Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Like most people I first became aware of Nick Cave through his Murder Ballads period – or to be specific, his collaboration with Kylie Minogue, Where the Wild Roses Grow. Stumbling upon, I was freaked out about hearing this disturbing tale of a romance ending with the woman being bludgeoned to death. Since then, it has been difficult to listen to and, as such, it took me a while before I could take that man with the scary voice seriously.
For me, Nick Cave will forever represent a time in 2004: I was out of Uni and into the fun world of unemployment. I'm not sure why I picked his Best Of compilation disc but in retrospect it certainly seemed a good time to as he delivered the superb Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus later that year. Musically, Nick succeeds with his understanding of punk and the blues, his use of my old friend atmospherics (particularly on Tupelo), his willingness to try new things beyond the basic formula, his talent of creating something resembling total utter chaos (The Mercy Seat) and his ability to do something different with each album. He also has the benefit of being surrounded by talented musicians in the form of the Bad Seeds. Likewise, lyrically Nick sets a standard few can touch. He understands the power of an opening line, he can construct a compelling narrative, he populates his songs with the most colourful of characters and he incorporates the blackest of humour. But for me Nick succeeds on his love songs. Some of them convey so much emotion that they are staggering. Beautiful, intimate and jaw-dropping – Nick’s romance songs does all of these. And as a poet, one who’s always told his strengths lie in HIS romantic material, I take my hat off to Mr. Cave. Best of all, whereas other artists in their fifties tend to slow down, Nick is instead cranking it up a notch.
Key Album: the Boatman’s Call (1997) That’s the problem with prolific artists: they have released so many albums it’s hard to choose one. Yet whilst Tender Prey, Let Love In, Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus and Dig Lazarus Dig!!! are all excellent albums in their own right, I have decided to go with the Boatman’s Call. Whilst many die-hards loathe this album, I instead feel it best represents Nick’s ability to craft the finest of love songs. Also intriguing is Nick singing about such personal matters without flinching. And so I give Nick his due for few can write the persona of a broken-hearted man convincingly. Fewer still can do it without the audience yelling: “Get over it!”
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