional power. It stands as both a culmination of Waits's 1980s experimental trilogy and the beginning of a new, even darker chapter in his career.

Tom is always pretty strong, this isn't my favourite of his bit has some good tracks.

Thus was darker than some of his other albums, more fatalistic and less underbelly of society.

If Bob Dylan is the Alfred Hitchcock of American music then Tom Waits is the Tobe Hooper: rawer, scarier, less subtle, more inclined toward the use of power tools. And - equally capable, on his best days, of making something utterly compelling. I'd heard stories of how difficult a listen this would be, and it is, for some values of "difficult"; it's obviously going to sound different from both traditional folk and "traditional" industrial (is "bedpan percussion" a thing? It is now, I guess). The mix doesn't help, sometimes muddying a crucial lyric at a crucial point (the problem with recording your album in the boiler room is that it sounds like you recorded in the boiler room). But once you get on Waits's wavelength, as I did after a couple tracks, the cacophonous, abrasive stuff starts to signify, to the point that it's actually the sweeter, more traditional-sounding tracks that feel like overplays of his hand - like they're giving you a respite you haven't quite earned. And the lyrics, which seem to place our American Dante all over the American backwoods, backroads, backcountry, backstreets, etc., in search of a Beatrice who may or may not exist and may or may not have been murdered by the man now carrying her torch. It's arresting to hear an artist tackle his anxiety of influence head-on like this; Waits really does attempt to match Dylan line for line and succeeds about as well as any mere mortal can expect to. Listen carefully and you'll find at least a few lines that explain yourself back to yourself (my personal favorite, from the closer "That Feel": "You say that it's gospel but I know that it's only church"). This is still very much an acquired taste but it is absolutely worth acquiring.

Not the worst thing I've heard, almost started to enjoy it.

I can understand and appreciate how vocals and the lyrics are amazing, but just not my type of music.

Tom Waits has one of the most unique voices in the alternative scene. In truth his music is rarely like anyone else, a combination of spoken word, miscellaneous growling and voodoo blues. That said, I actually didn’t like this album. Get why it’s here, and respect toward fans and artist, but if felt too Danny Elfman meets Screamin’ Jay Hawkins in a backwoods bayou Deliverance kind of way. Jesus Gonna Be Here and Who Are You were key tracks, and A Little Rain was pretty and soulful, but not enough to save the whole album for me. If I could give this album a 2.5 I would.

Random thoughts: * Tom Waits is definitely an acquired taste. * It took me months to go back and really listen to this one. I really struggled to get through this album the first go round. * I was able to listen to this through in one sitting and it made for a more pleasant listen as I read and played games on my phone. * I can see why Tom Waits is on this list. However, it really takes some getting used to listening to Tom. * I was catching some Modest Mouse vibes from this record. And seeing that Les Claypool was also on this list, you can hear Tom Waits influence on Primus too. * Some songs on here were too abrasive while others hit just right. I wasn't listening close enough to tell you which ones to stay away from. * I see there are 4 more Tom Waits albums awaiting us on the list. Yikes!

villain secret hideout ahh music

He uses the first track to trick you into thinking the album's just a continuation of Rain Dogs and then he spends the rest of the album upping the insanity level. Along with some ballads. He's pretty cool

wtf is this and why is it on this list?

good

It's OK to be a sook about Tom Waits, I really like the guy though.

so weird I like. definitely a unique sound, and it's not trying to be something else. It lives up to its own specialties. Vocals are really interesting, the most experimental bit is the pairing of the vocals with the soundscape it is in. Makes my brain itch for something a bit more upbeat. Ok such a scream is kind of scratching that itch but not in a way I expected. It's oddly jazzy. But I kind of like it. Weird, too weird maybe... It's like if TOOL made blues. But they were just high ALL THE TIME instead of at just the conception of the album.

Wow I did not expect that. As an avid fan of horror movies, I suppose this is pretty close to the music equivalent? The gravelly voice with eerie lyrics and uncomfortable sounds in the background. I found some enjoyment in this, with a few brilliant tracks in there but 53 minutes was a stretch too long for my liking. It's quite a demanding listen so I won't be revisiting this anytime soon, but I appreciate it's uniqueness and style nonetheless. Favourites: All Stripped Down Who Are You Whistle Down The Wind

What a chilling album - it's so apocalyptic, I love it! Obviously Tom Waits' voice is an acquired taste, but I'm a fan. I like the sparse instrumentation on this, especially the percusion that literally sounds like someone playing a skeleton like a xylophone. As bleak as it is, there's a shimmer of hope at the very end. Reminds me a lot of Welcome to Nightvale in places - I wonder if this album influenced that at all.

I appreciate it, but what a slog.

I liked it better then the other Waits that is on the list.

I can well imagine that Waits vocals would alienate many potential listeners but for me his vocals coupled with the musical arrangements make this album oddly compelling and very distinctive. The album doesn't strike me as 'essential' but it's hard to ignore. Four stars. 1 "Earth Died Screaming" (4/5) 2 "Dirt in the Ground" (4/5) 3 "Such a Scream" (4/5) 4 "All Stripped Down" (4/5) 5 "Who Are You" (4/5) 6 "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me" (4/5) 7 "Jesus Gonna Be Here" (4/5) 8 "A Little Rain" (5/5) 9 "In the Colosseum" (3/5) 10 "Goin' Out West" (5/5) 11 "Murder in the Red Barn" (3/5) 12 "Black Wings" (5/5) 13 "Whistle Down the Wind" (4/5) 14 "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" (4/5) 15 "Let Me Get Up on It" (2/5) 16 "That Feel" (4/5) Total - 63 Average - 3.94 319/1001 173/319 albums reviewed were new to me.

3/5 My first Tom Waits album. I found the music interesting, and some of the tracks actually pretty good when the elements of blues and soul clearly influence the singing.

Just not enjoyable at all !

Not even my favorite Tom Waits album, but an automatic 5 for me. Gritty and beautiful.

Meh.

My third Tom Waits album on this list, about 100 albums in. This one felt hit and miss and it seemed to lack a theme. Apart from the world being mostly shit and that we’ll all die, that is.

I like Tom's voice as long as he uses it "conventionally". His high pitched pressurized (I don't know how to put it) singing is not for me, neither is the experimental nature of this album. One or two Ok-ish songs.

Great Tom Waits album. Has a few of those vibes I really love in Rain Dogs. Not too much of the slower stuff. Will listen to again for sure. 4/5 on first listen, but could see argument for 5.

Tom just isn't doing it for me.

Not quite as good as Rain Dogs, but not far from it. Interesting album where the ballads really shine, but no tracks stand out as being bad. Best track: Dirt in the Ground

I enjoyed this album. I think I might be a Tom Waits fan. This is the second album of his that I really enjoyed.

Probably my fav Tom Waits!! This or Blue Valentine... That Feel is one of my fav songs ever!

learning to love this incredible weirdo. this album was super cool... what a guy!

I had a huge Tom Waits phase when I was 18 or so. This is a very nostalgic album for me. The songs range from Circus Screamers, to Funeral Dirges, to Americana-infused rock and roll. Goin Out West and I Don't Wanna Grow Up are my favorite songs.

Yeah it’s fine

I love me some Tom Waits, but I’ll admit some of this was hard to get through. I enjoyed the back half way more than the first half and I’m excited that Tom’s got so many albums on this list.

Some good songs but a bit too strange in places

Man this was rough 🧟‍♂️

I hope there are more Tom Waits albums on here. This isn't his best but its a really good one.

Bone Machine is pretty good! Not his best, but it was his best record in nearly a decade when it released.

Hard to listen to......terrible

Is okay

Crazy how divisive Tom Waits is on here. This is so good, at times dark and dreary, at times funny. "Goin Out West" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" are the standouts here for me, but I also enjoyed "The Earth Died Screaming" "Dirt In The Ground" and "Jesus Gonna Be Here"

Good for a weird album

meme

Go on gravel mouth

Så fandt vi boots on the ground samplet, men det vidste ANDERS sikkert allerede :D Er det cool? Helt klart. Er det lige meget min smag det hele? Nej. Jeg er vild med lydene på In the Colosseum, Jesus Gonna Be Here, Murder in the Red Barn og The Earth Died Screaming, men der er også tracks jeg ikke kan være med på. Kan bedre lide anden halvdel af pladen, jeg føler umiddelbart en 3.5-ish. Men det kan godt være vi sniger os op i en lille 4 faktisk, der er mange highlights, jeg lyttede igen

God smadder Det er råt, og det har den der momentale, fantastiske cirkus/Pennywise-vibe, som kun Tom Waits kan klare. Det er så tæt på en 4'er, men der er også et par misses, til tider lidt for ensformigt og for mig er det her "kontekst-musik" - det fungerer rigtig godt nogle gange, men ikke altid. Det er i sig selv lidt unfair at bedømme ud fra, for det er der masser af god musik, der er. Men der er Tom Waits nok også lidt anderledes. Slutter til gengæld rigtig stærkt af. Spørgsmålet er, om jeg kommer til at fortryde ikke at give den en lillebitte 4'er. Nå, nu bliver det: 3.7

Tom Waits is so fucking cool. Nobody can sound like this man and thankfully no one is trying to. This is album for along time was probably my favorite of his album. As I get older I’m starting to think swordfish trombone might actually be my favorite now, but that doesn’t take away how sick this album is. By far his heaviest album sonically, it feels like you are listening to the music stylings of a dirty grizzled coal shoveler. Side a of this album isn’t quite as strong as side b in my opinion, but te second best song on the album is the opening track “the earth died screaming” which continues to be a sadly relevant song to this day. My favorite song is DEFINITELY “goin out west” that song is just tom waits boiled down to the best parts. It’s even catchy! I’m also very very put off by religion in music, especially when it’s sincere, but the song “Jesus gonna be here” which almost feels sarcastic (for lack of a better term). The other tracks I loved were “in the colosseum” “all stripped down” “murder in the red barn” “black wings” and the cover “I don’t want to grow up”. That cover is also super clever and original cause it feels completely different than the original, but you can still kinda hear the original. Honestly his best three albums now I’m convinced are (in no order) Bone Machine, Swordfish trombone, and rain dogs (I still haven’t heard his debut yet though so that’s subject to possibly change).

Gear: Hifiman HE6se v2 SE Artwork: 😱🩻⬛ Production (2023 Remaster): 😐👍🆗 Music: 😌🎤🤦 Rating: 🦴🦴/5

Someone recommended Tom Waits me a long time ago and I really didn't enjoy what I heard. So my expecatations for this were prett low. And while there are definitely bits I didn't like, overall it's really good. I'm a bit torn on the rating since it feels like one that would grow on you

This album was rusted. I enjoyed the unique echo vibe my boy had going on, and how he kept that but had several vibes cooking at once throughout the album. However, it was just not the most enticing musically, so sorry buddy. Interested to explore more of Tom Waits' work, but this ain't quite my tempo. Favorite track was The Earth Died Screaming.

His voice is so rough, you wonder how he manages to sing at all. There were some pretty good songs on this album, but none that I recognized.

Uh-oh. I guess my newfound love for Tom Waits has a limit. I was prepared to appreciate if not enjoy this, and it just repelled me, including trying over consecutive days. I couldn’t get past the voice this time, and the tunes didn’t capture me. I see there is artistry and poetry, but I’m at a 1.5 over here…

I honest to god believe that when he finished recoding this album tom waits turned to the record producer and said " watch this i swear these idiots will listen to anything"

Tom Waits is kind of hit or miss to me. There was a few decent songs on this but also alot of ramblings of a crazy man.

Je n'aime pas les morceaux qui bougent mais les balades sont sympas 3.5

Geen mooie stem

Surely this cannot count for actual singing

Fuck knows what that was all about

Surprisingly full with many sounds and feelings, it's not for everyone but I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. It's a collaborative effort, but still a Tom Waits album, unmistakable voice, but all the works was his. Very good.

Please god let this be the last.

If ever there was a "not for everyone" warning needed, it would be for this. By this stage of Waits Career he was doing exactly whatever he wanted to do. Coming on like a Gospel preacher, sideshow Carney, shouting about Tony Franciosa dating his ma, singing something as delicate as "Who are you" or howling that the Earth died or whispering about a man who can kill with a guitar stringg The instrumentation is heavy on percussion- or at least, things being hit - and the instruments are banjos, Salvation Army brass and lap steel guitars. When someone does play a regular guitar it doesn't sound the way it should. "I don't want to be a little Boy Scout," he sings. There's no chance of that. Exactly what he is, other than just Tom Waits, is a bit hard to describe. But we're blessed to have him.

I'm not a big Tom Waits fan, but out of the 3 albums on this list, this is maybe my favorite or tied with "Rain Dogs." I still don't know how much I'd listen to Waits on my own time, but I do appreciate what he's doing. I do think he may be a bit overrated, but I think he's the type of artist where many people can hear his artistry and at least appreciate what he was going for.

Exceptional. Slow and powerful

I'm too old for this shit

This album scared me as a kid, and is one of the most textured albums of Waits’ catalogue

Don’t really get Tom Waits

I like Waltzing Matilda

It grew on me

(1/7) sounds like RFK did the vocals on every track

*A strange, but ok album

Whistle down the wind is a beautiful song

bleh

Too much for me

I like Waits early stuff but this one doesn't do much for me. It was the critics darling but to me it's not musical and just odd. 2.5 stars

Bro what's the point of this The only track I kinda liked was Black Wings because of the instrumental.

What did you expect from Tom Waits? He's definitely giving you what Tom Waits does best, he does Tom Waits. Even the Ramones knew that.

Not for me.

Man, why does this man have 5 albums on this list. This is my second one and it sounds like absolute garbage again. What even is the aim of this music? 1/5

poor Tom sounds like a drunk homeless person, I just can't get onboard w this.

This is like the first time you feel cool as a teenager. Maybe it is the leather jacket or combat boots, regardless, it’s infectious, showing up as pure swagger. It goes deep inside and radiates outward. Pure energy.