The first, Brawlers, is blues and rock-based; the second, Bawlers, is centered on melancholic ballads; the third, Bastards, features spoken word pieces and other experimental works.

Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards received universal acclaim from critics, who lauded its experimentation and composition, and Waits's vocals.

Each disc is intended as a separate collection in itself; the first with roughcut rock and blues, the second melancholy tunes and ballads, and the third the more experimental songs and spoken word pieces.

It is musically eclectic, including such styles as gospel ("Ain't Goin' Down to the Well", "Lord I've Been Changed"), sentimental tunes ("Sea of Love"), and grim story-songs ("Lucinda").

Bawlers is composed of mostly downbeat numbers, replacing the hope of ballads on previous albums with resignation (notably "Bend Down the Branches", "Little Drop of Poison",[4] "Fannin Street", "Little Man", and "Widow's Grove").

It continues with "Children's Story", from Robert Wilson's production of Georg Büchner's Woyzeck, which Waits scored and later released as his Blood Money album.

It contains other literary adaptations, including a Charles Bukowski poem about enlightenment ("Nirvana") and two songs, "Home I'll Never Be" and "On the Road", originally penned by Jack Kerouac.

[18] Sylvie Simmons of The Guardian wrote that the album's three separate discs "make up one very powerful entry", and called the record "Great", giving it a four out of a possible five points.

[19] Teresa Nieman of Prefix Magazine praised it, comparing it to "taking a journey through a familiar yet entirely foreign dream-place", and "an experience of the most memorable kind".

[20] In a Punknews.org review, the album was said to be a "brilliant collection" of songs; "sonically cohesive and could pass as one very long recording session, laced over with the light coat of fuzz.

"[21] Jeff Vabrel of PopMatters gave it a nine out of ten stars; he affirmed that it was "One of his most skilful-ever blends of beauty and horror", also claiming that Waits's "world [...] is considerably more inviting and rewarding".

[22] Audra Schroeder of the Austin Chronicle gave the album a three out of five points, calling it a "seamless lot" which turns out to be a "bona fide gem of a collection".