Tom Waits already made Uproxx‘s “Best Vinyl Releases Of March 2023” list, but the storied singer-songwriter wants more. On Wednesday, July 12, it was announced that five albums he released via Island Records between 1983 and 1993 will be reissued on CD and vinyl. Per a press release, remastering the original tapes was overseen by Waits and Kathleen Brennan.
The physical reissues will begin with Swordfishtrombones (1983), Rain Dogs (1985), and Franks Wild Years (1987), all released on September 1. Bone Machine (1992) and The Black Rider (1993) will follow on October 6. Impatient fans can stream all of the remastered albums here.
The press release laid out the nitty-gritty process:
“Each album will be released on CD and in two vinyl options: 180-gram black vinyl and a limited edition color variant that will be available exclusively via TomWaits.com and UDiscover Music. Swordfishtrombones will be pressed on canary, Rain Dogs on opaque sky blue, Franks Wild Years on opaque gold, The Black Rider on opaque apple and Bone Machine on translucent milky vinyl.
All albums were mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering under the guidance of Waits’ longtime audio engineer, Karl Derfler. Swordfishtrombones was sourced from the original EQ’ed ½” production master tapes while Rain Dogs, Franks Wild Years, Bone Machine and The Black Rider were sourced from the original ½” flat master tapes.
Bellman meticulously transferred the tapes and then remastered the audio in high resolution 192 kHz/24-bit. The lacquers for all titles were cut by Alex Abrash at AA Mastering. The new vinyl editions will come with specially made labels featuring photos of Waits from each era in addition to artwork and packaging that has been painstakingly recreated to replicate the original LPs, which have been out of print since their initial release. Surprisingly, The Black Rider and Bone Machine were never released on vinyl outside of Europe and will be making their vinyl debut in most of the world.”
Waits previously reissued his Elektra Asylum discography from the 1970s, spanning seven albums. Last August, he commemorated the 20th anniversaries of Alice and Blood Money with vinyl reissues.
