Tom Waits announces 20th anniversary vinyl reissues of Alice and Blood Money albums

Both Alice and Blood Money were released by Waits in May 2002, and today (8 August) he's announced vinyl reissues for both the albums to mark the 20th anniversary.

As well as announcing the vinyl reissues, Waits has unveiled previously unreleased live versions of "All the World is Green" from Blood Money (recorded at a Milan show), and "Fish and Bird" from Alice (recorded at a London show in 2004).

Alice was originally created by Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan for a 1992 opera directed by Robert Wilson, and was loosely based on Lewis Carroll's "obsession" with Alice Liddell, who inspired his Alice's Adventures In Wonderland novel. "During the ‘70’s, too many of my songs were drowning in strings," Waits explains. "I didn’t want to hear another blasted violin. So, we found string players who felt the same way about their instrument, formed an odd, skeletal chamber orchestra and tried to avoid all the old familiar phrases where strings love to play."

Blood Money was created about the 1837 socio-political play Woyzeck, and soundtracked Wilson's 2000 Woyzeck play. "Blood Money is flesh and bone, earthbound," Waits says. "The songs are rooted in reality: jealousy, rage, the human meat wheel…They are more carnal. Kathleen and I are well suited to this material. She is hilarious, blasphemous and ominous. I like a beautiful song that tells you terrible things."