Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
How about a MASHUP of Nick Cave's Babe I'm On Fire, and Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
- Thread starter cobl04
- Start date
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greenlight7-11
War Child
I always liked "Wonderful Life" from that album.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
It's another good one, what I remember of it. There were a bunch of tracks that felt like a continuation of No More Shall We Part, only seemingly more MOR in tone.
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cobl04
45:33
it cannot be this bad. I'll listen tomorrow.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
That's the album you're going to prioritize??
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
It's not bad, it's just unremarkable in a catalogue where nearly every album is very distinctive.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Based on Cobbler's rankings, he needs to hear The Boatman's Call.
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
Definitely agreed on that. On some days Boatman's Call is my second favorite of his albums.
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cobl04
45:33
I can't stop listening, different parts from different songs are in my head every day. I am starting to wonder just how high this record is going to keep rising in my rankings. It's comfortably better than the last two in my opinion, both of which I hold in extremely high regard. Wow...
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cobl04
45:33
I am making a return to very old style of Interference posting, listening to a new album and going through and examining and ranking the tracks and giving overall thoughts!
As I've made quite clear before, I really only came to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with Push the Sky Away. Prior to that, I don't think I could have named a Nick Cave song. When I got into PTSA I did listen to a couple of other NC&TBS records, Dig Lazarus Dig and No More Shall We Part I believe. But have never really paid close attention to anything beyond PTSA, it is an era of their music that I love very dearly and have never really been able to pull myself away from, because I just love the atmosphere and the sonic construction of these three albums, and I know that that sound isn't really present elsewhere in their catalogue, which is unsurprising, given a) lineup changes and b) Nick's personal circumstances.
So, Let Love In.
An album I purchased some years ago and have spun before but I've never really paid close attention to.
Do You Love Me? - 8
I can take or leave some of the lyrics (I'm sure this will be a regular occurrence as I move through their back catalogue) but this is a great song. Really catchy, has a good pace and energy to it. I fucking adore the Lust for Life-esque (album, not song) guitar in the verses. I am sure this would have been a cracker to catch live back when Blixa Bargeld was still in the band.
Nobody's Baby Now - 9
Strange transition into a ballad, but a beautiful song. The first verse is a pretty apt summation of much of his lyrical work, at least what I've heard. Love the organs and the piano. Probably my favourite track on the album.
Loverman - 8
In hindsight feels a bit like the type of song someone who wanted to do a pastiche of NC&TBS might create, but I'm sure it was singular in its time. Of all the raucous, rocking, horny numbers on this album, this is probably the best, the chorus rules, though I could do without Blixa's (I assume) "how much longer" parts.
Jangling Jack - 5
Fun enough. The parts with lyrics and sound effects are better than the do-da-do parts. Would be fun live.
Red Right Hand - 8
Ubiquitous, of course, but my reflections are that it's better than all the overplay, TV and ad use suggests. It's got a really unique musical atmosphere that builds plenty of tension and intensity without the need for over-the-top vocals or rawk. It's fun, too.
I Let Love In - 7
Also a pretty good song, the piano and guitar are both terrific throughout, quite cinematic. A little less infatuated with Nick's performance on this than some of the other songs on this album, but the music carries it through.
Thirsty Dog - 5
I've never been big on this bluesy thrash cock rock style, by anyone. This one is fine and fun enough but goes on a bit long.
Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore - 6
Bit boring imo. Has some nice atmospheric musical touches but doesn't really go anywhere, and feels like lyrical and vocal content that has been trodden already by the album elsewhere.
Lay Me Low - 8
Builds to a pretty great place, some great use of organs, which I'm always a sucker for, and I definitely enjoy the more ballad-y side of this band. Another one that I imagine would be good live.
Do You Love Me? Part 2 - 7
Whilst I appreciate the different take and find it an interesting counterpoint to the opening song, it feels a little unnecessary. Sonically a bit more interesting than the first part, but the silly "jingo / jango" parts in this song, which I can tolerate in part one, stand out like dogs balls in this part and take me out of the song. He does away with these in two of the verses later in the song, and it's much better for it.
Overall, captures a sound quite well. Definitely don't prefer that sound to their current one, but there's a good handful of enjoyable songs here, some of which I've heard take off live. It is a cornerstone of their discography, but it's not something I think I will find myself reaching for often, certainly not in full.
Would love to hear others' thoughts!
As I've made quite clear before, I really only came to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with Push the Sky Away. Prior to that, I don't think I could have named a Nick Cave song. When I got into PTSA I did listen to a couple of other NC&TBS records, Dig Lazarus Dig and No More Shall We Part I believe. But have never really paid close attention to anything beyond PTSA, it is an era of their music that I love very dearly and have never really been able to pull myself away from, because I just love the atmosphere and the sonic construction of these three albums, and I know that that sound isn't really present elsewhere in their catalogue, which is unsurprising, given a) lineup changes and b) Nick's personal circumstances.
So, Let Love In.
An album I purchased some years ago and have spun before but I've never really paid close attention to.
Do You Love Me? - 8
I can take or leave some of the lyrics (I'm sure this will be a regular occurrence as I move through their back catalogue) but this is a great song. Really catchy, has a good pace and energy to it. I fucking adore the Lust for Life-esque (album, not song) guitar in the verses. I am sure this would have been a cracker to catch live back when Blixa Bargeld was still in the band.
Nobody's Baby Now - 9
Strange transition into a ballad, but a beautiful song. The first verse is a pretty apt summation of much of his lyrical work, at least what I've heard. Love the organs and the piano. Probably my favourite track on the album.
Loverman - 8
In hindsight feels a bit like the type of song someone who wanted to do a pastiche of NC&TBS might create, but I'm sure it was singular in its time. Of all the raucous, rocking, horny numbers on this album, this is probably the best, the chorus rules, though I could do without Blixa's (I assume) "how much longer" parts.
Jangling Jack - 5
Fun enough. The parts with lyrics and sound effects are better than the do-da-do parts. Would be fun live.
Red Right Hand - 8
Ubiquitous, of course, but my reflections are that it's better than all the overplay, TV and ad use suggests. It's got a really unique musical atmosphere that builds plenty of tension and intensity without the need for over-the-top vocals or rawk. It's fun, too.
I Let Love In - 7
Also a pretty good song, the piano and guitar are both terrific throughout, quite cinematic. A little less infatuated with Nick's performance on this than some of the other songs on this album, but the music carries it through.
Thirsty Dog - 5
I've never been big on this bluesy thrash cock rock style, by anyone. This one is fine and fun enough but goes on a bit long.
Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore - 6
Bit boring imo. Has some nice atmospheric musical touches but doesn't really go anywhere, and feels like lyrical and vocal content that has been trodden already by the album elsewhere.
Lay Me Low - 8
Builds to a pretty great place, some great use of organs, which I'm always a sucker for, and I definitely enjoy the more ballad-y side of this band. Another one that I imagine would be good live.
Do You Love Me? Part 2 - 7
Whilst I appreciate the different take and find it an interesting counterpoint to the opening song, it feels a little unnecessary. Sonically a bit more interesting than the first part, but the silly "jingo / jango" parts in this song, which I can tolerate in part one, stand out like dogs balls in this part and take me out of the song. He does away with these in two of the verses later in the song, and it's much better for it.
Overall, captures a sound quite well. Definitely don't prefer that sound to their current one, but there's a good handful of enjoyable songs here, some of which I've heard take off live. It is a cornerstone of their discography, but it's not something I think I will find myself reaching for often, certainly not in full.
Would love to hear others' thoughts!
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Do You Love Me? - 10
Nobody's Baby Now - 9
Loverman - 8
Jangling Jack - 6
Red Right Hand - 10
I Let Love In - 9
Thirsty Dog - 7
Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore - 7
Lay Me Low - 7
Do You Love Me? Part 2 - 8
Only thing I don't love about the album is the production. It's really metallic and ugly with questionable mixing. Otherwise, the best balance between the old Bad Seeds sound and what was to come. Nasty record full of blistering performances, and Nick is a fantastic frontman, but the album has all the necessary shading to give it dimension and variety in an unusually compact package for 90s (and beyond) Bad Seeds.
Nobody's Baby Now - 9
Loverman - 8
Jangling Jack - 6
Red Right Hand - 10
I Let Love In - 9
Thirsty Dog - 7
Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore - 7
Lay Me Low - 7
Do You Love Me? Part 2 - 8
Only thing I don't love about the album is the production. It's really metallic and ugly with questionable mixing. Otherwise, the best balance between the old Bad Seeds sound and what was to come. Nasty record full of blistering performances, and Nick is a fantastic frontman, but the album has all the necessary shading to give it dimension and variety in an unusually compact package for 90s (and beyond) Bad Seeds.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Sure hope Cobbler gets around to the masterpiece that is Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus next.
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cobl04
45:33
Yeah that's the next one for sure. I own it on CD so have the lyric booklet and all. What style(s) might I expect?
Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
Perfection.
It really does have its own style, with its addition of female backup singers. I'd say it's part raucous gospel (done Nick Cave style of course, so still rocking), part more No More Shall We Part style.
AndrewCowley
Refugee
No More Shall We Part is a true masterpiece.
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cobl04
45:33
Eh I like it a lot, but it has too many stately, slow piano songs that stretch beyond their welcome. You chop about 20 minutes off and I could maybe call it a masterpiece. It really doesn't need to be 67 minutes long; Ghosteen (their masterpiece in my eyes) is only a minute longer and it's a double album!
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I really like their last couple, but I do find NMSWP, Let Love In, Push the Sky Away, The Good Son, Henry's Dream, etc. a lot easier to return to. For obvious reasons.
AndrewCowley
Refugee
Not sure about Ghosteen. This may sound harsh, but on first listen I thought it reeked of Skeleton Tree outtakes and offcuts.
Skeleton Tree on the other hand. Majestic. Be honest, who didn’t cry the first few times you listened to it.
Skeleton Tree on the other hand. Majestic. Be honest, who didn’t cry the first few times you listened to it.
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Jerry Dunk
Refugee
Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen are really good companion pieces. That said, you do have to be in a certain frame of mind to listen to them and appreciate them, especially the latter.
dan_smee
ONE love, blood, life
I think Ghosteen has kind of split in two directions. The first 4 just keep going up in my estimations, and the remainder are slowly blurring together, and I totally get the Skeleton Tree outtakes comment, even though the reality is probably just that they share the same DNA in terms of his mindset, inspiration and interests.
NMSWP - you need to be in the right mood, environment for it to truely creep into your brain, but when it does it feels WAY too short.
NMSWP - you need to be in the right mood, environment for it to truely creep into your brain, but when it does it feels WAY too short.
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cobl04
45:33
That's insane to me - Sun Forest & Galleon Ship are the two best songs on the record! I can understand if you talk about the remainder after the first six blur together, but Sun Forest & Galleon Ship both stand out to me. I also find Ghosteen to have a more optimistic sound than Skeleton Tree for the most part.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Ghosteen title track is the saddest thing.
This world is beautiful
Held within its stars
I keep it in my heart
The stars are your eyes
I loved them right from the start
A world so beautiful
And I keep it in my heart
A ghosteen dances in my hand
Slowly twirling, twirling all around
Glowing circle in my hand
This world is beautiful
Held within its stars
I keep it in my heart
The stars are your eyes
I loved them right from the start
A world so beautiful
And I keep it in my heart
A ghosteen dances in my hand
Slowly twirling, twirling all around
Glowing circle in my hand
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
Yeah I can't really get behind Ghosteen resembling Skeleton Tree outtakes. The only song on ST that points toward Ghosteen is Rings of Saturn, IMO - that synth tone is all over Ghosteen. ST is almost industrial in places, whereas Ghosteen is incredibly lush throughout.
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cobl04
45:33
Yep. The 90 seconds or so of respite in this part is maybe the most uplifting and wonderful part of the record, and then it just immediately falls off a cliff. Very visceral. An extremely well-done way of relaying how grief feels - one moment you might be feeling okay but you're likely to get sideswiped by a truck the very next moment.
There goes your moony man...
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cobl04
45:33
Did anyone else buy tickets for Idiot Prayer? 
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cobl04
45:33
I definitely need to pick up The Boatman's Call, and having just listened to "Palaces of Montezuma", I definitely need to go back and listen to Grinderman.
Joey788
Refugee
Did anyone else buy tickets for Idiot Prayer?
Yep! I'm looking forward to it. Apparently, Nick Cave is going to premiere a new song during the concert as well.
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cobl04
45:33
Yep, Euthanasia. It's quite striking.
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cobl04
45:33
He's making a new album with Warren Ellis. Called CARNAGE.
I would hugely welcome a loud, raucous, aggressive Grinderman record. But it might be a Cave & Ellis record, or a TBS record, or a solo record... and I would not put it beyond the two of them to release an album called Carnage that's like super soft and ambient
I would hugely welcome a loud, raucous, aggressive Grinderman record. But it might be a Cave & Ellis record, or a TBS record, or a solo record... and I would not put it beyond the two of them to release an album called Carnage that's like super soft and ambient
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
The Carnage album with Warren Ellis is out now.
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