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Blood Money
by Tom Waits
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).
| LABEL: |
Epitaph / Anti- |
| RELEASE DATE: |
07 May 2002 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock |
NOTES: Also available on vinyl.
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.
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.
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.
90
PopMatters
The album is saved from cliché and pretension by its combination of a fascinating story with restrained and consistently inventive musical backing.
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]
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.
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.
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.
80
Playlouder
Songs that shamble along in the gutter but can still bite your ankles if pushed.
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.
70
Rolling Stone
Blood Money is especially grim, a bitter suite about greed and moral bankruptcy.
70
New Musical Express
A cacophonous, fearsome and shadowy delight.
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.
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