Album Club: 16.08.2011: Nick Cave - Murder Ballads

[John]

Its been hard thinking of what album I should start off with I was tempted very much to go with Grace but perhaps another time. So I gone for an album whilst not usually considered a classic is reasonably well known

Nick Cave - Murder Ballads 1996 (CD, Vinyl, Casette)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61YytFQGcvL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

http://open.spotify.com/album/5mCZgkh6C5xD49i9yIk3bs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_Ballads

So why have chosen this album
I think along with a Boatman Call this is Nick at the height of his powers. The album is basically a series of songs about murder. Nick has always had a dark side to his music listen to some of the songs in the past such as A box for black Paul or the Mercy Seat you can clearly see Nick playing with themes of death
What Nick does is play with myth and fable dabbling away with a dark tortured and seductive quality taking the listener deeper into the music.
This is not an album for everyone, its dark, has touches of macabre humour, but the song writing and supporting cast is of the highest quality, even has Kylie singing on Where the Wild Roses Grow
It be interesting what others will make of this album:lolsign:

[Thing Fish]

This was the first time I'd heard this album and to be honest I struggled to get through it. By the end of track three I was facing the wall with a lifeless stare, razor in hand.

It was a combination of the dirge style music and his Cohen style voice that almost pushed me over the edge.

It is one of those albums that you probably have live with for a bit to appreciate but to be honest I fear for my own sanity were I to listen to it again..:(

[John]

I certainly think a lot of people here will struggle with it, its not easy but a lot more commercial than his early material It will be either love or hate for most people (most likely hate) and no appologies for chosing something that will bring that kind of response, sometimes good music should push boundaries
If I can get a few people into the album then job done

[WAD62]

Good choice John...for myself I would probably have gone with 'Abattoir Blues', but that's just my personal favourite and he's got a large portfolio of very good work, 'Murder Ballads' is a fine album. :)

[griffo104]

A great choice. I love this album.

This was the album where I accepted Nick Cave in to my life fully, I seemed to be think his albums were always one good track followeed by one bad track, ironically a similar problem I had with the lovely Miss Harvey at the time. this album not only got me in to Cave properly but I also went after Miss Harvey's albums afterwards.

The songs run like these wonderfully dark little stories - Harvey and Minogue's cameos being the more commercial side but they are wonderfully dark little pop songs, imo.

For me I always enjoyed Nocturama better which followed this album but this was the first Cave album I enjoyed from start to finish.

Sadly I lost the cd version in a flood a couple of years ago but had the vinyl stored safely in another location.

Of course for me Cave hasn't been as good since Blixa stopped being a Bad Seed :( of course the plus side was some quality Einsturzunde Neubauten so not all bad.

I'm going to enjoy listening to this during the week.

[Tim]

Nice one John, this is easy so far as I have the albums in my collection already :) I'm looking forward to getting this one out.

[John]

Simon I totally agree about Nick earlier work they had moments of brillance and then the moments of whats that...... This is quite a comercial album I have a few friends who do not like it as they think its to pop but for me it gets the balance right
I love Boatman Call as well; which is kind of love song to PJ Harvey and yet still maintains a sense of darkness at times
I always wanted to hear Kate Bush with Nick

[griffo104]

Johnny Cash did a great version of Mercy Seat.

His tone and delivery really seemed to suit Cave's songs, just a shame he didn't get a chance to do a few more versions.

In the Cash boxset of the American recordings, in the booklet Cave mentions about doing a song with him. A bit of a shame Cash never got a chance to be a Bad Seed, I think it would have worked very well.

As I've gotten older, and hopefully wiser, Cave's earlier stuff has appealed to me a lot more than when I was younger coming in to them.

Maybe it's just me but I find him seriously underrated as a songwriter. I know he has quite a strong following but he should really be more appreciated, imo, of course.

[keiths]

Mmmm, never really liked any Nick Cave stuff that I've heard so far and haven't got this album, but I do have a mate who is a big Cave fan so will borrow it off him for Thursday.

[aquapiranha]

Man I LOVE this album. Dark though the subject matter is, Cave manages to add humour through his use of well crafted lyrics. I particularly like O'Malley's Bar, and I am sure I will not be alone here. Nick Cave is a poet, an orator, a comedian and psychologist all rolled into one. You might think with such insight and detail to the song I mention that it was a real event, or that he had fantasised about doing the deeds within in his warped mind! Whatever the truth, it gets me every time and I put the album unreservedly in my top 10. Just read the lyrics!

I am tall and I am thin
Of an enviable hight
And I've been known to be quite handsome
In a certain angle and in certain light

Well I entered into O'Malley's
Said, "O'Malley I have a thirst"
O'Malley merely smiled at me
Said "You wouldn't be the first"

I knocked on the bar and pointed
To a bottle on the shelf
And as O'Malley poured me out a drink
I sniffed and crossed myself

My hand decided that the time was nigh
And for a moment it slipped from view
And when it returned, it fairly burned
With confidence anew

Well the thunder from my steely fist
Made all the glasses jangle
When I shot him, I was so handsome
It was the light, it was the angle

Huh! Hmmmmmm

"Neighbours!" I cried, "Friends!" I screamed
I banged my fist upon the bar
"I bear no grudge against you!"
And my dick felt long and hard

"I am the man for which no God waits
But for which the whole world yearns
I'm marked by darkness and by blood
And one thousand powder-burns"

Well, you know those fish with the swollen lips
That clean the ocean floor
When I looked at poor O'Malley's wife
That's exactly what I saw

I jammed the barrel under her chin
And her face looked raw and vicious
Her head it landed in the sink
With all the dirty dishes

Her little daughter Siobhan
Pulled beers from dusk till down
And amongst the townfolk she was a bit of a joke
But she pulled the best beer in town

I swooped magnificent upon her
As she sat shivering in her grief
Like the Madonna painted on the church-house wall
In whale's blood and banana leaf

Her throat it crumbled in my fist
And I spun heroically around
To see Caffrey rising from his seat
I shot that mother fucker down

Mmmmmmmmmm Yeah Yeah Yeah

"I have no free will", I sang
As I flew about the murder
Mrs. Richard Holmes, she screamed
You really should have heard her

I sang and I laughed, I howled and I wept
I panted like a pup
I blew a hole in Mrs. Richard Holmes
And her husband stupidly stood up

As he screamed, "You are an evil man"
And I paused a while to wonder
"If I have no free will then how can I
Be morally culpable, I wonder"

I shot Richard Holmes in the stomach
And gingerly he sat down
And he whispered weirdly, "No offense"
And then lay upon the ground

"None taken", I replied to him
To which he gave a little cough
With blazing wings I neatly aimed
And blew his head completely off

I've lived in this town for thirty years
And to no-one I am a stranger
And I put new bullets in my gun
Chamber upon chamber

And I turned my gun on the bird-like Mr. Brookes
I thought of Saint Francis and his sparrows
And as I shot down the youthful Richardson
It was St. Sebastian I thought of, and his arrows

Hhhhhhhhhh Mmmmmmmmmmmm

I said, "I want to introduce myself
And I am glad that all you came"
And I leapt upon the bar
And shouted out my name

Well Jerry Bellows, he hugged his stool
Closed his eyes and shrugged and laughed
And with an ashtray as big as a fucking really big brick
I split his head in half

His blood spilled across the bar
Like a steaming scarlet brook
And I knelt at it's edge on the counter
Wiped the tears away and looked

Well, the light in there was blinding
Full of God and ghosts of truth
I smiled at Henry Davenport
Who made an attempt to move

Well, from the position I was standing
The strangest thing I ever saw
The bullet entered through the top of his chest
And blew his bowels out on the floor

Well I floated down the counter
Showing no remorse
I shot a hole in Kathleen Carpenter
Recently divorced

But remorse i felt and remorse I had
It clung to every thing
From the raven's hair upon my head
To the feathers on my wings

Remorse sqeezed my hand in it's fradulent claw
With it's golden hairless chest
And I glided through the bodies
And killed the fat man Vincent West

Who sat quietly in his chair
A man become a child
And I raised the gun up to his head
Executioner-style

He made no attempt to resist
So fat and dull and lazy
"Did you know I lived in your street?" I said
And he looked at me as though I were crazy

"O", he said, "I had no idea"
And he grew as quiet as a mouse
And the roar of the pistol when it went off
Near blew that hat right off the house

Hmmmmmm Uh Uh

Well, I caught my eye in the mirror
And gave it a long and loving inspection
"There stands some kind of man", I roared
And there did, in the reflection

My hair combed back like a raven's wing
My muscles hard and tight
And curling from the business end of my gun
Was a query-mark of cordite

Well I spun to the left, I spun to the right
And I spun to the left again
"Fear me! Fear me! Fear me!"
But no one did cause they were dead

Huh! Hmmmmmmmmm

And then there were the police sirens wailing
And a bull-horn squelched and blared
"Drop your weapons and come out
With your hands held in the air"

Well, I checked the chamber of my gun
Saw I had one final bullet left
My hand, it looked almost human
As I raised it to my head

"Drop your weapon and come out!
Keep your hands above your head!"
I had one one long hard think about dying
And did exactly what they said

There must have been fifty cops out there
In a circle around O'Malley's bar
"Don't shoot", I cried, "I'm a man unarmed!"
So they put me in their car

And they sped me away from that terrible scene
And I glanced out of the window
Saw O'Malley's bar, saw the cops and the cars
And I started counting on my fingers

Aaaaaah One Aaaaaah Two Aaaaaah Three Aaaaaaah Four
O'Malley's bar O'Malley's bar

Now that is an epic story, even if you do not like the subject matter!

[John]

Nick has a very creative soul
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Cave

[griffo104]

He also did things with PJ which had nothing to do with music, for which I'm very jealous of the man.

[John]

He also did things with PJ which had nothing to do with music, for which I'm very jealous of the man.

:lolsign:

[Welder]

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Murder Ballads.
Original CD ripped to file.

I hadn’t heard this before. I have a copy of the The Good Son which I like but don’t seem to play so Nick Cave isn’t completely new to me if somewhat neglected.
I managed to listen back to back twice before I felt the need to listen to something else.

Very pleasantly surprised overall and I think I’ll be playing a bit more Nick in the future.
There aren’t that many songs with a narrative as such, a notable exception imo and relatively recent is Carolina Drama by The Raconteurs which I think is tremendous.
hqp12b61pFo

So, firstly, trying to match a narrative, which tend to not have a catchy chorus for singalonability and keep the listener interested, is an art largely forgotten in much modern music.
Next, even though Nick strays away from what one might technically describe as singing at quite a few points in the album, he just about gets a way with the slightly husky shouting. Maybe we have a new genre here; Nicks Bad Seed Rap :lol:
I really enjoyed the instrument mix in this album. I’m still trying to work out exactly what they all are.
It is a dark album but not in any way depressing thanks to the humour that permeates the entire album. If this was Leonard Cohen I prolly wouldn’t be around to write this.

Great choice John. Thanks for coming up with something very entertaining and unusual.

[Thing Fish]

I actually quite like Nick Cave. Just not that album. Am I the only one not afraid to say so. Baaaa Baaaa...:lol:

That album even made Bryter later sound like a celebration...:ner:

[John]

Cheers for the link John I must check out the band a bit more.
I totally agree what keeps the album subject matter from getting to dark is Nick humour throughout the album I am glad ypu enjoyed the album

[keiths]

I wasn't really looking forward to this as I'd tried to get into Nick Cave before and hadn't really enjoyed anything I'd heard of his - either with the Bad Seeds or as Grinderman. However, I'm glad to say I very much enjoyed this relentless flow of murder, violence, rape and buggery.

The album's opener - the somewhat ironically-titled 'Song of Joy' sets the scene for the album as Cave tells the macabre tale of the cold-blooded murder of his wife and three infant children. His dead-pan, half-spoken/half-sung delivery and the varied instrumentation draw you into the song leaving you with the feeling that the narrator isn't quite telling the full truth.

The second track 'Stagger Lee' is one of the highlights of the album for me. A gloriously sweary re-telling of the traditional 'Stack 'O Lee' blues that makes for an uncomfortable yet compelling listen.

A couple of duets, the first with Cave's ex PJ Harvey, the second with Kylie Minogue make a welcome change from Cave's monotone, however the body count continues unabated and it is almost with relief that the final track, a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Death Is Not the End' (the only song on the album where no-one actually dies) brings things to a conclusion.

A fascinating and compelling album that should be on everyone's 'must hear' list.

[WAD62]

There aren’t that many songs with a narrative as such, a notable exception imo and relatively recent is Carolina Drama by The Raconteurs which I think is tremendous.



Superb track John...:)

Probably the standout one from the album, which is very good too IMHO

[Z-A]

Good choice John, and from my sig it would appear that i think he's cool. I admire him, and a lot of what he's done, a deeply emotional writer and man, accomplished musician, not ever afraid to do something many wouldn't, and do it beautifully.. Cave always for me has something whatever mood i'm in, from pretty accessible albums like this and Nocturama, to Let Love In and Lyre of Orpheus, through to the Grinderman sets, and then onto film scores, the proposition and White Lunar, which is sublime. Bump in to him from time to time too, first time was looking at cheap cd's in Woolworth's in Lewes!

If there was another human i would choose to sit on top of a crumbling cliff with, it may well be Cave..

[Themis]

Excellent album. :cool:

4 stars - no hesitation ! ;)

[griffo104]

Good to see a poll on here. Defo a 4 out of 5 album, not really a bad song on there and he shows he can turn a nice commercial angle with Where the Wild Roses Grow without seemingly getting a way without it being too commercial - if you see what I mean.

I've always prefered Nocturama as his best album for me though.

Rather embarrassed about this but I found I've got Dig Lazarus Dig in a pile of CDs still with the wrapping, the security tag and 2 for £10 sticker on from HMV. My other half had got it for me when she found a Take That album in the same deal. Think it's been there fore a few months as well. May need to unwrap it and get round to listening to it :lol:

Excellent choice John and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this album.

[WAD62]

Rather embarrassed about this but I found I've got Dig Lazarus Dig in a pile of CDs still with the wrapping, the security tag and 2 for £10 sticker on from HMV. My other half had got it for me when she found a Take That album in the same deal. Think it's been there fore a few months as well. May need to unwrap it and get round to listening to it :lol:


...I'd rate 'Dig Lazarus Dig' as one of their best albums, get it played Simon ;)

[Tim]

I really enjoyed giving this a proper listen, I only have three offerings from Nick Cave, The Boatmans Call, this one and Grinderman2. I must admit when I'm in a Nick Cave mood, I normally go for Boatman as Into My Arms is one of my favourite tracks - so this was overdue in relation to giving it the time it deserves. For me I think I still prefer Boatman musically, but after listening to this properly I discovered a lot I had previously missed - O'Malleys Bar is some track indeed and I shall be returning to that some more for sure. Quite a rare album in terms of it's style when you take everything into account and I didn't realise before, it was Kylie singing on Where the Wild Roses Grow (I like Kylie).

I guess before you nominated it I would have voted it as a 3 or 4 maybe, but having properly listened to it I would now give it 4.5. Quite an outstanding album really and certainly unique.

Thanks John, good call :)

[Alex_UK]

Well apart from the Kylie track, I'd never heard any of this album - and it certainly has a high body count! I was hoping to have another listen before posting, but as we're now on week 3 I thought I'd better speak up. Loved the PJ Harvey track, and like others, O'Malley's Bar is epic both as a track and a piece of poetry - I'll defintely be getting hold of the CD, and gave it 4. Thanks John. :)

[The Grand Wazoo]

I don't own anything by Cave at all - what I've heard, I've always been a bit ambivalent about. Anyway, I gave this a fair crack of the whip.
I was surprised to find a Dylan cover on there - 'Death Is Not The End', and that it was done with a fair bit of finesse - hmm, not bad. I prefer Champion Jack Dupree's version of Stagger Lee, though.
I found the sound of the band's instruments a bit, odd - kind of claustrophobic, I suppose - maybe that was an intentional attempt from the production to impart more of a sense of the subject matter to the sound.
Interesting on the whole. I'm not completely convinced, but I'll be giving it another couple of plays. I'll give it a 3 for now!

[ursus262]

Put in an ebay bid for this :)

[SCIDB]

Hi,

Spent part of the morning listening to this album. I have a few albums by Nick Cave knocking about the house. They come out for alisten every now and again.

Murder Ballads is an enjoyable listen. It deals with a dark side of human natural. The songs are well crafted together making the whole album engaging and entertaining. When I pressed play, I wanted to listen to the album the whole way through. I was drawn into the lyrics of the songs.

I liked his take on Stagger Lee and his use of the guest singers. I liked how the album finished with Death is not the end. A well thought out track.

Overall this is a winner.

[ursus262]

Sorry this is so late, but better late than never. :)

Well, I listened to this album with great interest. A few years ago, someone said to me: "It never surprises me the heights to which people can go: and the depths to which they can plunge"

There is no doubt that this album is one where Nick Cave wanted to convey the very depths of the human condition, the situation where one person would commit the ultimate evil - to end the life of another human being.

In these recordings, he does this very well, with a sort of macabre humour that's enough to raise a smile. But ultimately it fails to impress me, because it ignores the devastation and pain that can follow the death of someone we love. Without that balance, that erudition of the pain of the survivors, the music loses its anchor and its ability to move the listener.

That said, the technical standard of recording was very good, with great dynamic range.

Having listened to this once, I don't think the CD will get a repeat performance.

Dave

[Barry]

Anything by Cave is good by me, 4/5.

[RichB]

Told you I was catching up on album club...:lol:

Well as with many album club selections I keep a watch list on the auction place and if they come up cheap I get em. This one was always going to be worth the wait as I enjoyed 'dig Lazarus' very much. What's not to like, dark story telling, fine musicianship. Yes a 4 out of 5 for me....