He's an outlier, an enigma, an iconoclast, an original. We're talking about Tom Waits, whose career is more closely tied to the 70s and 80s, but who released his Grammy Award-winning album Bone Machine in 1992 just as the first wave of grunge was talking off in 90s rock. Trying to compare Waits, and this album in particular, to any of his contemporaries, is a fool's errand. Sure, there's a bit of Nick Cave here, some Mark Lanegan there, even some Morphine and Beck, but Waits is often on another planet entirely. Using a collection of non-traditional percussion instruments (some homemade) combined with buzzing guitars and ramshackle pianos, to create a junkyard orchestra. It often sounds like it's falling apart before it even starts, but Waits is able to bring it together with his vocals, even if they are the most divisive aspect of a Tom Waits album.
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