Reviews
Included in Wire Magazine's "50 Records of the Year '99", "...the album restores the wizened humanity--and a more traditional sense of songcraft--to his music....At a time when rhythmic soundscapes have become as important in pop as melody, MULE VARIATIONS presents Waits as the biggest freak of all: the last of the classic American tunesmiths." - Rating: B+, Ranked #1 in Mojo Magazine's "Best of 1999in, "...Waits has written and sung about the weird, sweet, tortured lives of real people. MULE VARIATIONS is more of the queer, wonderful same...", 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...True to form, MULE VARIATIONS clanks, rattles, hammers, squawks, crackles and frequently swoons throughits generous 70 minutes. Nobody else makes music quite like this...", Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1999.", Ranked #21 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "It's a veritable Jimmy Stewart of an album -- by turns irascible, sentimental and life-affirming.", 5 (out of 5) - "...His marvelously expressive voice sounds richer than ever....And as always, his instrumental foundation is impeccable - spare, understated and true. But Waits' greatest strength is in his interpretive skills. He simply writes great lyrics...", 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...the warmth and humor of MULE VARIATIONS' songs are allowed to shine through their lo-fi, bucolic blues skeletons. It's varied fare, the mood swinging beatifully between the charmingly cranky and clattering...and the lusciously sentimental...", "...MULE VARIATIONS is named for a hybrid animal--the offspring of a male ass and a female horse. It's a pretty good description of Waits's aesthetic: Always messing with at least two genres per song, he sticks things together and makes them breed...", 7 (out of 10) - "...quite batty, often fabulously so....mutating jazz, blues, parade music, show tunes, fairground banter, immigrant songs and beatnik spiel into a classy vernacular...", 3 Stars (out of 5) - "If you're a fan...you'll get your long-awaited fix....Continuing BONE MACHINE's experiments in artfully scuffed sound...with scratches, hisses and gabbling field recordings...", Ranked #1 in Cmj's "Top 30 Editorial Picks for 1999.", "...One of His Finest Efforts Yet....Tom Refuses to Soften with Age...", "...Each song simmers with in a carefully constructed atmosphere, like a dark goulash concocted with patience but no recipie book. The soundscapes are extraordinary, as is the tension between precisely judged production and passionately spontaneous performance..."
