Tom Waits – Mule Variations (Remastered) (1999/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Tom Waits – Mule Variations (Remastered) (1999/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:10:40 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Pop Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Anti – Epitaph

Not much else can be said about this album other than this is Tom Waits at his best. Tom Waits is one of the most innovative artists in popular music. His singular vision embraces everything from blues to tin-pan-alley to jazz to just about anything else you can think of. Grammy winner, actor, poet, a master of the musical collage and lyrical surprise, Tom Waits is simply a giant. Mule Variations offers the most complete picture of Tom Waits of any of his albums. Edgy stomps, humor and experimentation are interspersed with some of the most beautiful and personal songs he’s ever written.

Tom Waits grew steadily less prolific after redefining himself as a junkyard noise poet with Swordfishtrombones, but the five-year wait between The Black Rider and 1999’s Mule Variations was the longest yet. Given the fact that Waits decided to abandon major labels for the California indie Epitaph, Mule Variations would seem like a golden opportunity to redefine himself and begin a new phase of his career. However, it plays like a revue of highlights from every album he’s made since Swordfishtrombones. Of course, that’s hardly a criticism; the album uses the ragged cacophony of Bone Machine as a starting point, and proceeds to bring in the songwriterly aspects of Rain Dogs, along with its affection for backstreet and backwoods blues, plus a hint of the beatnik qualities of Swordfish. So Mule Variations delivers what fans want, in terms of both songs and sonics. But that also explains why it sounds terrific on initial spins, only to reveal itself as slightly dissatisfying with subsequent plays. All of Waits’ Island records felt like fully conceived albums with genuine themes. Mule Variations, in contrast, is a collection of moments, and while each of those moments is very good (some even bordering on excellent), ultimately the whole doesn’t equal the sum of its parts. While that may seem like nitpicking, some may have wanted a masterpiece after five years, and Mule Variations falls short of that mark. Nevertheless, this is a hell of a record by any other standard. Waits is still writing terrific songs and matching them with wildly evocative productions; furthermore, it’s his lightest record in years – it’s actually fun to listen to, even with a murder ballad here and a psycho blues there. In that sense, it’s a unique item in his post-Swordfish catalog, and that may make up for it not being the masterpiece it seemed like it could have been.

Tracklist:
1-1. Tom Waits – Big In Japan (Remastered) (04:05)
1-2. Tom Waits – Lowside Of The Road (Remastered) (02:59)
1-3. Tom Waits – Hold On (Remastered) (05:33)
1-4. Tom Waits – Get Behind The Mule (Remastered) (06:52)
1-5. Tom Waits – House Where Nobody Lives (Remastered) (04:14)
1-6. Tom Waits – Cold Water (Remastered) (05:23)
1-7. Tom Waits – Pony (Remastered) (04:32)
1-8. Tom Waits – What’s He Building? (Remastered) (03:20)
1-9. Tom Waits – Black Market Baby (Remastered) (05:02)
1-10. Tom Waits – Eyeball Kid (Remastered) (04:25)
1-11. Tom Waits – Picture In A Frame (Remastered) (03:39)
1-12. Tom Waits – Chocolate Jesus (Remastered) (03:55)
1-13. Tom Waits – Georgia Lee (Remastered) (04:24)
1-14. Tom Waits – Filipino Box Spring Hog (Remastered) (03:09)
1-15. Tom Waits – Take It With Me (Remastered) (04:24)
1-16. Tom Waits – Come On Up To The House (Remastered) (04:36)

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