Tom Waits - Bastards

Bastards is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, originally released in November 2006 via Anti- Records.

Now released as an individual record, Bastards was originally part of the classic 56 song 3CD release Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards (2006).

Bastards is concerned with Waits’ more experimental musical styles, opening with an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's poem “What Keeps Mankind Alive?” (music by Kurt Weill) and continuing on “Children's Story”, which is an excerpt of Robert Wilson's production of Georg Büchner's unfinished 1837 play Woyzeck, the score of which Waits wrote and later released as his Blood Money (2002) album.

The album contains other literary adaptations, including a Charles Bukowski poem about enlightenment and two songs, “Home I'll Never Be” and “On The Road”, originally penned by Jack Kerouac.

The three album set was released to critical acclaim who lauded its experimentation and composition, as well as Waits vocals.

The 3CD album release was a commercial success, reaching #74 on the US Billboard 200 and #49 on the UK albums charts.

This double album 2LP record set is a 2018 reissue on 180 gram black vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves and remastered audio, pressed in the US via Anti-.