Waits toned down his sifting-through-piles-of-scrap-metal-looking-for-gin-and-clown-paint approach in favor of a somewhat more soulful, bluesy manner on Mule Variations. The overall effect evokes not so much forlorn, goggle eyed geeks and freaks teetering on jagged precipices as stoic live oaks, knurled by time and resigned to holding the landscape in place for the sharecroppers and the chain gangs. Some edges remain, of course. Opener "Big in Japan" is driven by sharp guitar textures and impatient horn riffs, while "Filipino Box Spring Hog" sees Waits' raspy howl commanding a trampoline of blues harp, juke joint guitar and spare but assertive percussion. The trademark piano ballads are here ("House Where Nobody Lives," "Picture In a Frame"), bumping elbows with casual blues numbers ("Low Side of the Road," "Cold Water"), while "What's He Building In There" captures Waits' gift for paranoid, arty spoken-word weirdness. Not a particularly cohesive record, kind of a smorgasbord, but a strong offering. Would be a good one for Waits newbies...
Some other thoughts:
#418, Wings' Band On the Run: More a work of showmanship than musicianship, Band On the Run eventually went triple platinum and reached #1 on the American charts on three separate occasions, mostly on the strength of the album's two singles, "Jet" and the title track. Contrary to popular myth, "Jet" was not the name of McCartney's dog. It was the name of his pony.
#417, U2's Boy: It's easy to forget how sharp these guys were right out of the gate. I had this one on heavy rotation back in the day, but tended to give it short shrift to War (which to this day remains my favorite U2 record). A bit unfair, perhaps; all of the band's pieces were in place on this pretty much flawless debut, and they definitely benefitted from Steve Lillywhite's production.
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