I have to say that I wasn't much impressed with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds when I bought Murder Ballads back in college. I didn't think that he would actually make a CD based solely on murder (of course, most albums are based on love and relationships); how naïve I was. It was by blind faith that I had purchased it. I had heard a song on the radio; I had no idea who performed it or what the name of it was. When the DJ rattled off the set of songs he had played, I guessed Nick Cave from the group. I got the artist right. After listening to it a handful of times, I traded it in. Having a whole album based on murder was too creepy.
I don't know why, but I still had a fascination with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Browsing through CD's at the store, I'd come to his section; maybe sift through what collection was there. I even listened to a few cuts off of some of his CD's. Some songs may have gripped me, but not enough to buy any of his stuff. What allure I had, I'm still not sure why it was there. Nick Cave is an interesting character from what I've seen. His voice is deep, but he's got a boyish, sharp edged face. I was told by a New Zealander that there were only two types of Australians. When I asked him about Nick Cave, he said that he was a different kind of Aussie. In essence, I didn't know much about him, but being different was something that attracted me towards him music, even if I hadn't bought a CD that I liked yet.
Surfing through the internet, I found an article on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds touring through Europe supporting their new double album Abattoir Blues and The Lyre of Orpheus. It jogged my interest again. I did some digging just to get an idea of what it was like. Reviews were mixed, and I wasn't too sure I would really want to take the chance. So, I put that away in my memory banks in case I ever got interested.
Well, I had forgotten all about it until I was in a CD store trying to get rid of a gift certificate I had received for Christmas. I was about to walk out of the store empty-handed, when, ta-da!, it jumped out from a display into my hand.
The young clerk behind the counter, playing some kind of metal band and messing around with his friend, mentioned that he should start listening to Nick Cave. He wanted to know what he was like. I wasn't too sure what to tell him. I could vaguely recall him going through different phases; goth-punk, blues, rock, gospel. In fact gospel, was his most recent work was described which was a bit off putting at first.
From listening to this new release, I found that Nick Cave definitely mixes his own style to bring us a different breed. Cave's lyrics are up there with the best of them - Waits, Dylan, Cohen. Religion breathes provocative through Abattoir Blues, mainly to question and provoke thought.
The opening tune "Get Ready for Love" starts with a bang. It takes a cynical view on southern evangelism. The music is full of energy and uplifting, like walking into a southern church when their choir is going at full speed, but the words tell us something different. "Well, most of all nothing much every really happens here/And God rides high in the ordinary sky/Until we find ourselves at our most distracted/And the miracle that was promised creeps quietly by."
The Word doesn't stop here. With "Hiding All Away", a dark, subdued song that erupts at the end, pounding down upon us music and lyrics. "But we all know there is a law/And that law, it is love/And we all know there's a war coming/Coming from above." With the help of the London Community Gospel Choir, you know the war is coming.
Not all the songs are preachy, but they are heavy. "Abattoir Blues" is like an apocalypse. It's a slower song dominant with drums, piano and a bit of bass. "Everything's dissolving, babe, according to plan/The sky is on fire, the dead are heaped across the land/I went to bed last night and my moral code got jammed/I woke up this morning with a Frappucino in my hand. " The mood remains steady throughout bringing ever closer an apocalypse.
The Lyre of Orpheus is much different to Abattoir Blues. It doesn't have a bang musically but it still gives a significant bite.
Starting with the "Lyre of Orpheus", it's a twisted version of the Greek myth. The guitar work is quite maniacal which parallels the gist of the song. Cave's version begins with Orpheus making a lyre (which in the original myth is actually given to him by his father Apollo). The music he makes with the lyre kills whatever is within ear shot. "Look what I've made, cried Orpheus/And he plucked a gentle note/Eurydice's eyes popped from their sockets/And her tongue burst through her throat." The song is a dark comedy as we follow more of the lyre's destruction, "Birds detonated in the sky/Bunnies dashed their brains out on the trees." It's ironic because in the Greek myth the music Orpheus makes is supposed to be beautiful.
Probably, the best song out of the two CD's is "Breathless". With all the doomsday and depressing things that he can write about, he can pull a 180 and write beautifully of love. "The happy hooded bluebells bow/and bend their heads all a-down/Heavied by the early morning dew/At the whispering stream, at the bubbling brook/The fishes leap up to take a look/For they are breathless without you. " It's big change from death, destruction or the coming of judgment day.
Equally sweet, but naughty, is "Babe You Turn Me On". It's more seductive than "Breathless".
You race naked through the wilderness
You torment the birds and the bees
You leapt into the abyss, but find
It only goes to your knees
I move stealthily from tree to tree
I shadow you for hours
I make like I'm a little deer
Grazing on the flowers
Cave takes on the wilder side of the love, equally as lucid as the other.
"Supernaturally" is the only fast-paced song on The Lyre of Orpheus that has a Spanish flare to it. It's a fun song that makes you want to jump on the table and dance with gusto. However, it holds the acoustic quality that is present throughout the CD.
All in all, I have to say that this CD was well worth the purchase. It may not give a complete example of who Nick Cave is or his music, but it does give a glimpse. It would even pay to investigate further into past efforts, especially since his career spans three decades. As for the song I heard on the radio eight years ago, I'm still looking.
You can visit Nick Cave and the Seeds at http://www.nick_caveandthebadseeds.com.
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