Mule Variations

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Mule Variations
Studio album by Tom Waits
Released April 16, 1999 (1999-04-16)
Recorded Prairie Sun Studios, Cotati, California
Genre Rock, experimental rock
Length 70:33
Label ANTI-
Producer Kathleen Brennan
Tom Waits
Tom Waits chronology
The Black Rider
(1993)
Mule Variations
(1999)
Blood Money
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[1]
Robert Christgau (A-)[2]
Pitchfork Media (9.5/10)[3]
Music Emissions 5/5 stars[4]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[5]
Wiki letter w.svg This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Mule Variations is an album by Tom Waits, released in 1999 on the ANTI- label. It was Waits's first studio album since 1992's Bone Machine (the later The Black Rider was a collection of songs originally written for a play). It won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album and was nominated for Best Male Rock Performance for the track "Hold On". It also sold more than 500,000 copies world wide.

The album was backed by an extensive tour in Europe and North America during the summer and autumn of 1999, which was Waits's first proper tour since 1987. Other promotional stops included a solo performance on VH1 Storytellers.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 416 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[6]

During their supporting tour for their second album Origin of Symmetry, British rock group Muse used the song What's He Building In There? as their introduction music. This is most notable before their song Dead Star on the 2002 live release Hullabaloo Soundtrack.

Contents

[edit] Chart information

Chart Peak position
Norway 1
Switzerland 7
United Kingdom 9
North America 30

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan unless otherwise noted.

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Big in Japan"     4:05
2. "Lowside of the Road"     2:59
3. "Hold On"     5:33
4. "Get Behind the Mule"     6:52
5. "House Where Nobody Lives"   Waits 4:14
6. "Cold Water"     5:23
7. "Pony"   Waits 4:32
8. "What's He Building In There?"   Waits 3:20
9. "Black Market Baby"     5:02
10. "Eyeball Kid"     4:25
11. "Picture in a Frame"     3:39
12. "Chocolate Jesus"     3:55
13. "Georgia Lee"     4:24
14. "Filipino Box Spring Hog"   Waits 3:09
15. "Take It with Me"     4:24
16. "Come On Up to the House"     4:36

[edit] Related promo CD

As a promotional limited offer, an EP titled Hold On was later released with two of the tracks from the Mule Variations album plus two previously unreleased tracks. Track listing:

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Hold On"   Waits, Brennan 5:34
2. "Buzz Fledderjon"   Waits 4:14
3. "Big in Japan"   Waits, Brennan 4:05
4. "Big Face Money"   Waits, Casey X. Waits 0:38

The Australian/New Zealand and Japanese releases of the album includes "Buzz Fledderjon" and "Big Face Money" as bonus tracks as tracks number 17 and 18 respectively.

[edit] Musicians

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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