Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalogue in the abstract. It’s exact science by way of a few beers.
The man, the myth, the legend. There are few that truly deserve that old cliche, though Nick Cave is an exception to the rule. He’s a man’s man – if you’re looking for music to drink whiskey to, Cave has it in droves. He’s a mythical creature, rarely granting interviews and shying away from every hint of expanding his fame, and consequently he’s become a modern legend. Even in his mid-50s, each new release is anticipated with exuberance from his rabid fanbase. People travel across the country to see him when he tours, even when it’s with a side project.
Cave has had one hell of a career. From a small time punk in Australia in the ’70s, to his current status as one of the most well respected artists on the planet. Over 30 years, he’s had three bands (The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds, Grinderman), recorded 18 studio albums, and written four film scores — that’s just his music career, too. He’s also a celebrated novelist, screenwriter, and actor. He’s accomplished more than most artists could ever dream.
Now, because he’s been at it for such a long time, it could be overwhelming to just jump into the man’s discography feet first. That’s where we come in. We’ve dissected each and every studio album Cave has created, and compiled it all right here just for you. Given the latest reissues of Cave’s work, now is the perfect time to read our take before you check the albums out for yourself.
Ladies and gentlemen: Nick Cave.
-Carson O’Shoney
Senior Staff Writer
Prayers on Fire (1981)
Personnel: Nick Cave, Rowland S. Howard, Mick Harvey, Tracy Pew, Phil Callvert. Also featuring Phillip Jackson, Mick Hauser (Mick Hunter), Stephen Ewart, who provide additional horns on “Nick the Stripper”
Tracks: 11 with two added as bonus material to re-releases.
Songs With Biblical References: Surprisingly, zero.
Craziest Line: It’s nearly impossible to narrow it down to just one line, but we’re going with the entire lyrical content of the song “Capers,” provided by Genevieve McGuckin. The song has a great catch phrase for any trip to the dentist: “Like my tooth face, like my out-do.” Have fun with that.
Most Used Words: “Up” 29 times, “Girl” 15 times, “Zoo” 14
One Sentence Verdict: A true Cave painting in its primordial nature.
Ideal Listening Scenario: Definitely not on hallucinogens. Unless you’re a masochist.
The album as a literal birthday party: Somewhere in the late-teens, where you’re learning the more complicated tenets of aggression. There is no birthday cake here.
-David Von Bader
Junkyard (1982)
Personnel: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard, and Phill Calvert. Tracy Pew received credit, but was in jail on a DUI charge, so Barry Adamson handled bass on some of the tracks.
Tracks: Ten
Average Track Length: 4:07
Seeds Growing: Junkyard is notably less abstract in both its lyrics and sounds than the band’s debut record, though it is still a platypus of a record: fuzzy, dangerous, and unlike anything else you’ve ever heard.
Most Used Words: “Me” 22 times, “Honey” 16 times, “Pow” 15 times, “Doll” 14 times
The closest we’ll ever get to a collab between LCD Soundsystem and William Shakespeare: “Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow)”
Ideal Listening Scenario: Driving something carbureted through the desert, surrounded by empty cups that once contained truck stop coffee, on as little sleep possible; passed-out stripper in the passenger seat optional.
The album as a literal birthday party: The album cover says it all. This one’s for the years when monsters are the coolest thing ever. So, yeah, your early twenties.
-David Von Bader
From Her To Eternity (1984)
Personnel: Barry Adamson, Blixa Bergeld, Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, and Hugo Race.
Tracks: Ten
Covers: Two
Songs With Biblical References: Three
What is Nick Cave doing on the album cover? Staring off into the distance all jealous-like.
Most Used Word: “Down”
Craziest Line: “Let’s see that rat of fear go scuttle in their skulls.”
Mustache: Not yet.
Ideal Listening Scenario: Alone in a dirty apartment, while drinking heavily and thinking about an ex-lover.
Resemblance to The Birthday Party: Extremely high.
One Sentence Verdict: Young, immature, and carefree – this is Nick and his gang at their rowdiest.
-Carson O’Shoney
The Firstborn Is Dead (1985)
Personnel: Barry Adamson, Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave, and Mick Harvey.
Tracks: Nine
Average Track Length: 5:60
Chances this album cover was originally one of Cave’s head shots: Very high.
Isn’t it eerily similar to the cover for The Replacements’ Don’t Tell a Soul?: Sort of, but whereas Paul Westerberg looks like he’s bothered to see you, Cave’s likely wearing his game face here.
Most Used Words: “Wanted” 62 times, “Man” 62 times, “Down” 51 times, “Tupelo” 39 times
How does it match against the Plagues of Egypt? C’mon, man.
Ideal Listening Scenario: Inebriated, somewhere South of the Mason-Dixon.
Cave Trivia: This album’s title is a reference to Elvis Presley’s stillborn twin brother. Macabre that suits the sound!
-David Von Bader
Kicking Against the Pricks (1986)
Personnel: Barry Adamson, Blixa Bergeld, Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Hugo Race, and Thomas Wydler.
Tracks: 14
Covers: All of ‘em.
Songs With Biblical References: One (plus the album title)
What is Nick Cave doing on the album cover? Staring down a dude who asked him for a smoke.
Yeah, but what’s with the hair?: It was the ’80s. Give it up.
Most Used Word: “Keep”
If Nick Cave had written one of these songs, it’d be: “I’m Gonna Kill That Woman”
Just when you thought the last thing the world needed was another cover of Black Betty: Nick Cave kicks it in the ass.
Ideal Listening Scenario: In a dive bar, where fights could break out at any second.
One Sentence Verdict: Nick Cave wears his influence on his sleeve and throws together a fun covers album.
-Carson O’Shoney
Your Funeral… My Trial (1986)
Personnel: Barry Adamson, Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, and Thomas Wydler.
Tracks: Eight
Covers: One
Songs With Biblical References: Two
What is Nick Cave doing on the album cover? Probably heroin.
Most Used Word: “Love”
Song Most Likely To Give You Nightmares: “The Carny”
Short Film Inspired By “The Carny”: Marc Craste’s “Jo Jo in the Stars”
Craziest Line: “I am the fiend hid in her skirt/ and it’s hot as hell in here.”
Ideal Listening Scenario: Walking through back alleys of a big city at midnight of a rainy day.
Resemblance to the Birthday Party: Waning
One Sentence Verdict: A gut-punch of an album, Cave goes darker than ever before to make a powerful, depressing record.
-Carson O’Shoney
Tender Prey (1988)
Personnel: Blixa Bergeld, Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Kid Congo Powers, Roland Wolf, and Thomas Wydler.
Tracks: Ten
Covers: Two. Sort of. Two tracks (“Deanna” and “City of Refuge”) are based on/inspired by other songs, not straight covers.
Songs that were Covered by Johnny F’ing Cash: “The Mercy Seat”
Songs With Biblical References: Four
What is Nick Cave doing on the album cover? Being interrogated by the feds.
Most Used Word: “Down”
Song Most Likely to Give You Nightmares: “Up Jumped the Devil”
Best Use of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in a Video Game: “Up Jumped the Devil” in Alan Wake
Craziest Line: “He insists that he piss in your fist/ But he still takes the money anyways.”
Ideal Listening Scenario: In a cell on death row
One Sentence Verdict: Cave’s most fully realized album at this point in his career, showing plenty of flashes of maturation along side his signature gritty music.
-Carson O’Shoney
The Good Son (1990)
Personnel: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Kid Congo Powers, and Thomas Wylder.
Tracks: Nine
Average Track Length: 5:01
Featured Foil: Blixa Bargeld on “The Weeping Song”
Covers: 0 (Though “Foi Na Cruz”, “The Good Son”, and “The Witness Song” are all based on traditional pieces)
Most Used Words: “Me” 29 times, “Down” 25 times, “Weeping” 21 times
Wait a minute, isn’t this the name of a Macauley Culkin film?: It is.
That film’s tagline — “Evil Has Many Faces” — pretty much screams Nick Cave: Yeah, but not really here. In fact, some fans were ticked off that Cave “went soft” on this record.
Moment of Excellence: The vocal counter-play between Cave and Bargeld on “The Weeping Song” mixes with the boom of a timpani and vibraphone accents in a way that can only be described as sublime.
Ideal Listening Scenario: In the dark, with a broken heart, cloaked in a cloud of cigarette smoke and/or while plotting a murder.
-David Von Bader
Henry’s Dream (1992)
Personnel: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Martyn P. Casey, Conway Savage, and Thomas Wylder.
Tracks: Nine
Average Track Length: 4:56
For a second I thought that was Adrian Pasdar on the billboard: Or, Richard Grieco, am I right?
Most Used Words: “Down” 39 times, “Me” 36 times, “Road” 29 times
Slow Jam of Distinction: “Straight To You”, with its elegant arrangement, and beyond poetic lyrics (get a load of that final verse!) should be the song played when the world finally sees its end.
Josh Groban does a cover of that song!: Oy vey.
Ideal Listening Scenario: The Sunday morning recovery after a weekend of self-abusive behavior.
-David Von Bader
Let Love In (1994)
Personnel: Blixa Bergeld, Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Conway Savage, and Thomas Wydler.
Tracks: Ten
Songs With Biblical References: Two
What is Nick Cave doing on the album cover? Channeling his inner Ziggy Stardust.
Most Used Word: “Sorry”
Does Nick’s Australian accent ever come out? A little bit, on “Do You Love Me”
Ideal Listening Scenario: At a brothel in Las Vegas
Nick’s two acronyms for “Loverman”:
L is for LOVE baby // L is for LOVE baby
O is for ONLY you that I do // O is for O yes I do
V is for loving VIRTUALLY everything you are // V is for VIRTUE, so I ain’t gonna hurt you
E is for loving almost EVERYTHING that you do // E is for EVEN if you want me to
R is for RAPE me // R is for RENDER unto me, baby
M is for MURDER me // M is for that which is MINE
A is for ANSWERING all of my prayers // A is for ANY old how, darling
N is for KNOWING your loverman’s going to be the answer to all of yours // N is for ANY old time
One Sentence Verdict: A very strong mid-career entry that sees Nick Cave approaching 40 with grace.
-Carson O’Shoney
Murder Ballads (1996)
Personnel: Blixa Bergeld, Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, and Thomas Wydler.
Guest List: PJ Harvey, Kylie Minogue, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Tracks: Ten
Death Count: 65
Deaths per Song: Six and a half?
Songs With Biblical References: Two
Songs With “La La La” Sing-a-longs: Three
What is Nick Cave doing on the album cover? Trick question! This is the first Bad Seeds album without Cave on the cover.
Most Used Word: “Said”
Craziest Line: “I’m a bad motherfucker don’t you know/ and I’ll crawl over fifty good pussies just to get to one fat boy’s asshole.”
Choice quote from the “No thank you” letter Nick Cave sent to MTV after they tried to nominate him for Best Male Artist: “My muse is not a horse and I am in no horse race and if indeed she was, still I would not harness her to this tumbrel – this bloody cart of severed heads and glittering prizes. My muse may spook! May bolt! May abandoned me completely!”
Ideal Listening Scenario: While locked up in an insane asylum
One Sentence Verdict: Cave’s most popular album may also be his most insane – and most rewarding.
-Carson O’Shoney
The Boatman’s Call (1997)
Personnel: Blixa Bergeld, Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Conway Savage, and Jim Sclavunos.
Tracks: 12
Songs with Biblical References: Three
Most Used Word: “Love”
What is Nick Cave doing on the album cover? Looking as hard as possible to give the impression that it’s not a soft record.
Resemblance to The Birthday Party: Absolutely none.
Where are the guitars? Nowhere to be found. Nick Cave has embraced the piano.
Craziest Line: ”This useless old fucker with his twinkling cunt/ doesn’t care if he gets hurt.”
That part where animals talk: “A West Country girl with a big fat cat/ that looks into her eyes of green/ and meows ‘he loves you’ then meows again”
Ideal Listening Scenario: Strolling through a lush, quiet park reflecting on your life.
One Sentence Verdict: Nick Cave’s most personal record – a beautiful and heartbreaking portrait of an artist at 40.
-Carson O’Shoney
No More Shall We Part (2001)
Personnel: Blixa Bergeld, Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey, Conway Savage, and Thomas Wydler.
Guests: Leon Bosch, Gustav Clarkson, Lionel Handy, Rebecca Hirsch, Patrick Kiernan, Simon Fischer, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Paul Morgan, Frank Schaefer, Jim Sclavunos, Jackie Shave, Bruce White, Gavyn Wright, and Naomi Wright.
If a song from this album soundtracked a scene in one of Nick Cave’s films, it would be: The whole album over the course of Wings of Desire.
Is this album a goodbye to heroin or the single life?: ”Now, you might think it wise to risk it all/ Throw caution to the reckless wind/ But with her hot cocoa and her medication/ My nurse had been my one salvation.” Is his wife the nurse? Is “medication” a euphemism for smack? Is his wife shooting him up? What the fuck is going on?
Best comment on the lyrics to “Hallelujah” and response to above query [sic throughout]: “I dont know. I’m only 16. I cant begin to scratch the surface of the depth of nick cave’s lyrics.”
Average reviews, in AV Club terminology: B-. Of course Nick Cave proves that you can quit heroin and get married and still make really fucking good music.
Type of whiskey: Single-barrel bourbon
Mustache: No mustache.
Wait, is he being funny?: “Moral sneaks in the White House/ Computer geeks in the schoolhouse/ Drug freaks in the crackhouse/ Homos roam in the streets in packs/ Queer-eyed bashers with tire jacks/ Lesbian counter attacks.”
Let’s be honest: No More Shall We Part is kind of a huge downer. Cave may have polished a new, sterling, deeper-than-deep side of his songwriting, but it doesn’t hold a sad candle to the long, deliciously nasty shadow of the Grinderman franchise.
-Harley Brown
Nocturama (2003)
Personnel: Blixa Bargeld, Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, and Thomas Wydler.
Guests: Chris Bailey, Mickey Gallagher, Chas Jankel, Johnny Turnbull, and Norman Watt-Roy.
When Nick Cave doesn’t sound like Nick Cave, he sounds like: Matt Berninger
If a song from this album soundtracked a scene in one of Nick Cave’s films, it would be: “There Is A Town” during the end of The Proposition when Charlie stares out over the blood-red sunset.
Hints at bandmate Blixa Bargeld’s departure: None
Best parts of the extremely biased Allmusic.com review of the album, among extremely biased Allmusic.com reviews of all Nick Cave’s albums: “Storm-and-bang” instead of “sturm and drang”; “longtime fans may need to reach for the smelling salts after hearing it”; and “he is treading water he puked out 20 years ago” (although the reviewer does accrue points for using “somnambulant”)
Type of whiskey: Australian single malt, in honor of “The Proposition” and Cave’s Aussie heritage
Mustache: No mustache.
Republican candidate who would use the chorus “Bring It On” as their entrance song before Grinderman properly, lawfully flayed them: Sarah Palin
Let’s be honest: Despite the frantic organ solos at the end of “Dead Man In My Bed” and “Babe I’m On Fire”, the forays into freak-rock sound weighted and tainted by what’s to come in a few years, when Cave has come clean and gotten married (and we all know what that means).
-Harley Brown
Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)
Personnel: Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey, James Johnston, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, and James Wydler.
Tracks: Abattoir Blues: Nine, The Lyre of Orpheus: Eight
Songs with Biblical References: Two
Most Used Word: “Down”
Worth it just to hear Nick Cave say the word: Frappuccino
Most sarcastic gospel song: “Get Ready For Love”
Craziest Line: “Eurydice appeared brindled in blood/ and she said to Orpheus/ if you play that fucking thing down here/ I’ll stick it up your orifice!”
That time when Nick Cave sounds happy and it’s weird: “Breathless”
Ideal Listening Scenario: In an old abandoned church, filled with stained glass windows and broken pews.
One Sentence Verdict: This gem of a double album finds the Bad Seeds at the height of their gospel-infused gothic phase.
-Carson O’Shoney
Grinderman (2007)
Personnel: Martyn Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, and Jim Sclavunos.
Animal body parts used as a sexual enhancement: Panther piss
Ratio of Nick as voodoo shaman to Nick as fire-and-brimstone preacher: The sheer number of white mice, black dogs, baboons, monkey fingers, snow white doves, revolting little Chihuahas, honeybees, snakes rattling, and hairy beards would suggest the former. That said, he does seem to know the Bible pretty well on “Love Bomb”.
Attempts of chivalry: When he reads Eliot and Yeats and sucks in his gut just to get into a woman’s pants (then again, all he wants is “a little consensual rape” in the morning and evening, so you be the judge).
Brand of whiskey: Technically, none. He drinks cognac on this album. Well… Okay, fine, moonshine. Preferably brewed in a swamp somewhere by Samuel L. Jackson.
If a song from this album soundtracked a Nick Cave film, it would be: Again, none. Black Snake Moan.
Mustache: Trucker
Best man-made animal sounds: The sound of a bee buzzing on “Honey Bee”.
Hints of The Birthday Party’s proto-punk: “No Pussy Blues” sounds a little like The Dictators’ “Pussy and Money”, but maybe that’s just the pussy part.
-Harley Brown
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (2008)
Personnel: Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey, James Johnston, Jim Sclavunos, and James Wydler.
Tracks: 11
Songs with Biblical References: Three
Most Used Word: “Down”
Mustache: Glorious
Craziest Line: “Here comes Alina with the black eyes, she’s given herself a transfusion/ she’s filled herself with Panda blood to avoid the confusion.”
Did Grinderman bring a little edge back to the Bad Seeds? Absolutely.
Ideal Listening Scenario: Driving across middle America (okay, this one might be personal)
Fitting final line if this is the last Bad Seeds record: “Well, I’ve gotta say goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.”
One Sentence Verdict: Invigorated by the Grinderman experience, Nick Cave returns to his day job and brings them back to the early, gritty sound.
-Carson O’Shoney
Grinderman 2 (2010)
Personnel: Martyn Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, and Jim Sclavunos.
Best series of lines on the album, maybe ever: “My baby calls me the Loch Ness monster/ Two great big humps and then I’m gone/ Actually, I’m the Abominable Snowman.”
Best euphemism for a sexual act: “I stick my fingers in your biscuit jar and crush up your gingerbread men.”
What’s swampier than swamp-crotch?: If “Bawitdaba”-era Kid Rock killed off Ozzy Osbourne and persuaded Black Sabbath to cover The Cramps, it might sound like the gnarly, nightmarish sludge of guitars that close out “When My Baby Comes”.
Additions to Most Dangerous Jobs, or else The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad: “Worm tamer,” “serpent wrangler,” and “mambo rider.”
When Nick Cave doesn’t sound like Nick Cave, he sounds like: Mark Lanegan
Brand of whiskey: Definitely moonshine this time. Specifically, this kind.
Mustache: Trucker
Song that should have been used in The Exorcist, but wasn’t: “EVIL! EVIL! EVIL!”
-Harley Brown
