Name: God
Subject: Eyeball Kid
-- Jan 30, 2008 at 12:19AM
Fantastic album. Critics would find a reason to attack it one way or another. Oh, and to Jon below : He made a typo, get over it, you pretentious cunt.
Name: UNCLE SWEATTY
Subject: TOM TRUE
-- Feb 6, 2005 at 3:48AM
I can't say the man has moved me to great endeavors, extrasensory abilities, or life altering epiphones, but as I drink my wine, he is even more amazing than yesterday.
Name: Jon
Subject: Waits
-- Jan 25, 2005 at 11:55AM
Best album since Rain Dogs. Anyone who liked Bone Machine will just find more to love here.
Also, Joe, that would be "that you're for sure" not "your". It's obvious you're not a genius either. Idiot.
Name: An LS.n Reader
Subject: beefheart
-- Mar 9, 2004 at 5:06PM
Tom Waits and Don Van Vliet strike vocal cords without comparison.Mule variations is on a par with clear spot/spotlight kid by the amazing captain.
Spine chilling emotion stirring magnificence.(is that even a word ?)
Name: BluesyYouth
Subject: Big in Japan
-- Feb 5, 2004 at 11:58AM
I dont know what is wrong with you guys but Big in Japan is the best track on Mule Variations. Period. Pony is good too.
Name: Joe
Subject: Tom Waits
-- Nov 5, 2003 at 7:32PM
All of you need to learn how to spell.
"Tom Waits is a true genious, there's no
doubt about that."
There is also no doubt that your for sure not a Genius... idiot.
Name: Dave
Subject: Tom Waits
-- Nov 24, 2002 at 3:30PM
Pony, from Mule Variations has become my favourite song of all time. Although the recording may be slightly muddier then on his other albums, it is so amazing emotional it just is...stunning, basicly. Anyone else agree? Email me if you do.
Name: Lovelocus
Subject: Tom Waits
-- Oct 19, 2002 at 5:58PM
The man is a genious!! This maestro of chaos not only has the ability to bring us a musical inferno but somehow still manages to blend in to it the most delicate edgecutting razorblade sensbility with a bittersweet sense of macabre, where the most profound emotional love holds hands with the obssecional madness of the human mind that may very well deliver us from our humanity, the folksy and not so folsksy ghosts and ghouls and bizarre creatures are set for show in the huge carnival of live.
Or he may just very well take you for a ride across town where the breathing flesh can even be more bizarre than the premencioned above.
But not all are tears in this croocked ol'world of his, for he may very well inject you with a large dose of the most surrealistic and inprobable ironic humour (and very often).
I choose not to "review" Mule Variations because i think the album speaks for himself.
Please be indulgent towards my gramatical errors, because here in Azores (Portugal) the use of the english language is as rare as finding a Tom Waits album for sale in your local store (i had to order them from the internet).
Name: John Bray
Subject: Genius
-- Sep 17, 2002 at 10:26AM
I agree with Hempman about 'Alice' being Waits' best album, but I wouldn't say since Swordfish, I'd say since Small Change. I love every phase of Waits, but with this soundtrack album, Waits truly explores a Kurt Weill world with a Beefheart twist. And his soul is here. They're love songs about bugs in jars, and the oceans of dead dreams between the love we desire and the unattainable reality. Wow.
Name: Hempman
Subject: Tom Waits - The Genious
-- Aug 18, 2002 at 6:02AM
Tom Waits is a true genious, there's no
doubt about that.. And that he will be 'till the day he dies...
"Blood Money" and "Alice" is his two
best albums since swordfishtrombones (Not that his other albums sucks, cuz they do not.. all his albums are great in their ways, and that's some of the miracle of Tom Waits.. You cannot put him in one booth, he occupies many booths)
Name: John
Subject: I see where Lauren is coming from
-- Aug 12, 2002 at 5:45PM
Prodigies are not always considered to be highly intelligent children but a person,thing or act so extraordinary as to inspire wonder. And when she said that Tom was comparable to picasso I believe she meant it by his non-conformist ways, like Picasso.
Name: Jordan Hoffman Responds
Subject: Re: The Guru of Self Expression
-- Jun 18, 2002 at 10:23PM
Lauren --
What are you talking about? Miles is dead, Dylan is pushing 60 & Waits is surely over 50. They're hardly what I'd call prodigies.
I love Waits plenty -- and I'm fond of Picasso. But I'm afraid I don't see a connection.
Name: Lauren
Subject: The Guru of Self Expression
-- Jun 18, 2002 at 6:00PM
As a 17 year old individual, I believe that Waits completely defines the term genius, his unusual yet brilliant music has reshaped modern day music as we know it, Waits is continually in my cd player along with Miles Davis, Dylan, and with many other prodigies. He is the Picasso of music.
Name: Justin Sane
Subject: yeah,...
-- Jun 11, 2002 at 5:32AM
Tom Waits is an incredible song-writer, accoarding to me he's the most fascinating one since J.Lennon or Dylan.
He's got that weird, but still wild way, to paint up something that you can relate to.
It's almost as if you regcognize the pattern from some old chost-story or a horror movie.
And at the same time he's got that passionate and creepy music with fat-stringed guitars and a howling harp.
Don't stop now, man.
Name: Dances with hedgehogs
Subject: Respect
-- Apr 6, 2002 at 6:23PM
Any truth to the rumour that Tom Waits got barred from every pub in Tralee, Ireland?
Name: Matt
Subject: Frustration!
-- Nov 16, 2001 at 3:46PM
I have nearly 900 albums, which tend to get lost unless they're kept organized. I'm almost frustrated that Mule Variations never seems to make it back to the shelf...almost. Here's to the man who stuck a fish in his pants!
Name: Martin
Subject: The Birth of Cool
-- Oct 31, 2001 at 2:22PM
The return of Captain Beefheart, and even a few ballads like 'Shiver Me Timbers.' Eclectic! Eclectic!! Eclectic!!! Truly glorious Tom Waits.
Name: Orian
Subject: Thank god for such people
-- Oct 27, 2001 at 5:31PM
Everything Tom Waits does is plain MAGIC.
I'm glad he's one of a kind. Israeli fans - reply to this message, and we could build a fine hebrew site for our dear Tom.
Name: owen
Subject: U.K
-- Sep 14, 2001 at 9:45AM
any uncle tom 'fans' out there in U.K???
if so, maybe we should have an annual knees-up.
Swaggerooni@yaho o.com
Name: dave
Subject: just a thought
-- Jul 30, 2001 at 6:43PM
tom definitely plays from where it counts- the soul-and to here him play with other true musitions like les claypool,...im floored.
keep it true tom, your an inspiration.
peace
Name: Lady
Subject: Mule
-- Jan 30, 2001 at 9:55PM
Do you know the orginial breeder of the mule in the US? We believe that George Washington had something to do with it. Can you inlighten us?
Name: tess
Subject: les claypool
-- Oct 18, 2000 at 10:19AM
hey-are you buckethead that plays with les claypool?
Name: cormac
Subject: CHECK OUT ANOTHER REVIEW
-- Jul 26, 2000 at 7:50AM
EXCELLENT REVIEW ALSO AVAILABLE AT:-
motion.state51.co.uk
Name: kausmic
Subject: Yes!
-- Jun 30, 2000 at 1:03AM
Tom Waits, master storyteller and surrealist Beat gutter poet, gruff growling Beefheartian crooning voice, sonic painter of those places in between. Mule Variations: primitive tribal stamping feet rhythms, scratchy guitars, country twangs, tender piano melodies, clanking bones, musical engine revving, gospel soul, 1920's dixie, wanderlust, cold water, box spring hogs, watch and chains, and of course-- mules.
Name: Kristyn
Subject: Tom Waits: God of everything
-- May 24, 2000 at 5:06PM
I am only 17 and Tom Waits has been able to express my weird personality. He's someone to relate to. I met him in Toronto and I almost started to cry. He was shy, but so intelligent. He puts on a great show, possibly because he is a genius. Thank you Tom!!!!
Name: Geneva
Subject: Mule Variations
-- May 12, 2000 at 6:01PM
Just think he's a brilliant artist yet somewhat superiorily and classicly "psyco", I love this man and his music. I relate to the feelings of it all. They'll be playing his music in Neo-Beatnik coffee houses in 2050.
Name: The Editors Respond
Subject: Re: mule variations
-- May 6, 2000 at 2:16PM
Fuck you, you anal shit-wit.
Name: djangoraindog
Subject: mule variations
-- May 2, 2000 at 10:24PM
the headline should be
"tom waits' Mule Variations"
that means that "s The" needs to be deleted.
thanks you
Name: Jordan Hoffman Responds
Subject: Re: Comment and Question
-- Mar 31, 2000 at 1:13PM
Ian--
Frank's Wild Years played in Chicago for a while, and then in New York for a week, back in 1988 (or thereabouts.)
The film "Big Time" includes footage of his stage show from this time, but it is not a beginning-to-end staging of "Frank's Wild Years" (though the best estimation that's available for wide consumption.)
"Big Time" is available at most of your finer video shops, certainly you should have no trouble locating it online. It also plays on the IFC channel with some regularity. It's loads of fun.
Name: Ian Weber
Subject: Comment and Question
-- Mar 31, 2000 at 12:57PM
"Mule" is a piece of work. He's led a good career and his music always seems to suprise me. When people ask me what I'm listening to I get weird looks of "Who the hell is that?" when I tell them. Waits's music is just nonconformist and I like that. Now for the question. "Frank's Wild Years," the teatre production, anyone kno where I might be able to find something on it?
Name: Nate
Subject: Review: Tom Waits's The Mule Variations
-- Mar 29, 2000 at 12:57PM
The 7-year wait was tough
but he made it worth
while. I think "Mule.."
is amazing.
Name: Darby Crash
Subject: Whatever
-- Mar 28, 2000 at 3:28PM
Tom Waits is crazy and Tom Waits is god. That's all you need to know in life. It's the key to happiness.
Name: Carl Olson
Subject: Mule
-- Mar 26, 2000 at 5:03AM
Yep, gotta dig the old boy. This AND Bone Machine are two of the wildest albums I own. Nice stuff...
Name: Gray White
Subject: Re: Tom
-- Mar 7, 2000 at 10:39PM
I Agree!
Name: Jim
Subject: Tom
-- Feb 23, 2000 at 10:56PM
About time . . .
Name: tara
Subject: Tom Waits
-- Feb 20, 2000 at 12:56PM
I too enjoy Wait's didtinctive style. I Listen to Mule Variations regulary, I feel that it surpasses Bone Machine in it's innovation and vision. I feel that Tom Waits paints a more accurate picture of modern life them moat artists today. His lyric style of singing himself so sleep on the slow tunes and howling like a beast on the rockin' ones gaurntees a smile on my face. So many critics miss the boat when it comes to his music. Maybe it is not so readily digested as much of todays fluff but , as a listener, I don't want to be spoon-feed or coddled. It seems to me that Wait's music respects his listeners' intelegence and can take you on one hell of a ride .
Name: tara
Subject: Tom Waits
-- Feb 20, 2000 at 12:52PM
I too enjoy Wait's didtinctive style. I Listen to Mule Variations regulary, I feel that it surpasses Bone Machine in it's innovation and vision. I feel that Tom Waits paints a more accurate picture of modern life them moat artists today. His lyric style of singing himself so sleep on the slow tunes and howling like a beast on the rockin' ones gaurntees a smile on my face. So many critics miss the boat when it comes to his music. Maybe it is not so readily digested as much of todays fluff but , as a listener, I don't want to be spoon-feed or coddled. It seems to me that Wait's music respects his listeners' intelegence and can take you on one hell of a ride .
Name: Nnamah Nnamrreh
Subject: fuck you critics
-- Feb 7, 2000 at 12:19AM
fuck you fuck you, tom waits is too alcoholic to do bad music, he´s a genie.
Name: Tobes
Subject: Tom Waits
-- Jan 25, 2000 at 7:36PM
Tom rocks the music, film, and theatre industry like no other. Each album is a seperate masterpiece, meant to be enjoyed on completely different levels than the previous. I just don't understand some of the bad criticism he gets for Bone Machine. It's one of his best. Anyways, just wanted to give my say on an artist with unparalleled creativity.
Name: Johnnie
Subject: Mule Variations
-- Dec 24, 1999 at 8:36AM
Relax with the criticism. Sit back and enjoy the brilliance of Tom Waits. If you're complaining, you don't get it. Mule is wonderful....however, even if it weren't, a bad Tom is still better than anything else out there.
Name: tim bullard
Subject: mules
-- Dec 23, 1999 at 5:06PM
i like
www.deadmule.com
great album, superb artist
Name: mike lindsey
Subject: closing time
-- Dec 13, 1999 at 11:49AM
This is a damn good c.d. in fact probabally my favorite. My stupid fart of a little brother won't give it back to me, but that's okay because I memorized every song on the thing and i just sing 'em all. (except for 'ol 55, which was bastardized by the eagles.
Name: M. Foynes
Subject: Mule
-- Nov 29, 1999 at 7:39PM
This record is a lot like farming; it leaves me with dirt under my fingernails after each listen. Invariably the first dozen or so measures of "Hold On" put the hurt on my stooped back and an honest sweat upon my brow. What strange and beautiful seeds he has sown here. God bless you, Mr. Waits!
Name: David Casso
Subject: Appreciate. Don't demand.
-- Nov 8, 1999 at 9:05PM
A man shouldn't be judged by what people expect of him. A man should be judged by who he is. Tom is a storyteller. A damned good one.
Name: TOM WAITS
Subject: ME
-- Oct 31, 1999 at 4:34AM
I AM SUCH A FUCKING WEIRDO I ALWAYS SING STUPID SHIT I JUST WROTE A NEW SONG "YOU GOTTA GET IN FRONT THE MULE, BEND OVER, TAKE IT UP THE ASS"
Name: patches
Subject: tom's mule
-- Oct 25, 1999 at 12:58AM
I got this cd as a birthday present from my son. I love Tom's music, but the only reason my son got it for me is because Les Claypool from Primus backs Tom in "big in japan." Tom Waits was the voice of Tommy the cat on one of Primus's albums and I guess this is payback. What a voice, and oh... the lyrics!! Actually I will be playing one of Toms songs for the first dance at my wedding in November. What a tribute, huh???
Name: bonedaddy
Subject: Wait's Mules
-- Oct 23, 1999 at 2:03AM
I dunno 'bout you, but it's godda be a "Chocolate Jesus" to keep me satisfied! and "What's he building in there" is John Wayne Gacy on CD!! scary,creepy,and far too often true.Tom continues to grow (weirder) into that 60ish black Blues shouter voice he has always displayed (one step towards Miles Davis and away from Cap'n Beefheart!)but he also includes the almost C&W "House where nobody Lives".Long live Tom Waits!!!
Name: P'burgh Arky
Subject: Waits' Mules
-- Oct 21, 1999 at 1:50AM
According to Spikke, I'm truly mad. I think I know most of Tom's work, and Mule stands alone as his best, in my estimation. It was worth the Wait.
Name: P'burgh Arky
Subject: Waits' Mules
-- Oct 21, 1999 at 1:44AM
According to Spikke, I'm truly mad. I think I know most of Tom's work, and Mule stands alone as his best, in my estimation. It was worth the Wait.
Name: tommie
Subject: mule variations
-- Oct 17, 1999 at 11:17PM
I think this is truly one of the best albums I have ever heard.I have never heard Bone Machine,or Frankie's WildYEars, but i have three other albums of his and this is by far the best.My only regret is that he doesn't tour very often so I probably won't get a chance to see him live.
Name: Spikke
Subject: Mule Variations
-- Oct 9, 1999 at 4:55PM
Insanity is the core of all true talent...only the truly mad can see the genus in these works
Name: Dirk
Subject: Mule variations review
-- Oct 4, 1999 at 9:56PM
"Bone Machine Part II"? I like to think of it more as the perfect blend of the
more frightening and experimental aspects of that album married with the bittersweetness of "Closing Time". "C.T." will probably always be my favorite TW album (and maybe favorite album, period), but "M.V" is clearly my second favorite. While I enjoy "B.M." (can you really "enjoy" an album that bloody?), I think "M.V." is an improvement on "B.M.", not a retread. How many artists have produced as consistently as Waits for so long and still bother to dig deep for the next one. As an amateur singer/songwriter, Waits keeps me inspired, but ultimately humbled. Why bother when you know you can never write anything so brilliant. "Hail, hail, the eyeball kid" for he surely was sent here to teach us how to really see.
Name: Keith
Subject: Mule Variations Review
-- Aug 20, 1999 at 4:37PM
I didn't have the cash on hand to get this album when it first came out. To compensate, I skipped all the various music reviews until now. I'm just glad I came across a writer who isn't complaining about past glories or overtly using the word "genius" every paragraph. Pound for pound, I think your review hit the nail right on the head (and this is coming from a die-hard Waits fan). Well done, Hoffman.
As for the college roommate you scared, I had to smile reading the story. As a fanboy freshman, I remember the joy and excitement of borrowing my roomate's stereo to play my first-ever CD purchase: Waits' "Big Time". He walked in just in time to catch the tail-end of the amazing ballad "Falling Down", only to comment: "What the hell do you call that?!" At the time, all I could do was smile and whisper, "Ragged glory, man...ragged glory."
It's been about 10 years since I said those words about Waits -- but I still can't think of a better description for the guy.
But who knows? Maybe a couple more Bushmills and some more rotations of this new CD will inspire something more accurate. Regardless, the next round's on me.
Name: Jordan Hoffman Responds
Subject: Re: Mule Variations Review
-- Jul 27, 1999 at 2:45AM
I don't know what any of that means, Jacob, but I know that The Mule Variations has been out now for 2 and a half months, and it is still the source of much delight. I heard "Get Behind The Mule" on the radio late last night as I was driving back from a wild Shore weekend, and was glad the material held up after the immidiate glory of OMIGOD A NEW WAITS ALBUM had faded.
The guitar work and depth of production (and a standup bass beneath all that craziness) leaves you still discovering sounds uwith new listens.
Mr. Waits still has it, and I stand by this review.
Name: Jacob Pollock
Subject: Mule Variations Review
-- Jul 27, 1999 at 2:13AM
I'd be reluctant to agree that Mule Variations is Bone Machine all over again, but if it is, then its definitely a progression. Bone Machine (for the most part) feels like staying out all night. Mule Variations feels like coming home.
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![[Cover Art]](../cont_grf/cd_tom_waits.jpg)