Tom Waits is a master of American music. Throughout his career, he has made songs that range from jazz to rock to country, even to vaudeville and sideshow music. On his CD, "Real Gone," he tries his hand at another form of American music, hip-hop. What this means is that as usual, Waits is experimenting. Waits's eagerness to try new things is one of the traits which has gained him respect among other musicians over the years, so when he produces an album which isn't an A+, no one holds it against him. Being weird is hard.

In an attempt to get a more hip-hop feel, much of the album sees Waits using his legendary voice for beat boxing, or replicating drum beats with his mouth. Rather than doing this in the traditional way, with fast tempo beats and fast spoken lyrics, Waits beat boxes slowly, and wails and moans over the music. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work. He is sacrificing musicality to try something new, and while that is a respectable goal, it doesn't pan out well here. Which is not to say the album is all bad. The first song, "Top of the Hill," finds Waits experimenting successfully, creating a great hip-hop song. The samba, "Hoist That Rag," is a little less experimental, but is fantastic.