Nick Cave's '90s Odyssey: Love, Murder, and Soul Searching
Unearthing Unedited Reviews: Exploring Nick Cave's '90s Albums
Hello and welcome to "Vintage Cafe," a reader-supported newsletter crafted for curious minds. It's my personal haven where I share my passions: music, films, books, travel, coffee, and art. To stay updated on new posts and to support my work, consider becoming either a free or paid subscriber. Opting for a paid subscription is the most impactful way to sustain and champion Vintage Cafe.
Long ago, I wrote several reviews of a group of remastered reissues of Nick Cave's albums from the '90s. Unfortunately, the editor at the time drastically altered the text (slaughtered it), much to my horror. As a result, many of the original ideas, context, nuances, and structure were lost. Fortunately, I've preserved the original text, which I'm presenting here without any embellishments.
Nick Cave – Let Love In/Murder Ballads/Boatman’s Call/No More Shall We Part (2011 remasters)
In recent years, Nick Cave has proven to be unstoppable. As time passes, Cave shows no signs of aging or any intention to slow down his prolific output or rest on his laurels. His activity is increasing both in quantity and quality. Fronting two bands – the longstanding Bad Seeds and the newfound outlet Grinderman, recording a batch of soundtracks in between, writing several books such as "The Death of Bunny Munro," scripting screenplays, and touring the world numerous times – Cave's dedication is evident. Within an industry prone to decline, he exhibits no signs of stopping at all. Undoubtedly a gifted poet and composer, Cave is, above all, a dedicated hard worker. Some might even say he's vying for James Brown’s vacant title as the hardest-working man in show business.
Musical styles evolve over the years, with each era producing its own idols whose stars shine more brightly than the rest in the firmament of music legends. While it's easy to shower Cave with accolades after so many years in the music business, his work reflects hard-won musical victories in a path rarely trodden by his peers. Like other great artists such as Dylan, Cohen, and Tom Waits, Cave has the gift of serving as a mirror to his audience. He's not merely in a different league from most of his peers; the songs of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds allow listeners to question or come to terms with their own feelings, be they good or bad.
However, Cave has built a career by writing solely about his obsessions. His changes from record to record have tested even his most devoted fans over the years. In a music world where lyrics and music don't just walk side by side but often collide and wrestle with each other, the Bad Seeds have proven themselves as an eclectic band that can handle anything as they grapple with Cave’s deep baritone.
This third batch of reissues – comprising 4 crucial records – reflects the time when the wheel of fortune began to spin rapidly for the band, and it never slowed down. The 90s were a fruitful period for Cave and his “Seeds of Evil”. They ascended the ladder both in terms of quality and maturity, naturally evolving from the outlaw rock music of the 80s. This evolution brought them commercial, artistic, and critical success, placing them on the music map well beyond the 80s music underground. However, it was also a challenging period for them, as their success was seen as betrayal and commercialization in the eyes of some fans. Though not apparent at first glance, during this time, Cave found himself at a crossroads both with his audience and his work and personal life. These albums, from ‘Let Love In’ to ‘No More Shall We Part,’ consist of unparalleled, damaged, and daring music that is both emotion-stirring and gut-wrenching, coming from a band firmly resistant to compromise.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Let Love In
Mute Records
1994
For Nick Cave and his band, ‘Let Love In’ represents a change of direction as well as a change of artistic perspective in his relationship with his audience and his way of communicating his ideas through his lyrics and music. Released in 1994, it allowed Cave and his band to finally emerge from the familiar underground of the music business and planted them in the mainstream music scene. ‘Let Love In’ is the sound of a band at the top of its game. The songs are closely connected lyrically, although musically, they are quite diverse. The band availed themselves of a variety of styles, oscillating between vaudeville and bar music, rock, gospel, and country, to create a musical framework on which Cave could lay out his personal lyrics. The songs convey a profound sense of confession, self-accusation, and conciliation. They convey the idea of letting love in and experiencing what love has to offer.
Despite the title, there is nothing excessively romantic on this record. It thematically explores love in various contexts, delivering several poignant moments. The album oscillates between admonishment and the pleasures of being in love. In 1998, Cave, among others, was invited to participate in a literary project to supply a foreword to a reissue of the King James Bible. In his essay, Cave mentions that it was the Old Testament that captivated him with its brutality and harshness. He was particularly struck by the vengeful god who tested people by bringing upon them various catastrophes, including love, with all its sorrows and disappointments, alongside fulfillment and happiness.
From the outset of the record, one can sense the theatricality unfolding from the first song until the last. Probably for the first time, rather than hiding behind an imaginary character, as he has done numerous times before, Cave sings in the first person. The overall sound and conviction in his singing add weight to these songs. The opening track “Do You Love Me” is a real gem. Ferociously sung, it is an ode to doomed love, destined to end despite its greatness and fulfillment. From the opening bass lines of "Do You Love Me (Part 1)", it's clear that Cave and his band are here to make a statement. The raw energy, the explosive instrumentation, it all sets the stage for what's to come. But amidst the chaos, there's a sense of purpose, a method to the madness. Cave's exploration of love, death, and everything in between is masterfully executed, drawing listeners into his dark and twisted world.
“Nobody’s Baby Now' is a sweet and ironic piano-based ballad, while the gospel-influenced “Lay Me Low” and “Ain’t Gonna Rain No More” are filled with subdued anger, sorrow, and fleeting depression. The viciously angry rock style from the past is best seen on sonic assaults such as “Thirsty Dog,” “Jangling Jack” and “Loverman.” “Thirsty Dog” is a straight rock chestnut and evil slammer that sees Cave’s singing blazing through like a force of nature. “Loverman” is a seductive and wicked song about a person destroyed by life, feeling that rejuvenation is possible if only desired. All of these showcase Cave's prowess as a storyteller, weaving tales of passion and obsession with a raw intensity that is both captivating and unsettling.
And yet, for all its darkness, there's a glimmer of hope that runs through “Let Love In.” It's a reminder that even in our darkest moments, there is beauty to be found if only we're willing to look for it. A pair of atmospheric pieces round out the ballads. “Ain’t Gonna Rain Anymore” echoes the slow, moody, feel of his earlier work, but with a hook that slowly manages to worm its way into your brain as the music washes over Cave’s brooding vocals. Then there’s “Do You Love Me (Part 2)”, a reprise of the opening track that closes out the album perfectly.
‘Let Love In’ is one of the watershed records of the 90s. It is full of tremendous songs filled with raw emotional power. Since its release, it has been perceived as the pinnacle of Cave’s canon, deserving all the accolades it has received. Only a few bands can marshal such sublime power. Credit must be given to producer Tony Cohen, who brought out the best in the band. It is a masterpiece of dedication and lyricism crafted by a man and his band at the height of their creative powers.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Murder Ballads
Mute Records
1996 (Reissued 2011)
‘Murder Ballads’ is Cave’s ninth album. If ‘Let Love In’ partially circled around the concept of love, this time Cave has completely devoted his songs to the dark art of murder and violence. In the eerie and enigmatic world of Cave's discography, where love and death often dance hand in hand, "Murder Ballads" emerges as a chilling exploration of the darkest recesses of human emotion. It seems that Cave has poured his preoccupation with killings and death into a formula that enabled him to exorcise his demons and clean out the psychological baggage that has accompanied him throughout his work.
As seen on his previous album, "Let Love In," Cave’s love songs can easily turn into death songs. It was only a matter of time before he dedicated an entire album to unraveling the intricate relationship between love and death. As the title suggests, it is a bloody affair, with 66 corpses by the end of the album. The album belongs to traditions that exist in every culture, as each culture has songs about murders alongside lullabies, love songs, drinking songs, or work songs. Not so long ago, songs served as messages that were passed from generation to generation as unwritten documents.
It is well known that Cave writes mostly about his obsessions, but in the past, his preoccupation and fascination with macabre crime fiction and the blood and damnation of religious mythology were often trivial at their core. All of that, including the songs on this album, were/are filtered through a streak of black humor that makes the whole album some sort of a parody. It is an irony of the brutality of the killings presented through beautifully constructed pop songs. As a concept, it only delves into the art of storytelling, an art for art’s sake.
This is mostly evident and best presented in the first single “Where the Wild Roses Grow,” a duet with Kylie Minogue. The song is set from the point of view of a dead woman, and it is a beautiful reflection on the human face lost to acts of sudden, incomprehensible violence. As a pop tune, “Where the Wild Roses Grow” is always going to resonate well beyond its simple story of true love and murder. Another great duet on the album was “Henry Lee,” done with PJ Harvey. It is a traditional tune and poignant duet that ends up in murder. “Stagger Lee” is a staggering reinterpretation of this folk tune, and Cave’s version sounds devilishly wicked, best described as the first gangsta-folk tune.
As the songs progress, so does the body count (“O'Malley's Bar”). The album ends with a version of Bob Dylan’s hidden gem and genius work, “Death is Not the End,” which is brutally direct, striking, and true as any other Dylan work. But this is one of those rare occurrences where the version is better than the original. There is a plethora of artists that take part in singing a single verse, like Blixa Bargeld, Shane McGowan, Anita Lane, Kylie Minogue, PJ Harvey. Mick Harvey, Thomas Wylder, and the end result is really a more ironical and brutally honest song, with the words still haunting the listener after the song has ended.
The album is still critically undervalued, probably because of the duet with Kylie Minogue and the major mainstream success that overshadowed the quality and the humor of this album. Partly that duet served notice that Cave was willing to risk his popularity or status for his principles that he is neither part of any movement or group of people both underground or over. By his own admission, this is an album for which he has no great emotional attachment o. But it is not a throwaway album in any sense. In a certain aspect, it bears resemblance to the Natural Born Killers movie which attempted to make an all-fronts attack on the media that portrays violence by making a parody of it.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
The Boatman’s Call
Mute Records
1997
‘The Boatman’s Call’ is the one that comes closest to fully realizing Cave’s artistic project. He has often expressed the desire to write songs of deep personal illumination in simple and concise poetics, and on that album, he fulfills it with the utmost results. At its most blunt and congruent reception, Boatman’s Call is a fully sustained work with songs that speak directly about human relationships and concerns, devoid of self-righteousness. The songs hone in on “beauty and simplicity,” resulting in a record that seeps with regret, wisdom, helplessness, and a confessional sense of hurt. It is his quest for meaning, love, and fulfillment. Cave took a deep dive within himself and portrayed the world and his relationship with women in a more introspective manner.
The lyrics are deep, and sorrowful, and were written as if the songs were meant to be read aloud, not sung. Cave has never been as emotionally direct, and that is evident from the opening lines of the first song, “Into My Arms”: “
I don’t believe in an interventionist god,
but if I did, I would kneel down and ask him,
not to intervene when it comes to you,
not to touch a hair on your head,
to leave you as you are, and if he felt he had to direct you,
then direct you into my arms.”
The striking lines of this song set the tone that reverberates throughout the record. His wit shines through in the cleverly crafted first line, which simultaneously conveys a bracing sentiment. It balances the dual impulses of apostasy and romantic longing that run deep within the album. "Into My Arms" draws upon Biblical imagery to fashion an agnostic's prayer, a fervent plea to a higher power that may or may not exist, seeking protection for a beloved. It remains one of Cave's most exquisite and stripped-down ballads, with nothing but a piano to shape the singer's muted vocals as he implores the heavens. Cave's voice, once filled with sinister menace, now carries a somber tone, acknowledging vulnerability in the face of love.
Cave also performed this song at the funeral of Michael Hutchence of INXS who died the same year ‘Boatman’s Call’ was out. The songs are deliberately very minimal and sparse while Cave, who portrays a person who has gone through suffering throughout most of his life, takes the songs with a twist of duality – no joy without sorrow and no pain without consolation:
“Out of sorrow, entire worlds have been built,
Out of longing great wonders have been willed,
They're only little tears, darling, let them spill,
And lay your head upon my shoulder,
Outside my window the world has gone to war,
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?”
The praises he sings to his beloved are followed by bitter remarks and recriminations about unfulfilled love. Most of the songs were inspired by his past relationships. The album was also enriched by introducing new full-time members in the band, which also included Warren Ellis of The Dirty Three (who played the violin as early as ‘Let Love In’). The violin parts on “Far from Me” are heartbreakingly beautiful, and the sounds simply tear the heart in two. At the time, Cave gave a lecture on writing love songs, pointing out that all love songs have to have moments of grief and loneliness, and that love songs that only show passion and the sunny side are actually camouflaged hate songs. “Far from Me” is a bittersweet song and a lament for a woman and a relationship that starts off very happy and ends up very sad. When he sings about her and praises her, he also feels the pain of her absence.
This newfound warmth permeates much of the album. "Lime Tree Arbour" serves as a tranquil dedication to affection and trust in a partner, bearing raw admissions of reliance with lines like "There is a hand that protects me, and I do love her so." "Black Hair" becomes an ode to the raven locks of his lover, with the repeated mention of "black hair" in each line. The haunting accordion adds a moonlit swell to Cave's heartfelt expressions. In "Green Eyes," Cave homes in on another captivating feature, plaintively pleading, "So hold me and hold me, don't tell me your name." The songs carry a mournful, sea-shanty quality, reminiscent of Tom Waits' own work, while the unconventional instrumentation showcases the evolution of the Bad Seeds, adapting their intensity to harmonize with Cave's introspection without losing their distinctive idiosyncrasies.
Yet, amidst the songs of devotion, there are just as many that navigate the sorrow of heartbreak, often invoking religious themes in search of answers or distractions. "Brompton Oratory" finds Cave indulging his religious inclinations and doubts in equal measure, attending a cathedral service while his mind drifts to the statues of apostles, frozen away from the temptations and sins of the modern world. Rather than finding spiritual solace, Cave confesses to envying the stony figures for their impassivity, not only in matters of faith but also in a hinted breakup that underlies the album's pervasive sense of lonely searching. As Cave's melancholic voice resonates, an organ swells, providing a benediction to his doubting declarations. "People Ain't No Good" presents a new facet of Cave's cynical humor, juxtaposing initially upbeat and romantic verses with a chorus that bears the song's titular phrase before descending into the misery of a shattered relationship.
“Boatman’s Call” is a rare record that reveals more rather than conceals, even though it is an introverted and frugal record with the most affecting songs. Undoubtedly, a product of Cave’s own struggles to come to grips with the dissolution of his relationships, the album is deeply rooted in the dark side of life through themes of love lost and being lost. The album stands as a remarkable achievement, showcasing his growth as an artist and his unwavering commitment to exploring the depths of the human experience. “The Boatman’s Call” is no more about his experiences than they are about yours or mine. Nick Cave has laid his soul bare, and ultimately it is more poetic Cave we hear, which truly is what makes this record a timeless masterpiece.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
No More Shall We Part
Anti
2001
Emotions are the most powerful phenomenon in this world, regardless of what we may think. Our emotions pull the strings, they never lie, and they always show where we stand, even when we do not accept our reality. Cave is someone who knows about emotions – he has been torn, angered, and down, and has been high and happy, but most of all, he knows how to express that in his songs. “Boatman’s Call’ changed the way he wrote his songs. As an artist who never rests on his laurels and as someone who keeps changing, so his music naturally takes different forms. ‘No More Shall We Part’ introduces a new Nick Cave and his band as older, more mature, and wiser with a prevailing preaching tone. The album broke the 4-year silence that followed the monumental ‘The Boatman’s Call’ (only to be broken by a best-of compilation in 2000), and during that time, Cave married and became a father of twins.
There is a great depth to this album, and it bears a certain mournful feeling throughout. It is a slower, seductive offering that balances between the sentimental and sad as well as the raging. It also balances between hope and despair. The music is simple and sparse with an emphasis on the lyrics and moods, as always. Cave is intoxicating with his vocal deliveries on sweeping ballads like "As I Sat Sadly by Her Side" and "Love Letter," in particular, and they assume a dark and otherworldly allure. The opening “As I sat sadly by her side” is a sad, mournful, and elegiac song that brims with haunting, ethereal, and devastating sadness.
There are plenty of other gems on this record like “God is in the House,” “Sweetheart Come,” “Gates to the Garden,” “Hallelujah,” and “Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow.” The songs are touched by more of a somber, gospel grace, eliciting altogether unique contexts and emotional dimensions, while lyrically it goes beyond any cold philosophizing. The band provides a great backdrop for Cave's deep baritone.
‘No More Shall We Part’ marked a certain decline in what Cave and the Seeds had to offer. It is a record of an artist facing middle age, and the tone reflects that which is probably the reason for the spooked tone and rainy atmosphere throughout the album. The decline was most evident in the next offering ‘Nocturama’ (Anti, 2003). Yet, it's a powerful album, and certainly one of Cave’s most deeply personal works.
Enjoyed the read? This article is freely available for reading and sharing. If you enjoy it and would like to support the writer, you can consider buying them a coffee. Your support is greatly appreciated!
I'm ashamed to say I know very little about Cave. This will help. Thank you.