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Blood Money

EMAILPRINTby Tom Waits

Tom Waits reviews
84
9.5 User Score:

Album Info

Label: Epitaph / Anti-

Release Date: 07 May 2002

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rock

Summary

Written for a Robert Wilson stage production of Georg Büchner's unfinished 1836 play 'Woyzeck,' 'Blood Money' is one of two Waits releases in May 2002 (the other being 'Alice,' which was similarly created for the stage).

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

Launch.com

The bleakness at the core of Blood Money won't make it a first choice for a late-night spin, but it's manna for the artist's fans.

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90

CultureDose.net

If the young, brooding Waits had done this score it would have been too much--too miserable--but our older, wiser Waits possesses the perfect combination of cynicism and idealism to pull it off.

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90

CDNow

The effect of the combination of all these elements is stunning and profound, and ranks among Waits' finest albums, albeit his most depressing by a long shot.

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90

PopMatters

The album is saved from cliché and pretension by its combination of a fascinating story with restrained and consistently inventive musical backing.

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90

Pitchfork

While the rest of pop culture infantilizes itself with cussing puppets and manufactured bands who willfully dangle like marionettes, Waits is serving up vintage brittle fusion and somehow breaking the law of diminishing returns. [Review of both Alice and Blood Money]

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83

Entertainment Weekly

You'd be hard-pressed to find sounds this spookily evocative anywhere outside the grooves of scratchy old 78s. [Applies to both 'Alice' and 'Blood Money,' 10 May 2002, p.80]

80

The Wire

Disturbing and delirious when it's not romantic and hilarious, the songs have a much more direct emotional appeal than the patently surrealistic Alice. [#219, p.72]

80

Mojo

Blood Money makes for an extravagant headphone experience if you're in the right frame of mind. If not, its clatter and blare and nihilism will genuinely jangle your nerves. [Co-Album Of The Month (with 'Alice'), May 2002, p.94]

80

Blender

After decades, Waits's theater of musical cruelty is familiar stuff. But the old dog's tricks still have bite. [Applies to both Alice and Blood Money, Jun/Jul 2002, p.111]

80

The Onion (A.V. Club)

At times it almost seems like a conscious attempt to strip away the romantic veneer with which Alice covered its "closed-down cabaret," finding only insanity and sadness amongst the dust and bones.

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80

Alternative Press

Blood Money's biggest strength is its lyrics, which are rich with symbolism, and which withstand and reward deep analysis even outside the context of the music. [Jul 2002, p.96]

80

Uncut

Waits -- now in complete mastery of his unique art -- knows what he's doing, and the stark, unforgiving brutality is leavened, or granted grace, by passages of purple pathos. [Co-Album Of The Month, June 2002, p.106]

80

Splendid

Like waking up one morning to discover you suddenly like coffee, this is one of those albums that feels natural; the discord and the overwrought weepiness, the experimentalism and the simplicity -- everything works. It fits.

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80

Q Magazine

A powerful and almost gleeful celebration of the horrors of the world. [May 2002, p.114]

80

All Music Guide

Thematically, this work -- with its references to German cabarets and nostalgia -- echoes Waits' other Wilson collaborative project, Black Rider. Musically, however, Blood Money is a far more elegant, stylish, and nuanced work than the earlier recording.

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80

Playlouder

Songs that shamble along in the gutter but can still bite your ankles if pushed.

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75

Nude As The News

Blood Money should be heard as a complete piece of music -- like watching a play -- and some tracks that might appear thin on their own will be revealed as far meatier in context.

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70

Rolling Stone

Blood Money is especially grim, a bitter suite about greed and moral bankruptcy.

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70

New Musical Express

A cacophonous, fearsome and shadowy delight.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Misery's the river of the world.

Hein gave it a10:
Outstanding!

Sendark K gave it a10:
Outstanding! This album is a brilliantly written, brilliantly performed masterpiece.

Matt B gave it a10:
Dark and beautiful, gruff yet smooth, something that can only be accomplished by the great one.

Jonathan H gave it a 10:
Another wonderful Waits album

Alayne P. gave it a 10:
"I'd sell your heart to the junk man baby, for a buck, for a buck..." It's a beautiful album, as beautiful and disturbing as Alice.

Dave H. gave it a 10:
A masterpiece.

Read more user comments >

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