From the opening horn-fueled chug of "Chicago," to the closing barroom chorale of "New Year's Eve," Bad As Me displays the full career range of Waits' songwriting, from beautiful ballads like "Last Leaf," to the avant cinematic soundscape of "Hell Broke Luce," a battlefront dispatch.

On tracks like "Talking at the Same Time," Waits shows off a supple falsetto, while on blues burners like "Raised Right Men" and the gospel tinged "Satisfied" he spits, stutters and howls.

"[24] In a five-star review, Helen Brown of The Daily Telegraph praised the album's "rattling bawlers", adding that each were "distinctively turbocharged with reckless and richly textured energy," while also mentioning that the "ballads run poignantly on their rims, leaking emotion.

[28] In The Guardian, Dave Simpson called Waits's lyrics "as unpredictable and inspired as ever", while claiming his "songs hurtle past in waves of blistering energy and imagery.

"[1] Rolling Stone's Will Hermes spoke highly of the album in a four out of five star review, saying that it was Waits's "most sharply focused record since the game-changing tag team Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs decades ago.

"[25] In a review for Slant Magazine, Jesse Cataldo stated that Bad as Me was "a self-affirming collection of the things Waits attempts to represent,"[29] and, in an equally positive appraisal, Dan Weiss of Spin said that the album "burns at fuse speed.

"[26] Likewise, Andrew Mueller of Uncut concluded a glowing review by calling the album "the sound of a supremely confident artist convening a raucous celebration of his own myth, and is multifariously marvellous.