Music Banter - The Album Club: "Murder Ballads" by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

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- - The Album Club: "Murder Ballads" by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (https://www.musicbanter.com/general-music/90826-album-club-murder-ballads-nick-cave-bad-seeds.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk (Post 1904617)

When I was thinking what I wanted to write about this record I decided the main point I wanted to get across is why this record was Cave’s to make. Fortunately, in some of the finest writing I’ve ever seen on MB, Trollheart already did that for us. If you haven’t check out this for genre origins

I was surprised Stagger Lee was listed a song TH liked least. I think it’s the go to track if you were making a mix tape back in the day. Also, even before it came up I was going to mention Boatman’s Call as my personal NC record.

Nocturama is the only NC record that chaps my ass and only because he had no business making Babe, I’m on Fire 15 minutes long.

Sorry that I’m rambling off the subject of this record but for those who maybe haven’t yet explored Nick Cave: It’s essential to go through his discography. From the Birthday Party to the Bad Seeds he’s a crucial reason punk redifined rocknroll and he has aged incredibly well. His brilliance never wanes. He’s one of the most important figures in modern music.

This record is an unassailable five star masterpiece.

Wow, thanks man. Much appreciated.
Now vote, you ****er! :laughing:

Ugh, this album was really frustrating. I can't enjoy it. It's just much too bland musically and I've never been a lyrics person. Even then the lyrics on this aren't that great. I could only think about how edgy he must be trying to sound this whole time. There are a couple songs that are good, a couple that are fine, and a couple that are awful, so it overall averages out to a mediocre album. I'll call it a 5/10 and say meh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 1905245)

I've expressed this opinion before but Birthday Party is unassailable yet Cave by himself is overrated while Rowland S. Howard tremendously underrated

It would have helped if Teenage Snuff Film was released ten years earlier.

Occult, you heard And the Ass Heard the Angel?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart (Post 1905257)

Occult, you heard And the Ass Heard the Angel?

The book?

This is one of my favorite albums and probably my favorite Nick Cave album. "The Curse Of Millhaven" alone makes it worth the price of admission and "Song of Joy" is one of the creepiest tracks every recorded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 1905267)

I imagine Trollheart likes Nick cave but doesn't know Birthday Party

You'd imagine right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk (Post 1905269)

The book?

Yeah but I have a CD where he's narrating it. It's ****ing amazing. Picked it up second hand, had no idea what it was. Well worth a listen. I'll burn a copy for you and upload if you want.

No thanks. I’d rather just read it. Another friend who’s also Irish told me it’s really good.

I really don’t understand how you aren’t familiar with the Birthday Party. When Elph wrote that I thought that’s ridiculous. Why the **** not? Without being too rude about it, dude, correct that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk (Post 1905366)

Just never listened to them. Get the feeling they're more in the punk style of things. I guess it's like listening to Devin Townsend without ever hearing Strapping Young Lad or being a fan of Neil Young but never hearing a Buffalo Springfield album. Shrug. Recs?

See, I got into Cave from The Good Son and Henry's Dream, and went forward (I actually heard "The Ship Song" on a latenight TV show and loved it) and though I bought his previous albums, none of them clicked with me, so I think I'm more a fan of "later" Cave material, maybe.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads

While Tender Prey is probably the peak of Nick Cave's singer-songwriter career for me, Murder Ballads is easily one of the best overall productions of his career if we're talking about arrangement and sound design. You hear it especially on 'Lovely Creature', which waxes and wanes with ethereal female backing vocals over an ominous rumbling riff that makes it an instant standout to me here. I'm not the biggest fan of Nick's overtly spoken word approach as a general rule, but the stories are entertaining in doses and there's some massive chemistry going on with his backing band too.

While there are other records cut from a similar musical cloth to this that I enjoy more and I think are better albums overall (David Sylvian's Secrets Of The Beehive, Devin Townsend's Casualties Of Cool project, Dan Fogelberg's The Innocent Age) this is a great album taken on its own merits and it works very, very hard to elevate its (at times) Lynchian subject matter as much as it can.

10 out of 10