The youtube video of Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! on Jools Holland is when I knew I was going to be a huge Cave fan.

I love when they show Jack White and he has a look on his face, "we just got pwn'ed by a guy who's 50".

Seriously people...the Bad Seeds are remarkably gifted. From subtlety to the most apocalyptic power you can draw from electric guitars, piano, bass, and drums.

i love him.
And Grinderman is awesome.

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge

1. Abbattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
2. No More Shall We Part
3. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!
4. The Boatman's Call
5. Nocturama
6. Henry's Dream
7. Let Love In
8. Murder Ballads
9. The Good Son
10. Tender Prey
etc, just ain't my thang: The Firstborn is Dead/Kicking Against the Pricks/Your Funeral My Trial/From Her to Eternity

so, the above list might answer a question i have about this cat: where do i start?

i bought nocturama a long time ago and it didn't hook me. got rid of it at some point. probably my problem... not the album's. willing to give it another shot.

good people of the nick cave thread, lend me your recommendations. or you can let track12 have the final word, if this list is a good ranking.

Grinderman.

This is extremely close to my list, track12. Like, almost identical, right down to the indifference toward the first few albums (though I dig the "In the Ghetto" cover). Honestly, probably my only difference would be swapping "Henry's Dream" and "The Good Son." Other than that I endorse this list verbatim.

Mine would be dramatically different.

I would recommend beginning with Let Love In, it's one of the band's most consistent albums and also covers a lot of their different moods and styles. That or Live Seeds, a live album from the Henry's Dream tour.

Let Love In
The Good Son
The Firstborn is Dead
Henry's Dream
From Her to Eternity
Your Funeral, My Trial
Tender Prey

I don't really enjoy much of the Bad Seeds work post-Let Love In. Without Blixa's presence, they just weren't the same band - and, for me, it's always more been about the band than just Nick. All of those albums track12 likes the best just don't yank my crank.

This is more my speed:

I like "Let Love In," but I'd argue you could say this same thing about "Abbatoir/Lyre," only the songwriting is much stronger. Maybe I need to listen to those early records more, but from memory that whole fright-night horror aesthetic just seemed so goofy. As a songwriter he has aged extremely well.

I'd also argue that the band is every bit as present on the post-Let Love In records, their role is just more about providing tactful support than blowing out the speakers. I think "Wonderful Life" from Nocturama is hands down one of the best Bad Seeds ensemble performances, even though nothing in it particularly screams out for attention.

I'd recommend the Grinderman records, particularly the second one, to anyone looking for the raucous abandon of the early Bad Seeds records with the songwriting prowess of Cave's later albums.

i love all the birthday party stuff, too. as for records to start with, i'd echo abattoir, let love in & the grinderman stuff.

off topic-ish, but i'm seeing the dirty three in a month. should be great.

^ The above just moved me to spin Nocturama. I have listened to various albums in the past and while I have enjoyed them I have not taken on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds as I have with other artists I've discovered after a fair portion of their career. I enjoy Murder Ballads quite a bit but I think I'm due for a full-on immersion, should work well since I get to start taking the train to work again tomorrow.

I also love both Grinderman albums. I'm not talking excellence but the albums are always fantastic listening experiences.

I wrote a post about how the Bad Seeds became a lot less interesting once they became more conventional and Nick's songwriting came to the fore, but I lost it when the board spazzed out for a moment.

Bite into this and see what you think, Alex:

(updated some of those vids)

Dirty Three tomorrow night

Excellent.

For the record, I'd take any Dirty Three record over anything by Nick Cave.

That´s you trying to be different. We all know that´s impossible.

if full transcriptions of warren ellis's demented yarns were published on rm chaos would surely descend on the tech support sub-forum