Bone Machine

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Bone Machine
Studio album by
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

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

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

Entertainment Weekly gave the album its highest grade, writing: "Listening to this album is like going through an amusement-park fun house. You never know when you’re going to be shocked, thrilled, or just plain unnerved by some startling image or sound. Bone Machine finds Waits veering along the midway barking his favorite themes — decadence and death, purgatory and pain — but beneath his hellacious bellows (calling his voice raw is a compliment) and grotesque arrangements (often just samples of gnashing gears or clanging irons) lurks a caring, humanist heart. Only Waits could concoct a gospel song in which the narrator looks for salvation — and a brand-new Ford ('Jesus Gonna Be Here'). 'You must risk something that matters,' he notes on the poignant 'A Little Rain.' As modern songwriters go, this Elephant Man of pop is one of the few who does matter.[17]

Bone Machine was included on several "Best Albums of the 1990s" lists, being ranked at No. 49 by Pitchfork[18] and No. 53 by Rolling Stone.[19] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[20] Elvis Costello included it on his list of essential albums, highlighting "A Little Rain" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up".[21]

Track listing

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

Performance

  • 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

  • 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

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

References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ Huey, Steve. "Bone Machine – Tom Waits". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  9. ^ Kot, Greg (September 17, 1992). "Tom Waits: Bone Machine (Island)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  10. ^ Willman, Chris (September 20, 1992). "Tom Waits: 'Bone Machine' (Island)". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". Mojo (200): 77. July 2010.
  12. ^ "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". Q (73): 100. October 1992.
  13. ^ O'Connor, Rob (October 29, 1992). "Bone Machine". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  14. ^ Coleman, Mark; Scoppa, Bud; Weingarten, Christopher R. (April 11, 2010). "Tom Waits: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 17, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  15. ^ Collis, Andrew (October 1992). "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". Select (28): 84.
  16. ^ "What Is He Building In There..?". Uncut (175): 52–53. December 2011.
  17. ^ Altman, Billy (September 25, 1992). "Bone Machine". Entertainment Weekly.
  18. ^ "Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  19. ^ "100 Best Albums of the Nineties". Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  20. ^ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  21. ^ Costello, Elvis. "Elvis Costello's 500 Must-Have Albums, from Rap to Classical". Vanity Fair.
  22. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  23. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Tom Waits – Bone Machine" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  24. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Waits – Bone Machine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  25. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Waits – Bone Machine" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  26. ^ "Charts.nz – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  27. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  28. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  29. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Tom Waits – Bone Machine". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  30. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  31. ^ "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.