Release #2 for 2002 from the one of the most eclectic, innovative, uncompromising and enigmatic figures in popular music, TOM WAITS, comes in the shape of BLOOD MONEY. Fans have grown accustomed to expecting only the unexpected from the the great Mr. Waits, so the appearance of this release- the follow up his 1999 million-selling and Grammy-winning Mule Variations- at the very same time as a second new album, Alice, as proved only to be an even bigger thrill for his throng of diehard devotees!
Blood Money once again sees the legendary troubadour flexing his dramatic scoring muscle. A new collection of thirteen songs originally written and produced by Waits and longtime collaborator/ wife Kathleen Brennan, the tracks here were based on and written for the modern production of the play Woyzeck.
Woyzeck was written by a young German poet in 1837 and inspired by the true story of a German soldier who was driven mad by bizarre army medical experiments and infidelity, which led him to murder his lover. The stage version premiered in November 2000 in Copenhagen and went on to win Denmark's version of the Tony for Best Musical in 2001.
The sound of the album represents the desperate and blinding, out of control themes of the play; scratched out in bold, dark lines with marimba, trumpet and bass clarinet, the songs are declarative, sardonic, unforgiving, musical dispatches from the bottom of the heap.and Waits at his classic, premium peak. As is the norm for all of his later albums, Blood Money careens from the brutal to the tender with assaulting rhythms and memorable, heart wrenching melodies.
The over feel here is that the songs are trying to reach you from another time or dimension, where there is an eerie vaudeville cabaret playing fado, parlour songs and cambias. "Blood Money is flesh and bone, earthbound," said Waits. "The songs are rooted in reality: jealousy, rage, the human meat wheel.They are more carnal. I like a beautiful song that tells you terrible things. We all like bad news out of a pretty mouth."
If you've been searching for a piece of prime Waits at his brooding, powerful, soul searching finest, then look no further- Blood Money is definitely the album you've been waiting for.
- Misery Is The River Of The World
- Everything Goes To Hell
- Coney Island Baby
- All The World Is Green
- God's Away On Business
- Another Man's Vine
- Knife Chase
- Lullaby
- Starving In The Belly Of A Whale
- The Part You Throw Away
- Woe
- Calliope
- A Good Man Is Hard To Find
