Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years, Tom Waits

TOM TOM CLUB An American original, Waits shines in this best-of set

Music Review

Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years

EW's GRADE
A

Details Lead Performance: Tom Waits; Genre: Reissues

This scruffy troubadour is best known for his lyrical depictions of lowlife malaise. But the surprise on this 23-song collection from his seven Island albums (spanning ?83 to ?93) is the genius of the music. Using calliopes, Balinese metal angklungs, accordion, banjo, mellotron, and more, this Dylan of the disconsolate has created what is arguably the decade?s most compelling and original body of work.
Originally posted Jun 29, 1998

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