Bone Machine

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."{{cite web|url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/02.18.99/prairiesun1-9907.html|title=Dream Maker:Prairie Sun Recording Studio chief Mark "Mooka" Rennick is a musician's best friend|access-date=2007-11-23|last= McDermid | first= Charles | publisher=MetroActive Music}}

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."Interview with Brian Bannon for Thrasher magazine, February 1993; collected in Innocent When You Dream p.146 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."Peter Orr. "Tom Waits at work in the fields of the song" Reflex, issue 28, October 6, 1992; as quoted on [https://www.tomwaitsfan.com/tom%20waits%20library/www.tomwaitslibrary.com/instruments/percussioninstruments.html Percussion Instruments] on TomWaitsFan.com, accessed 13 November 2020

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bone-machine-mw0000614904 |title=Bone Machine – Tom Waits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=November 17, 2015 |last=Huey |first=Steve}}

| rev2 = Chicago Tribune

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/09/17/tom-waitsbone-machine-island-starstarstarstareven-waits-admirers/ |title=Tom Waits: Bone Machine (Island) |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=September 17, 1992 |access-date=November 17, 2015 |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = A+{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1992/09/25/bone-machine/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117045417/https://ew.com/article/1992/09/25/bone-machine|archive-date=November 17, 2015|title=Bone Machine |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=December 9, 2024|date=September 25, 1992|last=Altman |first=Billy}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-20-ca-1719-story.html |title=Tom Waits 'Bone Machine' Island |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 20, 1992 |access-date=May 28, 2024 |last=Willman |first=Chris}}

| rev5 = Mojo

| rev5score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Tom Waits: Bone Machine |magazine=Mojo |issue=200 |date=July 2010 |last=Male |first=Andrew |page=77}}

| rev6 = NME

| rev6score = 8/10{{cite magazine |title=Humerus Anecdotes |magazine=NME |date=September 5, 1992 |last=Staunton |first=Terry |page=34}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Formidable |magazine=Q |issue=73 |date=October 1992 |last=Gill |first=Andy |page=100}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/bone-machine-197035/ |title=Bone Machine |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=October 29, 1992 |access-date=November 17, 2015 |last=O'Connor |first=Rob}}

| rev9 = Select

| rev9score = 5/5{{cite magazine |title=Tom Waits: Bone Machine |magazine=Select |issue=28 |date=October 1992 |last=Collis |first=Andrew |page=84}}

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=What Is He Building in There..? |magazine=Uncut |issue=175 |date=December 2011 |last=Gill |first=Andy |pages=52–53}}

}}

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." "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." 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{{nbsp}}... and grotesque arrangements{{nbsp}}... lurks a caring, humanist heart." NME writer Terry Staunton summarized the album as "scary, mournful, morbid and easily one of Tom's best."

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."

Bone Machine was included on several "Best Albums of the 1990s" lists, being ranked at No. 49 by Pitchfork{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5923-top-100-albums-of-the-1990s/ |title=Top 100 Albums of the 1990s |website=Pitchfork |date=November 16, 2003 |access-date=March 25, 2012}} and No. 53 by Rolling Stone.{{cite book |chapter=100 Best Albums of the '90s |chapter-url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-90s-152425/tom-waits-bone-machine-157014/ |access-date=March 25, 2012 |title=The '90s: The Inside Stories from the Decade That Rocked |publisher=Harper Design |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-06-177920-6 |pages=282–297}} The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.{{cite book |chapter=Tom Waits: Bone Machine |last=Heller-Nicholas |first=Alexandra |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |title-link=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |editor-last=Dimery |editor-first=Robert |publisher=Universe Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7893-1371-3 |page=694}} Elvis Costello included it on his list of essential albums, highlighting "A Little Rain" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up".{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2000/11/elvis-costello-500-favorite-albums |title=Costello's 500 |magazine=Vanity Fair |issue=483 |date=November 2000 |access-date=May 28, 2024 |last=Costello |first=Elvis |author-link=Elvis Costello}}

{{track listing

| title1 = Earth Died Screaming

| length1 = 3:39

| writer1 = Tom Waits

| title2 = Dirt in the Ground

| length2 = 4:08

| writer2 = {{hlist|Waits|Kathleen Brennan}}

| title3 = Such a Scream

| length3 = 2:07

| writer3 = Waits

| title4 = All Stripped Down

| length4 = 3:04

| writer4 = Waits

| title5 = Who Are You

| length5 = 3:58

| writer5 = {{hlist|Waits|Brennan}}

| title6 = The Ocean Doesn't Want Me

| length6 = 1:51

| writer6 = Waits

| title7 = Jesus Gonna Be Here

| length7 = 3:21

| writer7 = Waits

| title8 = A Little Rain

| length8 = 2:58

| writer8 = {{hlist|Waits|Brennan}}

| title9 = In the Colosseum

| length9 = 4:50

| writer9 = {{hlist|Waits|Brennan}}

| title10 = Goin' Out West

| length10 = 3:19

| writer10 = {{hlist|Waits|Brennan}}

| title11 = Murder in the Red Barn

| length11 = 4:29

| writer11 = {{hlist|Waits|Brennan}}

| title12 = Black Wings

| length12 = 4:37

| writer12 = {{hlist|Waits|Brennan}}

| title13 = Whistle Down the Wind

| length13 = 4:36

| writer13 = Waits

| title14 = I Don't Wanna Grow Up

| length14 = 2:31

| writer14 = {{hlist|Waits|Brennan}}

| title15 = Let Me Get Up on It

| length15 = 0:55

| writer15 = Waits

| title16 = That Feel

| writer16 = {{hlist|Waits|Keith Richards}}

| length16 = 3:11

}}

• Tom Waits {{ndash}} 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 {{ndash}} drums (3, 9)
• Kathleen Brennan {{ndash}} sticks (1)
• Ralph Carney {{ndash}} alto saxophone (2, 3), tenor saxophone (2, 3), bass clarinet (2)
• Les Claypool {{ndash}} bass guitar (1)
• Joe Gore {{ndash}} guitar (4, 10, 12)
• David Hidalgo {{ndash}} violin (13), accordion (13)
• Joe Marquez {{ndash}} sticks (1), banjo (11)
• David Phillips {{ndash}} pedal steel guitar (8, 13), steel guitar (16)
• Keith Richards {{ndash}} guitar (16), backing vocals (16)
• Larry Taylor {{ndash}} upright bass (1, 2, 4, 5, 8–12, 14, 16), guitar (7)
• Waddy Wachtel {{ndash}} guitar (16)

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

{{reflist|2}}

;Sources

• {{cite book|first=Mac|last=Montandon|title=Innocent When You Dream: Tom Waits the Collected Interviews|publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press|year=2005|isbn=0-7528-7394-6}}

{{Tom Waits}}

{{Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album}}

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Category:Tom Waits albums

Category:1992 albums

Category:Island Records albums

Category:Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album