Originally Posted by thirtiesgirl

I'd start with The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. It compiles hits from his first album, From Her To Eternity, through his tenth album, The Boatman's Call. Give it some time to grow on you and if you like what you hear, then start checking out some of his albums covered in the compilation. The only album from that time period that The Best Of doesn't cover is Nick's cover version frenzy, Kicking Against the Pricks, with such memorable tracks as Johnny Cash's "Long Black Veil" (originally recorded by Lefty Frizell), Glenn Campbell's "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," Tom Jones' "Sleeping Annaleah," Leadbelly's "Black Betty," and the VU's "All Tomorrow's Parties." If you're looking for Nick's tear-stained cover of Elvis' "In the Ghetto," it appears on his first album, From Her To Eternity. His 1997 live album, Live Seeds, is a pretty good live collection of songs from the same time period.

Favorite albums after the Best Of collection include No More Shall We Part, Dig Lazarus Dig, and the 2-disc Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. Abattoir/Orpheus is more hit-or-miss, but has some great tracks on both albums. Nocturama, the album Nick released after No More Shall We Part, is kind of a stinker, imho, and generally considered to not be one of his better ones by most fans.

You might also enjoy Nick's side project band, Grinderman, which just released their second album earlier this year.

Here's a couple more Nick clips to give you a taste of his flavor.

"In The Ghetto"



"Tupelo" (one of my favorite Caves)



Grinderman, "No Pussy Blues"