• Record Label: Anti
  • Release Date: Oct 25, 2011
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 80 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 80
  2. Negative: 7 out of 80
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  1. Oct 25, 2011
    10
    The 61 year old Waits releases his 17th studio album and it is perfect. Since 1973 the singer songwriter has reinvented himself numerous times, and continues to create the Tom Waits persona. The three additional songs are essential and fit into the rest of the album quite nicely.
  2. Oct 27, 2011
    10
    Really wonderful album. As so many albums this year, it's a grower (although it's a pretty impressive shower, too!) Don't let the fact that it is sonically similar to Waits' past albums dismay you. These songs are very deep, and reward looking underneath the satisfying surface. My favorites are "Hell Broke Luce" and "Pay Me", as good of a Bastard and Bawler as Waits has ever written.
  3. Oct 30, 2011
    10
    Tom is Tom. On first listen of this album i thought it would be a lesser Tom, so many styles. Mule variations is prolly my least favourite of his. This, though, is great... its like Orphans condensed to one disc sized collection. We've got rockabilly Tom, piano drunken Tom, whispered ballad Tom, wild cacophonous Tom...all in one pocket sized bag of magical **** Tom...is the man!!!
  4. Nov 5, 2011
    10
    A great album, and an accessible Tom Waits album for fans and newcomers. Not quite as noisy and eccentric as his last album, but still pretty cool nonetheless. I'd rank this as one of his most listenable without losing his edge. Great stuff.
  5. Jan 4, 2012
    10
    I can honestly give this album a 10 and say it's the best album if the year. Tom Waits unleashes a new kind of raw energy in this smoky, edgy, refreshing album. It sounds like he's having as much fun making this album as I am listening to it. Tom Waits can do no wrong!
  6. Jan 3, 2012
    10
    "The 61 year old Waits releases his 17th studio album and it is perfect. Since 1973 the singer songwriter has reinvented himself numerous times, and continues to create the Tom Waits persona. The three additional songs are essential and fit into the rest of the album quite nicely." yeah I'm totally agree
  7. Oct 26, 2011
    9
    Another great album by Mr. Waits. To be perfectly honest, he doesn't deliver much that is new on this one, but he just does it so well. You can always count on the great melodies, yarns and abstractions along with an excellent (as always) roster of musicians who are given the opportunity to expand on their abilities without compare.
  8. Oct 26, 2011
    9
    I can understand how some people can/will say he's not what he once was, but that's not entirely true: Certain songs on this record are just as beautifully haunting as he's always been, and others are just as bone jarring. He's still writing songs as only one of the worst greatest can, even if he doesn't break down boundaries this time round. And put all that aside, there's certainly noI can understand how some people can/will say he's not what he once was, but that's not entirely true: Certain songs on this record are just as beautifully haunting as he's always been, and others are just as bone jarring. He's still writing songs as only one of the worst greatest can, even if he doesn't break down boundaries this time round. And put all that aside, there's certainly no filler and definitely worth a purchase. Expand
  9. Jan 3, 2012
    9
    Great set of songs that include most of what fans love about Tom Waits. It may not be as daring and original as his previous efforts but Waits has no need for that at the moment, he has done everything already! and "Bad As Me" is the proof... it is diverse, it is fresh and it is powerful. What's not to love!?
  10. Apr 23, 2012
    9
    i think that tom waits and the keith richards pair for this album wsa extrememly defiant to give it that new type of sound for tom. tom is a legend and always will be being 61 he needed the help from his friends and he got it.
  11. Feb 23, 2014
    8
    Bad As Me isn't Tom Waits' best album, some of his previous albums are practically unbeatable, but Bad As Me is certainly a very good album, mainly for its activeness and its ability to be touching, even with Waits harsh, growling vocals which suit more aggressive sound. There are also a couple of ballads here and there that might not stick with the rest of the album, mainly Pay Me and NewBad As Me isn't Tom Waits' best album, some of his previous albums are practically unbeatable, but Bad As Me is certainly a very good album, mainly for its activeness and its ability to be touching, even with Waits harsh, growling vocals which suit more aggressive sound. There are also a couple of ballads here and there that might not stick with the rest of the album, mainly Pay Me and New Years Eve, but otherwise Bad As Me feels alive, and actually rather accessible. If you like blues, go for this, if you like jazz, go for this, if you like folk go for this. If you're a Waits' fan, definitely go for this. Expand
  12. Mar 31, 2020
    8
    An album full of brilliant songs that feels like a conclusive one, incorporating different musical styles used by Tom over the years, but, unfortunately, it feels as if the uniqueness found in his previous albums is missing.
  13. Oct 25, 2011
    5
    Isn't this the guy who, by the sound of his voice, has just smoked too many cigarettes and who critics just love because he's... well, Tom Waits? I used to be an admirer of his work, but - honestly - he should pack it in and live off the royalties of his back catalog. This is just a bad repeat of what he used to do brilliantly in the past.
  14. Mar 23, 2013
    5
    I love Tom more than anybody i know, he's my favorite artist hands down, this is not his best album. There are some cool songs on here but overall it doesn't do it for me. Sorry Tom, i hope to love everything you do.
  15. Nov 6, 2011
    3
    Why does everyone love this guy? I don't see it. I listened to the album... but I wanted to rip my ears off afterwards because I couldn't get that raspy voice out of my head. Sure, he may have had talent a long time ago, but it's time to throw in the towel and retire to a nice home in Florida.
  16. TAE
    Mar 4, 2012
    0
    Best album of the year by far.....for me to poop on. Like Yoda getting an anal probe he sounds. What are the chances that Whitney Houston was listening to the radio and came across a Tom Waits track on the snobby college rock station before dying. I know I would have drowned myself. Whitney past her prime snorting coke while giving birth sounds better than Tom Waits. Howard Stern fartingBest album of the year by far.....for me to poop on. Like Yoda getting an anal probe he sounds. What are the chances that Whitney Houston was listening to the radio and came across a Tom Waits track on the snobby college rock station before dying. I know I would have drowned myself. Whitney past her prime snorting coke while giving birth sounds better than Tom Waits. Howard Stern farting the National Anthem sounds better than waits. Fran Dresher getting it on with Gilbert Gotfreid sounds better than Tom Waits. Joanna Newsom sounds a little better than Waits. Collapse
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 40
  2. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. Jan 3, 2012
    89
    Though Waits holds a reserved seat in the small club of artists who don't put out bad albums, the whiff of wild youth hangs around Bad as Me as if it was recorded in back alleys, behind churches, and in bars after hours.
  2. Mojo
    Dec 22, 2011
    80
    Bad As me is alive with some of his greatest yet. [Nov 2011, p.90]
  3. The Wire
    Dec 6, 2011
    90
    At this moment, Bad As Me might be his best ever. [Nov 2011, p.68]