Tom Waits, Blood Money (side A)

Blood Money came out alongside Alice in 2002. Both albums capture Waits's old theater scores, with some of the same musicians (including members of Splatter Trio) and engineers (including Oz Fritz). The musicianship and recording on both is fantastic, and makes the records special. Where Alice is a bit more understated and sparse, Blood Money features more up-front vocals that tie to earlier Waits records like Bone Machine and The Black Rider. It would be easy to assume that Blood Money is the earlier of the two compositions. The packaging is nice too, with a thick outer cover and printed inner sleeve.