NME Reviews

Waits, Tom : Blood Money

...a cacophonous, fearsome and shadowy delight...

'Blood Money', the second of Tom Waits’ new-born pair, is the darker twin.
Written for and inspired by 'Woyzeck' – the play he wrote two years ago for a Copenhagen theatre – it is mean.

Starting with 'Misery Is The River Of The World', ‘Blood Money’ carries the hard-wheezing, malevolent echoes of 'Bone Machine' – his grinding, frightening 1992 epic – through to its close. These songs, Tom Waits
says, are his musical dispatches from the dark, human carnival of life. He is not a man easily scared of the dark.

Despite few moments of respite (‘Coney Island Baby’), ‘Blood Money’ is still a cacophonous, fearsome and shadowy delight.

Paul McNamee

7 out of 10

Add your comment

NME Alerts

Get NME news delivered direct to your desktop. Find out more

Please sign in

Forgot your password?

Register with MyNME

Every Tuesday

  • Breaking News stories
  • All you need to know about the week's NME magazine
  • Live, Album and Track reviews
  • Tip offs about the most important Gigs
  • All the latest NME.COM video exclusives

Every Friday

  • NME.COM's free mini-magazine
  • Gig listings for the weekend
  • All the most important Album and Track reviews
  • The week's biggest News stories
  • Competitions - with exclusive music prizes
  • plus loads more!

In The Magazine

This Week's Issue
  • The ultimate guide to the week in music
  • Agenda-setting news and fiery comment
  • Must-read interviews with the planet's hottest bands
  • Hundreds of UK gigs listed every week
  • Unrivalled access to the artists that matter
  • Subscribe today and get 1/3rd off NME