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 his previous effort 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 chaos. 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]

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."[3]

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."[4] 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."[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Chicago Tribune[7]
Entertainment WeeklyA+[1]
Los Angeles Times[8]
Mojo[9]
Q[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
Select5/5[13]
Uncut[14]

Bone Machine was included on several "Best Albums of the 1990s" lists, being ranked at No. 49 by Pitchfork[15] and No. 53 by Rolling Stone.[16] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[17]

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

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

"I Don't Wanna Grow Up" is an experimental rock song performed by musician Tom Waits, co-written by his wife Kathleen Brennan, from the 1992 album Bone Machine. The song is from the point of a view of a child observing that growing older leads to a sense of hopelessness.[18] A music video for this song was directed by Jim Jarmusch[19] In 1995, the punk band Ramones covered the song for their farewell album ¡Adios Amigos!.[20] Indie rock band Broken Social Scene also recorded a cover of this song alongside a cover of their own song "Skyline".[21]

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. 1 2 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. ↑ McDermid, Charles. "Dream Maker:Prairie Sun Recording Studio chief Mark "Mooka" Rennick is a musician's best friend". MetroActive Music. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  4. ↑ Interview with Brian Bannon for Thrasher magazine, February 1993; collected in Innocent When You Dream p.146
  5. ↑ 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
  6. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Bone Machine – Tom Waits". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  7. ↑ Kot, Greg (September 17, 1992). "Tom Waits: Bone Machine (Island)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  8. ↑ Willman, Chris (September 20, 1992). "Tom Waits: 'Bone Machine' (Island)". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ↑ "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". Mojo (200): 77. July 2010.
  10. ↑ "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". Q (73): 100. October 1992.
  11. ↑ O'Connor, Rob (October 29, 1992). "Bone Machine". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Collis, Andrew (October 1992). "Tom Waits: Bone Machine". Select (28): 84.
  14. ↑ "What Is He Building In There..?". Uncut (175): 52–53. December 2011.
  15. ↑ "Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  16. ↑ "100 Best Albums of the Nineties". Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Tom Waits - Bone Machine". AllMusic. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  19. ↑ "I Don't Wanna Grow Up". IMDB. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  20. ↑ Whatley, Jack. "Listen to Ramones turn Tom Waits song 'I Don't Want To Grow Up' into a punk anthem". Far Out. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  21. ↑ Legaspi, Althea. "Hear Broken Social Scene's Cover of Tom Waits' 'I Don't Wanna Grow Up'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  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.
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