Nick Cave and the bad seeds?

ESBlonde

What have I missed?

In the last two or three years this fellow keeps popping up as a celebrity on TV and news items. Wiki tells me the band formed in 1983 and has been successful. Now I am of the age where that pretty well coincides with my adult gigging life (I caught the end of punk, disco & new wave). Todays BBC has someone taking a selfie of Cave and asking who the celebrity is, I have to say I'd be in the same boat. I can't recall the band although I might have heard them inadvertently and I certainly was unaware they had reached superstar status. i'm no rocker (I know it's shameful) but I tend to be aware of big or rising bands as a rule.

So really, what should I listen too to get this phenomenon or are they very niche for Australian  schoolboys?

octatonic

Do you want the accessible stuff or the very edgy difficult to get into stuff?

octatonic

The accessible stuff:

octatonic

More accessible stuff:

octatonic

Edgy stuff:

octatonic

My favourite Nick Cave song:



Also check out the Birthday Party:
This can be challenging for a lot of people.

starwarsnosebleed

Both Grinderman albums too.

Sarge

Do listen to:

15 feet of pure white snow. 
Henry Lee.
Weeping Song. 
Stagger Lee. 
Where the wild roses grow. 
and as octatonic linked above, Red Right Hand,  these are for me some of the most accessible tracks they've done,  the band are absolutely fantastic and Cave is a bit marmite but can deliver. 

octatonic

I think it really says something that I've never heard a good cover of a Nick Cave song, certainly not better than the original.

I think he is a fantastic songwriter- he creates entire worlds- the musical setting and vocal delivery sets the tone.
A bit like Tom Waits in this regard.

Ravenous

I knew a bloke who was into "Deep in the Woods".  Quite challenging, shall we say...

JezWynd

fields5069

I have No More Shall We Part, Murder Ballads, Abbattoir Blues / Lyre of Orpheus. All ver ver good and extremely accessible.

BigLicks67

Higgs Boson Blues is a good one of Push The Sky Away.

strumjoughlamps

PolarityMan

Sarge said:

Do listen to:

15 feet of pure white snow. 
Henry Lee.
Weeping Song. 
Stagger Lee. 
Where the wild roses grow. 
and as octatonic linked above, Red Right Hand,  these are for me some of the most accessible tracks they've done,  the band are absolutely fantastic and Cave is a bit marmite but can deliver. 

Add Tupelo on there and youve got a pretty decent "best-of"

gusman2x

Abattoir Blues, Murder Ballads, and Push the Sky Away are exceptional albums. Actually so is The Boatman's Call. 

Nick Cave is a legitimate genius, and artist. In a similar vain to Tom Waits. Fantastic author and screenplay writer too. The Proposition is one of my all time favourite westerns.

And my pro tip, if you get a chance, watch the documentary 20,000 days on earth. And pay particular attention to the bit where he talking to Warren Ellis about playing with Nina Simone. Fucking gold.

WezV

PolarityMan said:

Sarge said:

Do listen to:

15 feet of pure white snow. 
Henry Lee.
Weeping Song. 
Stagger Lee. 
Where the wild roses grow. 
and as octatonic linked above, Red Right Hand,  these are for me some of the most accessible tracks they've done,  the band are absolutely fantastic and Cave is a bit marmite but can deliver. 

Add Tupelo on there and youve got a pretty decent "best-of"

Track listing from "The best of..."

1. "Deanna" – 3:36
2. "Red Right Hand" – 4:48
3. "Straight to You" – 4:35
4. "Tupelo" – 5:12
5. "Nobody's Baby Now" – 3:53
6. "Stranger Than Kindness" – 4:42
7. "Into My Arms" – 4:14
8. "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" – 4:06
9. "The Carny" – 8:01
10. "Do You Love Me?" – 4:37
11. "The Mercy Seat" – 5:08
12. "Henry Lee" (featuring PJ Harvey) – 3:56
13. "The Weeping Song" – 4:20
14. "The Ship Song" – 4:42
15. "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (featuring Kylie Minogue) – 3:57
16. "From Her to Eternity" – 5:32

its actually not a bad place to start

strumjoughlamps

WezV said:

PolarityMan said:

Sarge said:

Do listen to:

15 feet of pure white snow. 
Henry Lee.
Weeping Song. 
Stagger Lee. 
Where the wild roses grow. 
and as octatonic linked above, Red Right Hand,  these are for me some of the most accessible tracks they've done,  the band are absolutely fantastic and Cave is a bit marmite but can deliver. 

Add Tupelo on there and youve got a pretty decent "best-of"

Track listing from "The best of..."

1. "Deanna" – 3:36
2. "Red Right Hand" – 4:48
3. "Straight to You" – 4:35
4. "Tupelo" – 5:12
5. "Nobody's Baby Now" – 3:53
6. "Stranger Than Kindness" – 4:42
7. "Into My Arms" – 4:14
8. "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" – 4:06
9. "The Carny" – 8:01
10. "Do You Love Me?" – 4:37
11. "The Mercy Seat" – 5:08
12. "Henry Lee" (featuring PJ Harvey) – 3:56
13. "The Weeping Song" – 4:20
14. "The Ship Song" – 4:42
15. "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (featuring Kylie Minogue) – 3:57
16. "From Her to Eternity" – 5:32

its actually not a bad place to start

I would disagree, I would recommend Henry's Dream to start with..

or at the very least listen to Brother My Cup is Empty

57Deluxe

http://www.drodd.com/images15/peaky-blinders25.jpg

WezV

strumjoughlamps said:

I would disagree, I would recommend Henry's Dream to start with..

or at the very least listen to Brother My Cup is Empty

thankfully i didn't say it was an essential place to start, but chucking the best of album in my car got the wife on board, and she is now a massive fan 

ewal

I've always liked Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, although I miss the days of the classic Bad Seeds line-up. My love ramped up a few notches when I saw them live for the first time in 1990. They kicked off the show with The Mercy Seat - absolutely stunning performance from the band. I also really enjoyed the Abattoir Blues tour when they had the gospel choir backing singers, as in the video below. I wanted a Guild guitar for years because of Harvey. Unfortunately I haven't seen them for years because what with the general hike in show prices and the fact he's a big draw now, I can't afford it.