http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...lyrictube.html
It was a lyrics-thread in the general music-forum :)
Sadly, it never became that popular.

Abbatoir Blues sure has some great tracks (on the first disc, though. I haven't really listened that much to the Lyre of Orpheus), my favourites being "Cannibal's Hymn", "Hiding All Away" and "Let The Bells Ring". I feel that some of the songs focus a little more on the instrumentation than the lyrics, at least compared to previous albums, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

What's your opinion on his Grinderman-project?
I have only listened to their first album, but I enjoy it. Though the lyrics are much... rawer, they fit the instrumentation well, and the result is a hard-hitting, energetic album.

Oh right, I see now. I remember that one, yes.

I actually haven't heard any of the Grinderman stuff; guess I'd better put that on the list too!

Urban, I have listened to "Tender prey" and there are some great songs on it definitely. I love "The mercy seat", and also "Slowly goes the night" and "New morning". Didn't help though that my copy had the first AND last tracks as "The mercy seat" and no "New morning" --- that was the downloaded copy. I fished out my CD and played it properly. I think I could certainly get into this album. I've also listened to "Your funeral" but I kind of really didn't take it in.

The one I really didn't like was "The firstborn is dead", though "Wanted man" is great --- of course, that's a cover.

Question about the lyric in "Mercy seat", if you'll indulge me: it's obviously about a man going to the Chair, but when he says at the end "I'm afraid I told a lie", do you take that as he was lying about the murder, or about being afraid to die? I've always wondered that since hearing the song, and I think it gives a great ambiguity to the lyric. He's maintained his innocence all through the song/trial but at the end when he realises he's going to die, does he then admit it? Or is it just that his bravado breaks down and he's lying about not being afraid to die? I'd be interested on your, or anyone's, thoughts on that.

will mr beiber be releasing such gems in his 50s?
 

great album as per usual, me cave and his cohorts have once again proved that age isn't relevant, but here is a question, who else that started in the late 70s is still releasing such powerful important music today? very few can last that long and still produce such varied and emotional work. just a pity i wont et to see this tour as tickets sold out in milliseconds as per usual.

It's a 3/5 for me on first listen. Decent but mot really able to hold my interest.

I've finally given this enough listens that I feel like I can give an accurate rating and I'm honestly really impressed. I don't think I was in the right mood when I first listened to it because besides a few songs, it didn't really do anything for me, but I've really gotten into it the last few times. It's definitely a different Nick Cave experience than what I'm use to, or even expect, and it seems the dark lyrical content found in his works comes from a more... internal nature for this album.

I gave it a 4/5

Always consistantly good. Gotta love cave x

Big3's Review
 

"I'm a 10-ton catastrophe on a 60 lbs. chain..."

I just finished listening to Push Away the Sky, and on the first and only listen as I write this article, I’m prepared to say I’d guess it to be an album that will grow on you. In the interest of full disclosure, I was listening to the album on “Random” which was unintentional but it happened so any sense of a building mood may have been lost on me.

To that end, this is a tale of two albums. One that features Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and another that features a ****ty impression of Leonard Cohen as he’s fronting Explosions in the Sky. The latter isn’t terrible, but it is certainly boring.

Regarding those songs – Cave’s voice seems far less melodic than usual, and unlike Cohen, the lyrics seem to be as vague as some band fresh out of the clubs. To his credit though, he may just be mirroring the music. While spacey, abstract music isn’t necessarily my thing, I do enjoy it and I can certainly say I’ve heard it done better. I’d say on the album there are maybe 3 or 4 songs (our of 9) that violate these offenses listed prior.

But I don’t want to make this a complete trashing of the record, because when Cave is on, as always, he’s on. The three tracks I’d really suggest you try out are (in no order): Higgs Boson Blues; Water’s Edge; and Jubilee Street.
Higgs Boson, clocking in as the longest track on the album (7:51), sounds a lot more Waits than Cohen which is to say that there is more emphasis on character (it seems to me) than symbols, and, unlike the tracks I’m accusing him of being Cohen on, the lyrics aren’t complete ****. Maybe this lends itself to Cave’s writing style, or maybe he’s just not dealing with spacey nonsense behind him, but either way it’s a step in the wright direction. He does name-drop Hannah Montana, but this is the sort of thing I’ve come to expect from the Bad Seeds, a little tweak here and there to make sure you’re paying attention.

Water’s Edge reminds me a lot of some of the material on Henry’s Dream, but also seems to draw from the experiments Cave was working toward here – it almost sounds like a broken pantoum. The music is dark, brooding and he repeat themes in the song as if he’s on the verge of a mental breakdown where the mind, in an attempt to find reason, scans over the grasses of an experience to find some missing piece that will make everything complete and logical.

As for Jubilee Street, you’ve probably heard it. It was the song you could get first and I can see why. The pacing of the song is classic Cave (in the latest years) which I always take to mean a musical arrangement that seems to suggest that all the bizarre oddities that crop up in the town the Bad Seeds live in are regular business. Nothing odd; nothing to see here. Just another day in the universe. And to me, this is where the strength of the band tends to come from. This sober observation of all the beauty and horror that comes with paying attention to the ****storm that just strolls by your office park on a daily basis. In a Nick Cave world, true nightmares hide in plain sight in broad daylight, and what’s worse is that unless you stop to smell the roses, you’re never going to know the oncoming tsunami that comes from living in the world of civilized society. To quote the song itself, “I’m a 10-ton catastrophe on a 60-lbs. chain.” That catastrophe is riding the bus with you, checking Facebook on its smartphone. – Fix up; look sharp.

Kicking Against the Pricks
 

This is what got me into Nick, (although I had listened to King Ink -TBP a few times.)

favourite songs, The Mercy Seat,City of Refuge, Diana,

I thought PTSA is average for Nick Cave ... It has nothing on Dig Lazarus Dig, Let Love In, or Murder Ballads ... However Nick Cave's average work still piss all over most artists best work

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On first couple listens I wasn't too impressed, a little disappointed compared to his last few releases. I preferred the last half of the album and couldn't enjoy the first half. But with a few more spins, I'm enjoying the entire album more. 4/5