Bone Machine

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For the Pixies song, see Surfer Rosa.
Bone Machine
Studio album by
Tom Waits
ReleasedSeptember 8, 1992
RecordedPrairie Sun, Cotati
GenreExperimental rock[1]
Length53:30
LabelIsland
Producer
Tom Waits chronology
Night on Earth
(1992) 		Bone Machine
(1992) 		The Black Rider
(1993)

Bone Machine is the eleventh studio album by American singer and musician Tom Waits, released by Island Records on September 8, 1992. It won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and features guest appearances by David Hidalgo, Les Claypool, Brain, and Keith Richards. The album marked Waits' return to studio albums, coming five years after Franks Wild Years (1987).

Recorded in a room in the cellar area of Prairie Sun Recording studios, described by Waits as "just a cement floor and a hot water heater", the album is often noted for its rough, stripped-down, percussion-heavy style, as well as its dark lyrical themes revolving around death and decay. The album cover—a blurry, black-and-white, close-up image of Waits apparently screaming while wearing a horned skullcap and protective goggles—was taken by filmmaker Jesse Dylan, son of Bob Dylan.[2] Dylan and Jim Jarmusch directed videos for "Goin' Out West" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up", respectively. The latter song was covered by the Ramones on their last album, !Adios Amigos! (1995); the former featured in the movie Fight Club (1999).[3] Bone Machine won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.[4]

Recording and production[edit]

Bone Machine was recorded and produced entirely at the Prairie Sun Recording studios in Cotati, California, in a room of Studio C known as "the Waits Room", located in the old cement hatchery rooms of the cellar of the buildings. Prairie Sun's studio head Mark "Mooka" Rennick said, "[Waits] gravitated toward these 'echo' rooms and created the Bone Machine aural landscape. [...] What we like about Tom is that he is a musicologist. And he has a tremendous ear. His talent is a national treasure."[5]

Waits said of the bare-bones studio, "I found a great room to work in, it's just a cement floor and a hot water heater. Okay, we'll do it here. It's got some good echo."[6] References to the recording environment and process were made in the field-recorded interview segments made for the promotional CD release, Bone Machine: The Operator's Manual, which threaded together full studio tracks and conversation for a pre-recorded radio show format.

Bone Machine was the first Waits album on which he played drums and percussion extensively. In 1992, Waits stated: "I like to play drums when I'm angry. At home I have a metal instrument called a conundrum with a lot of things hanging off it that I've found - metal objects - and I like playing it with a hammer. I love it. Drumming is therapeutic. I wish I'd found it when I was younger."[7]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Chicago Tribune[9]
Entertainment WeeklyA+[1]
Los Angeles Times[10]
Mojo[11]
NME8/10[12]
Q[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Select5/5[15]
Uncut[16]

In a rave review for the Los Angeles Times, Chris Willman wrote that "Waits waxes equally fatalistic on morality and mortality" on Bone Machine, and that even "amid all this casual morbidity", the album's "low-fi, home-studio" sounds make the album "so much—in a manner of speaking—fun."[10] "Rhythmically," said Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, "it's the most varied and impressive group of songs Waits has written, and damaged voice and all, the tunes are unshakable."[9] Entertainment Weekly's Billy Altman noted that although listeners may find themselves "shocked, thrilled, or just plain unnerved by some startling image or sound" while listening to Bone Machine, "beneath his hellacious bellows ... and grotesque arrangements ... lurks a caring, humanist heart."[1] NME writer Terry Staunton summarized the album as "scary, mournful, morbid and easily one of Tom's best."[12]

Retrospectively, AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey deemed Bone Machine "Waits' most affecting and powerful recording, even if it isn't his most accessible", noting the album's "chilling, primal sound" and fixation with "decay and mortality, the ease with which earthly existence can be destroyed."[8]

Bone Machine was included on several "Best Albums of the 1990s" lists, being ranked at No. 49 by Pitchfork[17] and No. 53 by Rolling Stone.[18] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[19] Elvis Costello included it on his list of essential albums, highlighting "A Little Rain" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up".[20]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Earth Died Screaming"Tom Waits3:39
2."Dirt in the Ground"
4:08
3."Such a Scream"Waits2:07
4."All Stripped Down"Waits3:04
5."Who Are You"
  • Waits
  • Brennan
3:58
6."The Ocean Doesn't Want Me"Waits1:51
7."Jesus Gonna Be Here"Waits3:21
8."A Little Rain"
  • Waits
  • Brennan
2:58
9."In the Colosseum"
  • Waits
  • Brennan
4:50
10."Goin' Out West"
  • Waits
  • Brennan
3:19
11."Murder in the Red Barn"
  • Waits
  • Brennan
4:29
12."Black Wings"
  • Waits
  • Brennan
4:37
13."Whistle Down the Wind"Waits4:36
14."I Don't Wanna Grow Up"
  • Waits
  • Brennan
2:31
15."Let Me Get Up on It"Waits0:55
16."That Feel"
3:11

Personnel[edit]

Performance[edit]

  • Tom Waits – lead vocals (all tracks), Chamberlin (1, 6, 9), percussion (1, 3–6, 15), guitar (1, 3, 5, 12, 14, 16), sticks (1), piano (2, 13), upright bass (7), conundrum (9), drums (10–12, 16), acoustic guitar (14)
  • Brain – drums (3, 9)
  • Kathleen Brennan – sticks (1)
  • Ralph Carney – alto saxophone (2, 3), tenor saxophone (2, 3), bass clarinet (2)
  • Les Claypool – bass guitar (1)
  • Joe Gore – guitar (4, 10, 12)
  • David Hidalgo – violin (13), accordion (13)
  • Joe Marquez – sticks (1), banjo (11)
  • David Phillips – pedal steel guitar (8, 13), steel guitar (16)
  • Keith Richards – guitar (16), backing vocals (16)
  • Larry Taylor – upright bass (1, 2, 4, 5, 8–12, 14, 16), guitar (7)
  • Waddy Wachtel – guitar (16)

Production[edit]

  • Tom Waits – producer
  • Kathleen Brennan – associate producer
  • Biff Dawes – recording (1–7, 9–12, 14–16)
  • Joe Marquez– recording (8, 13)
  • Tchad Blake – mixing (1–15)
  • Biff Dawes – mixing (1–15)
  • Joe Marquez – mixing (1–15), second engineer
  • Joe Blaney – mixing (16)
  • Shawn Michael Morris – third engineer
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Frances Thumm – "musical security guard"

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Bone Machine
Chart (1992) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 41
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 22
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 31
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 42
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 36
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[26] 15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[27] 38
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 21
UK Albums (OCC)[29] 26
US Billboard 200[30] 176

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Altman, Billy (September 25, 1992). "Bone Machine". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  2. ^ "Bone Machine album credits". www.lib.ru. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  3. ^ "Fight Club Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play". Screen Rant. March 14, 2023.
  4. ^ "35th Annual GRAMMY Awards".
  5. ^ McDermid, Charles. "Dream Maker:Prairie Sun Recording Studio chief Mark "Mooka" Rennick is a musician's best friend". MetroActive Music. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  6. ^ Interview with Brian Bannon for Thrasher magazine, February 1993; collected in Innocent When You Dream p.146
  7. ^ Peter Orr. "Tom Waits at work in the fields of the song" Reflex, issue 28, October 6, 1992; as quoted on Percussion Instruments on TomWaitsFan.com, accessed 13 November 2020
  8. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Bone Machine – Tom Waits". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Kot, Greg (September 17, 1992). "Tom Waits: Bone Machine (Island)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Willman, Chris (September 20, 1992). "Tom Waits 'Bone Machine' Island". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  11. ^ Male, Andrew (July 2010). "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". Mojo. No. 200. p. 77.
  12. ^ a b Staunton, Terry (September 5, 1992). "Humerus Anecdotes". NME. p. 34.
  13. ^ Gill, Andy (October 1992). "Formidable". Q. No. 73. p. 100.
  14. ^ O'Connor, Rob (October 29, 1992). "Bone Machine". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  15. ^ Collis, Andrew (October 1992). "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". Select. No. 28. p. 84.
  16. ^ Gill, Andy (December 2011). "What Is He Building in There..?". Uncut. No. 175. pp. 52–53.
  17. ^ "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. November 16, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  18. ^ "100 Best Albums of the '90s". The '90s: The Inside Stories from the Decade That Rocked. Harper Design. 2010. pp. 282–297. ISBN 978-0-06-177920-6. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  19. ^ Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (2006). "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe Publishing. p. 694. ISBN 978-0-7893-1371-3.
  20. ^ Costello, Elvis (November 2000). "Costello's 500". Vanity Fair. No. 483. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  21. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  22. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Tom Waits – Bone Machine" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  23. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Waits – Bone Machine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  24. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Waits – Bone Machine" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  25. ^ "Charts.nz – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  26. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  27. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  28. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  29. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  30. ^ "Billboard 200: Week of September 26, 1992". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
Sources
  • Montandon, Mac (2005). Innocent When You Dream: Tom Waits the Collected Interviews. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 0-7528-7394-6.
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