Tom Waits has said: "I like a beautiful song that tells you terrible things. We all like bad news out of a pretty mouth." When it comes to the material on Blood Money, I don't know if I can call Waits' mouth pretty, but he certainly offers plenty of bad news in a very attractive, compelling way. Released simultaneously with Alice, a recording of songs written in 1990, Blood Money is a set of 13 songs written by Waits and Kathleen Brennan in collaboration with dramatist Robert Wilson. The project was a loose adaptation of the play Woyzeck, originally written by German poet Georg Buchner in 1837. The play was inspired by the true story of a German soldier who was driven mad by bizarre army medical experiments and infidelity, which led him to murder his lover - cheery stuff, to be sure. Thematically, this work - with its references to German cabarets and nostalgia - echoes Waits' other Wilson collaborative project, Black Rider…
20 tracks set of covers of Tom Petty's signature songs. Highlights include a handful of songs by Petty's longtime friends and collaborators, such as George Strait, Steve Earle, Willie Nelson with Lukas Nelson, Bluegrass pioneer Marty Stuart and The Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. Contemporary country superstars Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Carly Pearce, Lady A, Margo Price, Rhiannon Giddens, Thomas Rhett, Wynonna Judd, and Lainey Wilson pay tribute to the late rocker with their own spin on fan favourites plus there's the and the one and only Dolly Parton.
A deluxe 4cd set and a 2cd set. The annoying thing is that the 2cd set has a few songs that arent on the mega 4 disc version, so if you're a completist, you will need both and you end up with a lot of duplicate material. That is my only real problem with mofo, pretty much everything else about this box is fantastic. For me, the best part is the beautiul remaster of the original 1966 Stereo mix of "Freak Out!". The Freak Out cd that frank released in the 80's and is currently in print through rykodisc was a re-mix which sounds pretty good, but this original mix is much warmer and full of life. There is no contest as which mix I prefer, the original 1966 version is far superior in my opinion. The rest of the sets contains various alternate mixes, backing tracks, interviews, studio improvisations (all lead by Frank) and some early live recordings. There is one bonafide outtake "Groupie Bang Bang" which is as good as anything elese on the album. A great Bo Diddley type rhythm with hilarious lyrics (sung by Ray Collins) about, you guessed it, a groupie!