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Bad as Me Image
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 40 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 80 Ratings

  • Summary: The latest album for the singer-songwriter is the first album of all new songs since 2004's Real Gone.
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  • Record Label: Anti
  • Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Singer/Songwriter
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Top Track

Hell Broke Luce
I had a good home but I left I had a good home but I left, right, left That big fucking bomb made me deaf, deaf A Humvee mechanic put his Kevlar on... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 40
  2. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. Oct 25, 2011
    100
    Bad as Me, his first album of new material in seven years, is a tour de force of wise ol' swagger and new-century blues.
  2. Oct 25, 2011
    91
    Bad As Me is entry-level Waits for newcomers, and for longtime fans it's a fun reminder of Waits' ability to be a badass when necessary.
  3. Oct 25, 2011
    90
    Bad As Me sees the performer reaching back into his bag of tricks to pull out a few favourites in a characteristically exhilarating, terrifying, heartbreaking, tear jerking, bone-rattling style.
  4. Oct 24, 2011
    81
    For all his indulgences, Waits never lingers too long; these tracks are concise and expertly edited, and Bad as Me feels as new as it does ancient.
  5. Oct 26, 2011
    80
    Waits has given us another brilliant album in Bad as Me, his best in a long while (maybe since 1992's Bone Machine), but he also lays down a gauntlet.
  6. Oct 24, 2011
    80
    Bad As Me's 13 tracks fairly rip along, alerting a new generation that there are few as fine as Waits.
  7. Oct 20, 2011
    60
    There's plenty to enjoy here, but very little to get worked up about.

See all 40 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 16
  2. Negative: 2 out of 16
  1. 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,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! Expand
  2. 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 ofTom 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!!! Expand
  3. 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 numerousThe 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. Expand
  4. 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 ai 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. Expand
  5. 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,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. Expand
  6. 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, TomIsn'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. Expand
  7. 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 wasBest 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

See all 16 User Reviews

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