Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus

2004-11-09

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are back with another disk....no wait, that's two disks!!! They are a set. The first is Abattoir, which is definitely the more rock 'n roll album of the two, and it really packs a punch! Unbridled gothic post-punk passion!!! At times I hear cynicism and joy radiating from the same songs, as he mocks the Western take on God and religion and yet yearns to discover God's will.

The second disk is a softer more carefully theatrical disc. It's also slightly more experimental in nature. The quest in Cave's songwriting seems to be "to explore his obsessions with religion, death, love, America and violence with a bizarre, sometimes self-consciously eclectic hybrid of blues, gospel, rock and arty post-punk"(allmusic.com). If you are familiar with Cave's work, you know that part already. The music making itself accentuates the passion and gritty focus of those obsessions.

Quick Links:

More reviews tagged #Rock

  • reviewed 01/2016

    K. Jones and the Benzie Playboys
    Morning Train

  • reviewed 08/2014

    BEAR IN HEAVEN
    Time Is Over One Day Old

  • reviewed 10/2007

    MARK KNOPFLER
    KILL TO GET CRIMSON

  • reviewed 05/2008

    Chip Fundy
    Chip Fundy

  • reviewed 02/2006

    GREG JOHNSON
    Here Comes the Caviar

  • reviewed 11/2013

    THE GORIES
    The Shaw Tapes: Live in Detroit 5/27/88

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.