The Boatman's Call

Very emotional. Quite sparse and slow though. More for a certain mood for me.

Too many fucking Nick Cave and Nick Cave-related albums on this fucking list!!! Jesus Christ!!! That being said - This is my favorite one I’ve gotten, lol Gentler Nick Cave than the other albums; an almost folksy, 90s alt rock vibe to many of these songs that really showcase his deep voice and his lovely lyrics (which I think are at their best here). I listened to this twice! Why couldn’t they all be like this?

My favorite Nick Cave album I've listened to. Some real highs on this one. It doesn't have a ton of range, and there are a couple of clunker tracks. 3.5, rounding down.

This is another great album from a great artist. Compared to the albums leading up to this one, it’s much more chill. That post-punk energy is now mostly piano driven songs that are dark and pleasant. This is a very enjoyable listen if you already like Nicks music. The problem with this list is there are too many albums represented by a single artist. Like I’ve said in past reviews, find two that represent the different sides of an artist and let us explore more if we enjoy it. We are living in the age of streaming music. It doesn’t cost me any more money to listen to other albums of I like what I hear. This makes room for the bands that should have albums on here.

Me pareció todo una misma balada y me aburrió. Casi que ni me di cuenta cuando terminó y spotify empezó a recomendar parecidas.

Nick Cave's latest album in this project. And once again, it's a great one. I like his voice and his somewhat dark arrangements. I'll definitely listen to this again. 5/5

Another absolute piece of shit from Nick Cave. I'll be generous and give it 2 stars because there are some really terrible, unlistenable albums on this list and I didn't have to bail on this one part way through with it playing in the background. How did this guy get 5 albums on here? This is my 4th one and they have all been awful so far

Muito bom, ouvirei mais

Album is fine but it is curious how there are 5 albums in this list when much more influential bands have fewer.

Didn't want to listen to this either. It was fine, honestly mostly listenable. Not a huge fan of his talk voice though. 6/10

Sink the boats It's so slow and monotonous. Unbearably boring And of course the last song is extra turbo ass, as if the album wasn't bad enough

As a Nick Drake lover, this guy is just worse in every aspect. The one guy commenting that he changed Drake's surname to Cave "just to see what the music's like" and found a new favourite, you are stupid. Great music, Mr. & The Bad Seeds. Haven't heard anything like this from the other FOUR albums of theirs I have given a rating of 1 so far

Head is up his own ass for sure

Would listen again.

Well, hmm, what can I say? Nick and I won't be friends anymore. He’s undoubtedly a brilliant songwriter, and this album is certainly one of his best. Its understated, ballad-like quality certainly suits his nature. "The Boatman's Call" is a melancholic album. The post-punk attitude of his earlier albums has vanished, and Cave makes unmistakable references to past music. Elvis, Sinatra and perhaps also Scott Walker and Tom Waits have served as his muses, both lyrically and musically. Here, Cave is not the rebel of his early years, but the poet. However, there’s always a point in his albums where the cosy poetry becomes overbearing, and the posturing and self-absorption seems to become apparent. Towards the end, I found it hard to listen to the album. If it were half as long, I’d be completely satisfied. And yes, I’m probably doing Nick Cave an injustice. But I simply can’t get to grips with him over the length of a whole album.

Slow and sad but nice to listen to

Some beautiful stuff here.

A couple of good songs but overall quite boring

I’m not finished yet, but feels like a strong three. Some really good songs, I feel like it kind of wanes towards the middle and end. If it picks back up, I’m willing to give this a four, but I’m doubt it.

A superb album.

I (still) do not care for the music of Nick Cave and one good song (Into My Arms) isn’t going to change the fact that this album is very boring indeed. Not much wrong with it but it’s deeply dull.

Primed to love via Allison’s glowing review and also his voice is the exact category of voice I’m an absolute sucker for. // Yes absolutely loved this one! Slowed down a bit for me after the first half but what a thrill

Pretty nice and chill. Good vocals and guitar.

Boring

Well, I’ve lost the lengthy review I’d started so this will have to do. I like Nick Cave and I think you should too. Possibly a difficult album to decide to make after the mostly excellent Murder Ballads claimed a stake on the best Nick Cave album he’d ever released, The Boatman’s Call is not quite on par but the Murder Ballads was a high fucking bar. A record of piano ballads and Nick’s wonderful baritone is captivating but not levitating and half way through doesn’t seem so cool. Certainly, not a monster record that belongs on this list, rather some hits and misses - enough to subsist. What you gonna do when Nick’s piano comes for you? You’re gonna give it a 3/5 and then move on.

With two is the best songs ever written and performed this album is an absolute gem, the other songs are also fantastic making this a clear 5 star effort. Nick Cave at his best, love it

It's a shame there are too many Nick Cave albums in this collection, because this one absolutely deserves a place in this project; it would have been best to just include this one and his previous album "Murder Ballads" and leave it at that (although perhaps "Ghosteen" deserves a place too, as much as I disliked it). It's definitely not a happy collection of tracks, but it's also an incredibly solid, with only a few weak(er) tracks, probably "Lime tree arbour" and "Green eyes". I also appreciated reading that Nick Cave performed "Into my arms" at INXS' Michael Hutchence's funeral in 1997; a touching tribute to an old friend (and a somewhat annoying reminder that this is as close as INXS got to appearing in "1001 Albums", which seems a travesty). To me, "The Boatman's Call" is what Leonard Cohen could have accomplished if he (Cohen) wasn't as unapologetically romantic; I've often wondered if the two of them enjoyed the other's music. But either way, this album remains one of my favorites by Nick Cave, although I do feel badly that The Bad Seeds get so little airtime.

like this the best of the too-many Nick Cave albums on this list

Strong

Some lyrically interesting songs mixed in with some incredibly facile ones. I liked it though, despite how embarrassing Black Hair was. I'm interested to hear more from Nick Cave, even though this album wasn't my cup of tea.

Ass en vrais

A few really good songs and a great vibe overall.

This was definitely a certain vibe. I wasn't really in the mood for that vibe right now, but I could kind of dig it. Also now I know where that song in Shrek 2 comes from.

Loved this. His range from depravity to tender love songs is pretty sick

I liked it, was a little one note

The bard of darkness and depth

ah yes, very deep, very spiritual, romantic, poignant... but all those lyrics and emotions, they feel so shallow coming from his lips. it's like he's acting it all out instead of presenting his true feelings to the world. and also it feels like nick cave himself is trying really hard for me to like him. sorry, nick, but i don't want to be friends with you.

Not Safe for Work (lol) - much more of a laid back staring at the stars type of deal. Setting probably affected the rating.

It's about time I'm done listening to this guy, please give him 2 albums max Will I listen to again: 0%

A pretty good album, but Nick Cave just ain't my thing.

410/1089 final stop on the Bad Seeds journey i’ve had on this project (still some nick cave solo stuff to go though i believe) SHREK 2 SONG YAY love that the whole album feels too much of a dirge even by nick cave/bad seed standards. i quite liked the other projects i’ve heard but there just wasn’t much to grab onto for me People Ain’t No Good and West Country Girl were the two stand outs, meanwhile Green Eyes was a dire closer imo 52/1089

3,4 Highlights: Into My Arms, People Ain't No Good

I just can’t get into this dudes music!

The Boatman’s Call by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is one of my top six pinned albums on Apple Music, which probably says everything about how I feel about it. I’ve loved this album for more than 20 years, and somehow it just seems to get better and mean more to me with every listen. “Into My Arms” is about as close to a perfect song as you can get. Beautifully simple, incredibly moving and with some of the most powerful lyrics ever written about love. It has always been a special song to me, but even more so now as the lyrics were used as a reading at my wedding just a couple of weeks ago. I genuinely can’t think of a better love song. But this album is so much more than that one song. Every track is beautiful. It’s incredibly intimate and stripped back, with Cave’s voice, piano and lyrics doing most of the work. Songs like “People Ain’t No Good”, “Brompton Oratory” and “(Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?” are stunning. There’s sadness and heartbreak throughout, but also love, humour and moments of real tenderness. Sometimes the best music comes out of heartbreak, and The Boatman’s Call is a perfect example. Cave was writing in the aftermath of failed relationships, and you can feel that vulnerability throughout the record. It also marked a real change of direction for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, moving away from some of the darker, louder and more theatrical music of their earlier albums towards something much more personal and exposed. There’s nowhere for the songs to hide, and they don’t need to. The melodies are beautiful, the lyrics are extraordinary and Cave’s delivery makes every word feel important. It’s an album that demands to be listened to properly. I adore this record. After more than 20 years of listening to it, I’m still finding things in it, and if anything I love it more now than I did when I first heard it. An absolute masterpiece and easily one of my favourite albums of all time. Favourite track: “Into My Arms”. Perfection. One of my favourite songs ever written and now one that will always remind me of my wedding. Least favourite track: Nothing. Every song deserves its place and I wouldn’t change a thing. Album artwork: Iconic. Simple, dark and perfectly suited to the intimacy of the album.

It's too depressing for me.

i don’t dislike this but a whole album gets kinda tiring. none of the songs here are as good as train dreams

Unsurprisingly, a masterpiece.

Oh my god it's so beautiful. The great songsmith of his generation?

A moving meditation on spirituality and philosophy with subdued but memorable music

This is the sound of someone so far up his own ass that his friends gave up on him and wedged a piano up there to keep him company. Yet somehow this the album that made Nick Cave a critical darling. Go figure. I like a lot of Nick Cave's stuff. His band always includes terrific musicians, and he has a beautiful voice. While I prefer his earlier records, his voice is really suited to somber ballads like the ones on this album. The problem is that the songs here are just weak. I read that this was the first album where the Bad Seeds didn't contribute much to developing the music and arrangements. The music is very minimal and mostly boring but the lyrics are worse, weak to terrible. He sells them, more or less, with his emotional delivery (and I guess that is the crux of why people like this album so much), but they are mostly solipsistic and trite, with awkward rhymes when it would be perfectly fine not to rhyme, and references to religious and philosophical themes making them seem like more than they are. There are a few songs that stand out as better than the rest, mostly "West Country Girl," but a few others have nice musical touches here and there, like the violin on "Idiot Prayer." There's plenty of proof he could have done so much better, but I guess not this time. Essential listen: no, stay away Desert island disc: ha ha ha

Beautiful

585/1089 - Takes a bit to get started but I enjoyed the latter half of the album a lot. Nick Cave always has such creative instrumentation and texture and it's great that it's still present in this more limited pallete. Would be nice if there was more variety of keys, lots of C major songs here.

the best Nick Cave album so far, still mid af

I have always been a huge PJ Harvey fan. I've listened to every one of her albums multiple times, and several of her records have been played so much that I've practically worn them out. So it is a little funny that wherever you look online, PJ Harvey seems to be linked to Nick Cave. Their relationship was actually rather short, so it is always surprising to see how much it is still talked about online. What makes it even more interesting is how differently the two of them seemed to deal with the breakup. PJ Harvey has generally been quite private about what happened, whereas Nick Cave was anything but. The Boatman's Call was apparently largely inspired by the end of their relationship. Now, I'm normally not the biggest Nick Cave fan. He certainly has a unique voice, and he has created a sort of distinctive image around himself, that I would describe as dark, gloomy, mysterious and permanently on the verge of some kind of emotional or biblical catastrophe. That atmosphere can be very appealing for a song or two, but over the course of an entire album, I usually find that it starts to lose its power. It sometimes feels as though every song is overflowing with drama, emotion and atmosphere, until eventually there is simply too much of it. Although I actually like The Boatman's Call more than the other Nick Cave albums I've heard so far, here I eventually run into the same problem. There is something undeniably beautiful about it, but the emotional intensity becomes exhausting at the end. Then again, perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on him. If I would lose PJ Harvey, I too would revolt into despair.

his voice has such a melancholy sincerity, this record really does feel like hearing a man read scripture

Incredible album. Not for those who only like upbeat music.

Three Nock Cave albums might be a bit much for this list, but it was another nice listen.

haven’t heard of them before but pretty chill music

Bit of a slog. Sometimes his voice cuts through the instruments in a really nice way Its fine, i dont get all the 5 stars. His voice gets so monotonus during the whole 50 minutes.

Like a Tom Waits album without the prostitutes

This wasn't bad at all. Super mellow and much better than the last Nick Cave" song. I need to be in a certain mood to listen to this regularly, but it isn't bad at all. It does start to sound the same after time. I want to say a 2.5 rounded up to a 3. Liked Songs: "Into My Arms" , "People Ain't No Good" , "Brompton Oratory" , "There Is a Kingdom" , "Idiot Prayer" , "Far from Me"

It’s ok

3/5

Я щас реально долго сидел и думал, пока слушал этот альбом: "А может всё таки Nick Cave для меня - это скорее meh.. ?" Когда я послушал Abattoir Blues впервые, мне попало это в настроение и было, в общем-то, неплохо. Правда я обратил внимание, что с тех пор песни с него я так и не переслушивал. Не возникало желания как-то, хз. И тут я снова включаю Ника, но только уже The Boatman's Call и слышу периодическое sad violin и клавишные, и опять же... Возможно это попадает под определенное настроение и, возможно, свою аудиторию, в которую не попадаю я. Вощем-то, как оказалось, The Boatman's Call - это лирикоцентричный альбом с сознательно минималистичными аранжировками. НУ ИЗВИНИТЕ, скидок не будет, больше одного раза я вряд-ли это послушаю, хотя было приятно услышать схожее звучание в There Is A Kingdom перекликающееся с Perfect Day от Лу Рида, но это только 3, увы. Впечатления смешанные.

terrible

Only shrek stopped this getting 0

Leanord Cohen wannabe ahh

favs: far from me idiot prayer into my arms lime tree arbour rating 1.7/5

Mit dem zehnten Studioalbum der australischen Band um Nick Cave vollzog sich 1997 ein radikaler Bruch mit dem lärmenden Post-Punk-Erbe der Vorgängeralben: The Boatman's Call wurde größtenteils in den Sarm West Studios in London aufgenommen, mit ergänzenden Sessions in den Abbey Road Studios, und erschien über Mute Records. Statt wilder Band-Arrangements dominieren nun Klavier, Stille und eine fast beichtstuhlartige Intimität – ein Album, das weniger performt als offenlegt. Inhaltlich speist sich die Platte aus dem Zerbrechen zweier Beziehungen Caves, unter anderem zu PJ Harvey, und diese biografische Nähe ist in jeder Zeile spürbar. Songs wie "Into My Arms" oder "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" balancieren zwischen liturgischer Klarheit und verletzlicher Direktheit; "People Ain't No Good" liest sich wie ein bitteres Resümee gescheiterter Nähe. Die reduzierte Instrumentierung – oft nur Klavier, Bass, vereinzelt Orgel – zwingt den Text ins Zentrum, und Cave nutzt das konsequent für eine seiner literarischsten Songsammlungen. Gerade die Zurückhaltung macht die Wirkung so nachhaltig: Wo frühere Alben mit Wucht arbeiteten, überzeugt dieses durch das, was es auslässt. Es ist ein Album, das man nicht nebenbei hören kann, sondern das volle Aufmerksamkeit einfordert – und dafür mit einer emotionalen Tiefe belohnt, die im Bad-Seeds-Katalog ihresgleichen sucht. The Boatman's Call ist der Moment, in dem Nick Cave vom Geschichtenerzähler zum Beichtenden wurde.

The Bad Seeds? How much more of an edgelord can you be? The album is definitely trying to be dark, but lyrically, I don't find it to be 100% there. Good attempt, but the lyrics feel clunky at times.

This would have been a great album if the rest of the songs followed in the footsteps of "Into My Arms". However it doesn't reach close to it unfortunately.

This is a super cozy album. Nick's voice is super low and soothing, and the music is relaxed and just lovely. I want to listen to it on my record player, in a comfy chair, with a cup of tea.

The more Nick Cave I listen to, the more I like his music. At this point I'd probably give all of his previous albums a 4 instead of a 3. This one has more piano and is less dark, but still has that dramatic quality that seems ubiquitous throughout his discography. Into My Arms was my favourite from this album but it was all enjoyable.

Second Nick Cave album I've had and damn, this one was great. Very chill and can't stand how much I love his voice. A+++

I was previously familiar with Nick Cave as several of his albums came up earlier in this exercise, but I was not previously familiar with this album. I could tell right from the first track that this album is different from the others of his I've heard. I actually like this! These are mostly ballads. His unique singing style seems suited to these songs and the instrumentation augments it well. This is the first Nick Cave album out of 5 (including Junkyard by The Birthday Party) that I would listen to again.

It's simple yet beautiful. Technically limited but conveys a lot of emotion

Some parts were good, none of it was bad, but also none of it really connected with me.

I really liked this. His voice and particularly the piano together sound amazing.

Super!

I like some of Nick Cave's work but this one is just dull.

This is a hauntingly beautiful record, and one in which for the first time in his discography Nick Cave is not only trying to sound dark but is also able to effectively convey a certain imagery that makes the album dark and melancholic tone really shine. 9/10 [KEEP]

It was a 3.5 until "Green Eyes". I bet this guy LOVES to hear himself talk.

There were a couple of lines that I thought were really good, and I know a lot of people I like also like him, but I couldn’t really get into fully.

None of this really moved me but I didn't really hate it. I was expecting at least one up beat song on the album but it was all pretty slow and sad.

2.25 - I expected this to be 100% not my thing, but it's the best Nick Cave thing I've listened to.

I am a bad Australian and goth music fan - I don’t care for Nick. This album even hit when I was a moody teen and I still don’t get it. Sure he has a few listenable tracks, but none of them exist on this album. The wrong sort of dreary. So bored. Warren Ellis can’t save it. Is there a Dirty Three record on this list? 1/5

People Ain't No good

Romanticon y meloso, tope de gamuza

I've only listened to one other Nick Cave album as part of listening related to this site. I don't think I recognize any of these tracks by title. In my review for my previous Nick Cave listen, I noted that Nick Cave has always felt like more style than substance. And again, that's how I feel about this album. I did not enjoy this.

There is probably a bit too much Nick Cave on this list. The album is kind of boring and never strays too far from it's comfort zone. I guess I'm just not going to be convinced to like this band. 2/5 Won't listen again

Not my favourite Cave album, but with "Into My Arms" and "West Country Girl" has two of my favourite songs of his. Far more downtempo than his previous couple of albums, sombre and contemplative.

Cave puts forth his oeuvre easily- dour, gloomy, and heartfelt feelings all over these songs. I liked this one better than Abbatoir, which was messy. Overall a solid 3

I will put 5 for this one, as I've heard a lot about Nick Cave (especially from one friend of mine who's a big fan), still I did not understand Nick Cave's music for a long perioud of time. But this one changed a lot - it is magnificent!

(3/5) This all feels like funeral music. I've, personally, had a rough year with multiple deaths around me and more funerals than I care to count or mention in such a short time. This is the music I always anticipate hearing there -- sparse, melancholy and liberally sprinkled with religious words and sad imagery. It's not bad, but after the year I have had (so far!) I can't emotionally deal with this. Cave is ok, the music is ok, and the talent is ok, but I'm not ok. I got about halfway through and just shut it down. '3' because I didn't hate it outright (about half of the album) nor did I love it for the aforementioned reasons.

I've had very little exposure to Nick Cave, but enough to enough to form an opinion and have an idea what I was in for. Still, this was more melancholy and brooding than I expected, and can best be described at a droll monotonous dirge exploring the intrinsic beauty of life, and inevitability of death. Sometimes brooding, sometimes boring, it's an eloquently drab track that lasts 52 minutes, with a few sighs and pauses here and there to catch its breath. I'll freely admit Cave is good at what he does and I didn't hate it, but it doesn't rise to a second listen on a sunny August day.

163. The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (1997) 8.4.26 Variety: 3 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 4 Emotionality: 5 = 4.4 rounded down to a 4 "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" It's felt weird to me on the occasions where we get an later album as the first album to review by an act that that has a lot of entries ( the Beatles White album for example). To give you a tortured metaphor, I might compare the jumping around in time to the plight of Billy Pilgrim from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. I get more than a little thrown off when I can't really reference the evolution of the artist in any meaningful way, and it's slightly discombobulating especially when the next one comes and we end up going backwards in time, or even skipping forward even further. In this case we get an album that is chronologically pretty mush smack dab in the middle of Nick Cave's career, considering that he started playing in bands in 1973 ( though did not release his first album until 1979). Of the five albums on here ( decently impressive numbers), I'm a little annoyed they left off some of his better, earlier work and threw on two later ones that don't quite make as much sense as other options available. Murder Ballads and Boatman's Call at least would have been on my list. Oh well. No one's perfect, and I find more and more that there does seem to the whiff of recency bias about some of the picks I've seen. By the point that The Boatman's Call came out in 1997, his reputation as the gothic preacherman of the alt-rock scene had been firmly established, and he had been enjoying more than a decade or so of critical acclaim, the commercial acclaim somewhat newly arrived from the last couple of albums. I discovered him right this time when someone loaned me Murder Ballads, and I fell in love with it immediately, and worked my way backwards - grabbing Boatman's Call after it had been out for a while. Those two, along with Tender Prey were in fairly heavy rotation until the The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds came out in '98 and became possibly the most played greatest hits compilation in my collection for some time. It's worth mentioning here ( even though we have not gotten around to any of his stuff yet) that Cave and Tom Waits are intertwined in my musical experience, discovering them both around the same time ( the same person who lent me Murder Ballads also lent me Bone Machine). They come from completely different backgrounds - An American jazz bar piano bum, and an Australian punk rocker, but they both seemed to slowly over the years gravitate towards a similar dark, literate, and stylistically omnivorous method of delivery that sort of began to dovetail into both becoming alt rock elder statesmen, with Waits starting off as more button down and traditional and veering into the avante-garde hobo persona he would adopt, and Cave coming from the opposite end of things beginning firmly as out there in the art punk world as he could be, but also moving towards a similarly more traditional, be-suited, button down persona. They would eventually pass like ships in the night ( never working together to my knowledge) and head off into opposite ends of the spectrum from where they started. Waits a bit more disheveled and experimental, Cave more of a suave lounge lizard who could belt out standards with the best of them, but both still firmly rooted in folk rock, Cave more on the bluesy side, Waits on the jazzier side. This is all to say that they are so intertwined in my mind as two of my musical pillars, that anytime I listen to an album by either of these guys, I'm tempted to remind myself what the other was doing around the same time. So I'll probably continue that thread when anything by the other guy comes up in the list. When this album came out, Cave had just come off of Murder Ballads in '96 ( maybe my favorite of his) and Waits's last release had been The Black Rider in '93 ( underrated imo) and would be heading into Mule Variations in '99 ( a "late career" great work - of which I don't think too many exist). The Boatman's Call is maybe the last full Cave album I listened to regularly, but he's had plenty of great stuff since, which we'll get to eventually. THE TRACKS "Into My Arms" - We start with one of his best, but for anyone coming at it in chronological order, a very stripped down sound for Cave. This is going to be good set dressing for the remainder as we'll be hanging around in these bare, mostly piano filled, halls for much of the run time. A very pretty song, with a great vocal melody that's doubled by the piano, it's got very strong Leonard Cohen vibes ( still fresh in my mind from our recent review of Songs of Love and Hate) with the baritone delivery, and the rumination on things spiritual ( or not) and a romantic love. Stylistically is also has a lot in common with Cohen's "Hallelujah". Cave has made it clear he's a Cohen admirer, and while this is no pastiche, his influence over Cave in general looms large. I'm betting has seen use as either processional song or for the first dance at a LOT of weddings. "Lime Tree Arbour" - Some gospely organ, a deep bass, and some swishy drumming add something of a light touch over top of the jazzier piano, and all in the service of another love song. This time about companionship through suffering. Cave rarely comes across as a comforting presence in his songs, but this is as close as he gets. That solemness is just there as the cosmic background radiation that permeates and surrounds all of his work, and I think partly, songs like this in his catalogue work really well because they are willing to let you feel like at the very least, your head's above water. The deep dark doom and gloom and bad times maybe can't be completely conquered, but they can be endured, especially with someone to help you tread those waters. "People Ain't No Good" - A slow shuffling waltz time number, just as pretty as anything before it so far, but this time an ode ( maybe a funeral march?) to disillusionment and misanthropy. At this point, one might be tempted to ask "Who hurt you, Nick?" I get it, the mode he's working in is very much not about any sort of joy, or at least it's not about the obvious ones. But even in a song like this, the beautiful window dressing says so much. I'd point to those last few verses when the violin hits and the song moves into almost hymn territory, and there's plenty of beauty and wonder to be found in the lyrics. They're just countermanded by the chorus, which to me, seems to be on conversation with the verses. Maybe I'm misreading things though. It's a sad, dark room, but with very faint touches of light shining out from under the crack in the door. "Brompton Oratory" - The Casio-keyboard preset rhythm here is supposed to be pretty jarring I think, and the synth ( or processed organ maybe?) gives this one an almost parodic version of a church service, where one can imagine this as the inner monologue of someone maybe kneeling at prayer while his mind runs crazy with distraction of a missed lover. Instrumentally, it kind of reminds me of a Beck song played at 1/2 speed. This is full of elements that should not work together, but still hit for me. "There Is a Kingdom" - Instrumentally there are very strong echoes of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" on this one. And fittingly, it's a perfect example of Cave's brand of secular religiosity ( religious secularism?), with more worshipful imagery and church hymn vibes. He's steeped in all the trappings of Christianity, but wants to apply the symbology and reverential style to decidedly non-religious subject matter. Faith and ritual and belief, but focused inward and with the self as the subject here I think. If some of his earlier work could be considered to be more full of fire and brimstone, biblical imagery, with a cynical bent, then this here is New Testament Nick Cave, all philosophical and maybe could be seen as seeking some truths, rather than digging them up out of a moldy grave. "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" - This one starts off a bit more uncertainly, with the song itself framed as a question, and full of questioning and doubt, and even though it's in the Romantic ( big R) mode, there's a stark realism and realization in the lines like "The stars will explode in the sky/ But they don't, do they?/ Stars have their moment and then they die." And all of this tied up in a very pretty melody. "Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?" - Another beautiful number in a shuffling waltz time. This one a bit more atmospheric and reminiscent of the pitch black material on Murder Ballads with the rumination n death and dying and full of "Grim reapers and skeletons" and what seems like hospice care imagery. It's a little bit southern gothic with the farm and dark carnival bits, and we're left with much more of a short story in song form than anything else so far on the album. Desperation, despair, despondency, and just a hint of destitution can all be found within the confines of this doleful little dirge. "West Country Girl" - Cave steers the wagon right into old school English folk territory here, with the menacing instrumentation providing the horsepower, and we get Martyn P. Casey's massive, threatening bass sound to help us keep time to the... loving I guess? description of the narrator's true love. It would all be very sweet, and oddly charming but for how oppressive and full of peril the playing is and how full of an almost sly sense of the dangerous that Cave's delivery gives off. Whoever this woman is, you probably don't want to get on her bad side, as lovely as she seems. Awesome shit right here. "Black Hair" - We get some great Warren Ellis ( not that Warren Ellis) accordion playing here, and more of a spoken word approach from Cave, again about the same "heart-faced" woman ( pretty sure this is based on PJ Harvey, of whom we'll see much more of on the list) and her many, many lovely features, but mainly that one. Not the most lyrically diverse song on the album, and as nice as the overall effect is, it's a bit unflatteringly obsessive in the way that other stuff on here is not. Still though... I like it quite a bit. "Idiot Prayer" - A catchy little number about someone facing their final moments and seeming to hedge their bets about the afterlife, if it should exist. This is all presented in a very calm, casual manner and from the mention of "victims" and some sort of awful fate for his late (possibly complicit) partner, this seems almost like a replay in subject matter of the much more fiery and panicked "Mercy Seat" from Tender Prey, which is much more explicitly about a man scrambling, confused, and scared to his death by electric chair. If this dude's about to be executed he seems pretty accepting. While "Mercy Seat" is the way better track, this one is still pretty damned good. "Far from Me" - The whole cycle of a relationship from the birth of new love to the death of coldness and emotional detachment. It's lovingly presented, and shows some of that old Nick Cave mean streak in the pettiness of the dismissive and condescending notes that all but the first verse end on. Heartbreak and regret with a side of anger served on a bed of resentment. "Green Eyes" - Damn. So close. The only song on here that doesn't hit for me, it feels like a slow motion country song, and would have still been the least of the songs on here even without the annoying overdubbed mirror vocals. A pretty glaring misstep in my opinion, but I can't say he didn't know exactly what he was going for. This seems for all intents and purposes like it was meant to invoke "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" where Elvis ( arguably more successfully) pulls off the same trick, but feels almost more like a parody of it. It never feels clumsy, or ill-measured. I just did not like the effect. HIGHLIGHTS - "Into My Arms" - "Lime Tree Arbour" - "People Ain't No Good" - "Brompton Oratory" - "There Is a Kingdom" - "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" - "Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?" - "West Country Girl" - "Black Hair" - "Idiot Prayer" - "Far from Me" MIDLIGHTS - LOWLIGHTS - "Green Eyes" FINAL THOUGHTS Just as great as I remember it, and very glad I had a reason to revisit it. This things is chock full of satisfying, pretty, well crafted, minimalistic piano balladry. Cave infuses a lot of emotion in his work, but its a low, serious energy that I think can get misread as coldness or even menace. I think of him less as slowly swimming shark, and more of a great big old wise, but depressed tortoise who has maybe gone off his SSRIs. I focused a lot more on the lyrics and general vibe than I usually do because I think he's one of the lyricists who makes it a worthwhile game. Instrumentally, there's usually not much to criticize on most of his albums because he smartly surrounds himself with top tier players, and his ear for melody and ( what I imagine to be) his expert level ability to self edit, and present nothing less than thoroughly worked out ideas puts him up with other greats of the late 20th century in that regard ( Tom Waits, Tori Amos, Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, PJ Harvey are amongst his peers who all seem walk the path first tread by the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed and Patti Smith). This isn't my favorite piece of work by Cave, but it's still pretty great, and I think maybe the most accessible starting point for new listeners. If you liked what you heard, definitely go forward, but maybe sample the greatest hits before venturing too far backwards as it gets a lot more ragged, and theatrical, and downright mean. Dude's been crafting bangers at least since he started up the Bad Seeds, and if you go back far enough ( maybe too far) the Birthday Party ( represented by exactly one album - the correct choice btw) stuff will land you squarely in the cynical, nihilistic territory that the Boatman's Call finally sees him crawling out of completely. He still has to shake some of the mud off though, so it's not going to be sunshine and roses. This is a great choice for the list, and I'm glad there will be much more Cave stuff to revisit, but I do wonder if the run of 80s - early 90s would have been better represented than with Henry's Dream, fine as it is. Oh well. I'm complaining about an embarrassment of riches now. I will end by saying that Cave is definitely an acquired taste, especially the further back you go, but I think even if you don't vibe with his sound, find him too morose, or self-serious, or dark - you should at least dislike it in an interesting sort of way. I can't imagine anyone coming away from any of his stuff with the opinion that it was a low effort affair, or poorly crafted. Even that one stinker of a track is not true garbage. There's a reasonably artistic conceit, and it's an admirable swing, it just doesn't land with as much confidence and I wish he'd played it safer for the closer. Than one large blemish, along with what could be argued was a pretty limited palette he was painting with, keep this one just hair from the true big leagues. If I were in a cheating mood, I'd replace it with any of the bonus tracks from the re-issue or the B-sides collection that has a lot more interesting tracks from these sessions, the best among them being the following: - "Come Into My Sleep" - "I Do, Dear, I Do" - "Opium Tea" - "Sheep May Safely Graze" PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Lose that last one FURTHER LISTENING - Tim Hardin 2 by Tim Hardin - Songs of Love and Hate by Leonard Cohen - Conway Savage (EP) by Conway Savage - B-Sides & Rarities by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Is This Desire? by PJ Harvey - I See a Darkness by Bonnie "Prince" Billy - From the Choirgirl Hotel by Tori Amo - Bubblegum by Mark Lanegan

Our first encounter with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on this 1001 album journey. I first encountered this act when Metallica covered “Loverman” for Garage Inc., however, I never really followed up on listening to much more of their stuff. Hetfield and some other metal guys are fans of Nick Cave I know so it’s a band I’ve always felt like I should give a fair chance to. Excited to dive in and do so now. This album though may not have been the best place to start. I read it is a departure from their regular sound and has a somber vibe throughout. I actually did enjoy it, but there wasn’t much variation to explore. The entire album sat in about the same mood throughout. This makes me curious to see how much of a departure it was when we get to the other entries on this list. There’s four more to go. 3/5

The album started alright but then deteriorated from there. I'm glad the closer was Green Eyes. If that had appeared anywhere else I doubt I'd have finished the album. Absolutely dire.

This was shite. Depressing and the last song was absolutely dire. I don't see the appeal of Nick Cave.

Better than the last one

By Nick Cave standards, this was one of his best. Slow tempo, strong vocals. I'm relieved to have avoided a bad experience as I complete his subset of albums on this list.

I had been trained from past albums to dread a Nick Cave album. This was such a pleasant surprise and was more fitting to what I understood Nick Cave to be. A chill album with haunting vocals and melodies.

It took me a couple songs to warm into this but once I got it I think it was a really good album. The obvious People Ain’t No Good classic and I really enjoyed the accordion track (?) Black Hair. I was aware of the Nick Cave hype and now I think I can see why, this feels like a really emotional album and despite its slow melodies, it avoids being monotonous and remains interesting.

Very boring, completely intolerable vocals, some of the musical ideas are ok

At first the voice (very VERY deep) caught me off guard but I liked it later on Songs I liked: 1st, 3rd, 5th & 7th mmmmm i'd say 2 o 3

Nick Cave again!! Oh come on, is the compiler sleeping with him or something? It was dreadful

This is terrible. He's one miserable fuck. He's like those other miserable music blokes, except he didn't kill himself. He's still here, producing hundreds of albums, all seemingly on the 1001. NO MORE NICK CAVE

I thought I’d really like this album, however I felt it was a little slow, and meticulous- I have a few NC albums, and his lyrics are excellent

Pretty good, tho i would not classify this as my style

Sedated and haunting, this is Cave’s first foray into more personal songwriting about loss and personal tragedy. It’s not an easy listen, but that’s kinda the point.

Good but not my thing

Ótimo disco, repleto de belas canções muito bem arranjadas e interpretadas.

I'm biased because I already LOVE "Into my arms"

Way better than Murder Ballads

Bueno

One of my favorite of his albums, not a weak song on it. It's hard to pick and choose but Lime Tree Arbor and Into My arms stand out.

Didn’t listen to the whole thing, but I get it. Certainly a mood.

Szczerze to nic ciekawego. Ani to ładny śpiew ani klimat. Po pewnym czasie denerwujące. 2

Much as I love Nick Cave and even though this album includes some of his best songs, I need something to break up the downtempo from time to time. Some excellent stuff on here.

En af dem, jeg burde have hørt for længe siden. Sidste nummer trækker ned, ellers næsten perfekt album.

Day 348 Probably my least favourite nick cave album I’ve had so far, pleasant enough but I was losing interest towards the end Highlight Into my arms

Meh.

Nick's voice works well in this style, which is kinda slow and plodding. It isn't bad, the lyrics are interesting, if not a little God-y for my taste, but whatever, you do you, man. Musically feels like a build up to something that never arrives.

The best nap I've ever had was in the backseat of a car driving into NYC while this played on headphones and if that sounds like a bad review then you haven't had a nap that good. Sliding in and out of consciousness while Cave plays piano and croons and buildings tower above you is a perfect experience.

This one was an excellent find for me. Much of this is 5 stars, but it gets a bit too sappy and, again, Jesusy from time to time for me to get to 5. But I love the mournful quality of a lot of this, and the poetry is really interesting, and Nick Cave has my kind of voice.

He can obviously create well crafted songs and a lot are nice to listen to. But I struggle with the same slow dirge and so many song lyrics seem to be the same subject. I can't tell the albums apart.

Is there anyone more over represented on this list? So many great jazz, blues and world artists but FIVE Nick Cave Albums??! 5! Idk, it’s…fine..SO boring and relying on the fact that its brooding to make up for any musicality at all.

This is probably my favourite cave. Sombre, intense. Starts so strong

Not my favorite Nick Cave album, though I'm having a hard time remembering the last one. Into My Arms and People Ain't No Good were both solid.

I used to think Nick looked like such an old fart in the 90's but he was still just a kid.

A bit samey. Some lyrics were shocking.

Súper lindo disco :D

Everyone loves Nick Cave. But not me. He's kinda dull and his voice kinda wobbles in an unartistic way. Sorry, fans, but i'm not one. 1/5

Should've known I'd really enjoy this. Balanced between a 4 and a 5. 4.5/5

I’ve always admired Nick Cave more than I’ve loved him. The early records are astonishing feats of imagination, but they can also feel like performances in the grand theatrical sense. The biblical fury, the Southern Gothic, the murder ballads; Cave rarely entered a room quietly. Then I reached The Boatman’s Call and found him doing something infinitely more difficult. He shuts up. This isn’t really a breakup album. It’s an album about transition. Specifically, it’s about the bewildering moment when someone you love has already crossed into a new reality while you’re still trying to understand how yesterday’s world disappeared overnight. What impressed me most is that Cave refuses almost every easy explanation. He briefly blames himself. He briefly blames her. He questions God, destiny, human nature and memory. None of them quite fit. Every song is another attempt to walk around the same crater, hoping one angle will finally make sense of it. That’s why I found “Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?” so devastating. It’s not mourning the relationship so much as the collapse of possibility. All those futures that existed yesterday simply vanish. The grief isn’t only for what was; it’s for everything that now can never be. Crucially, Cave never turns anyone into a villain. “People Ain’t No Good” initially sounds like a cynical slogan, but by the end it has quietly dismantled its own thesis. People aren’t wicked so much as limited. Relationships don’t always fail because somebody is monstrous. Sometimes two flawed people simply can’t continue. That’s a much sadder conclusion. Musically, the restraint is extraordinary. This is the same Bad Seeds that once sounded capable of bringing down industrial buildings. Blixa Bargeld, the existentially suffering German from Kollaps, is somehow transformed into a master of understatement. Mick Harvey arranges with astonishing confidence, Thomas Wydler barely disturbs the surface, and everyone seems to ask the same question before playing a note: “Does this song actually need me?” Usually the answer is “only just.” The result is an album that seems to breathe. At one point I realised it sounded like an old wooden boat under load. The arrangements creak almost imperceptibly, like timbers flexing against the swell. Nothing is rigid. Everything yields slightly. For a record called The Boatman’s Call, it feels entirely appropriate. There are beautiful formal ideas throughout. “West Country Girl” has the air of an English folk ballad, built as a litany rather than a conventional narrative. “Idiot Prayer” speaks in the language of a condemned man on his way to the gallows, praying not because he expects an answer but because silence would be even worse. Then “Green Eyes” quietly pulls off one of the loveliest production ideas on the record. Cave overlays a spoken reading of a verse on top of the simultaneously sung version. It feels like an iteration of the old Elvis spoken-song device, but internalised. The singing and speaking aren’t alternatives; they’re two states of consciousness existing at once. That restraint extends to every corner of the record. Nobody announces their cleverness. Even the most sophisticated ideas arrive almost apologetically. By the end, Cave hasn’t solved the breakup. He hasn’t discovered the meaning of suffering or reached some hard-earned spiritual certainty. He’s simply managed to narrate what happened. The relationship has ceased to be an emergency and become a story. There’s something deeply moving about that. I came expecting the Cave of grand gestures and operatic emotion. Instead I found an artist discovering that whispering, or sometimes simply speaking, can carry infinitely further.

They don't sound like very bad seeds to me; this seems like pretty unoffensive music. The main attraction here is the lyricism and storytelling. I feel like we've heard several albums like this; an older guy with a raspy voice accompanied by laid-back/sparse instrumentation, crooning poetry. None of us prioritize lyrics highly when it comes to rating music, so it's kind of inevitable that we probably won't get much out of them. Strong 2 to a light 3

First song started, and I briefly thought, hmmm, maybe I (long ago) dismissed this guy, too quickly, as someone not for me . . . but, before too long, as the songs slowly (SO slowly - lethargically, even) trickled by, I realized that, no, I was right in thinking that he's not for me. And then, as it drags on, I find myself thinking, am I really obliged to listen to the whole thing? (I did.) Broadly speaking, maybe, this is another one that I'd put in the (broad - duh) category, of music/musicians that/who care more about what I guess I'll put under the umbrella of theater, than music. Maybe this guy should have been a poet, or a playwright (but figured a singer might get more attention?). Anyway, mopey snoozefest for me. 2 stars. Antsy to listen to something else, something much better, more enjoyable. Maybe I'm being too hard. I can kind of get how it might appeal to some people (to whom I'd say: go see a play!). Just rubs me the wrong way.

seemed like some of the songs were reused. Like same song, different lyrics. Not enough variety to justify 50+ minutes Lethargic and morose, but he swore a few times so that's cool

So there's absolutely too many Nick Cave albums on the list of 1001 I must hear before I die. Two seems about right, maybe three to acknowledge the existence of sheer personal preference. That sounds more like it. That said, this one would clearly be one of the two that SHOULD be on the list. Cave is in great form vocally and poetically here, crooning his way through songs dripping with irony. Yeah, this is one of the good ones.

I didn’t know what I expected from Nick Cave, but this was way more palatable than my expectation. Accordion got old by the end but as a whole wasn’t a bad project.

Probably my favourite Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album. Contender with Skeleton Tree. The production, the lyrics, the vibe. “Into My Arms” is one of Nick Caves best songs. 5/5 for me.

his face makes me scared and i cannot shake the uneasy feeling while listening to this. to be fair it was muuuch better than i was anticipating but still just gave me the heebie jeebies

I love - Into My Arms. And I generally like the broody vibe of this era. But I never noticed how some of these songs sound quasi Christian until now.

3/5

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A good album, though I wouldn't call it Nick Cave's best work

Nick Cave's voice is darkly beautiful, and the vibe of this album is just right. I love the violin on "West Country Girl."

not at all what I expected. Much more like Leonard Cohen. Some of the songs were ok, but overall not what I am interested in. Only a 2 star rating

A decent album overall, but far from Nick's best in my opinion.

hella boring

sad

Not my type of music, found a lot of songs similar to each other, as if it was the same song. Honestly quite boring. 2.5 stars i cant put the .5

Enjoyment: 5/10 Replayability: 4/10 Cohesion: 6/10 Flow/Pacing: 4/10 Artistic Merit: 5/10 Weighted Average: 4.8/10 Review: Although this album was slow, Nick's voice and the piano were still a pleasure to listen to. I'll probably listen to this again when the environment is right, like a slow and rainy Sunday morning. Liked Song(s): People Ain't No Good, West Country Girl, Idiot Prayer Disliked Song(s): Black Hair, Green Eyes Recommend? No Heard Before? Partly

Woke up this morning, got myself a gun. I kid. Nick Cave was Sopranos Season 2 DVD Cover Art-ing long before David Chase even had his show on the air. It's funny that I roll a Nick Cave album now, as I've just recently finished assembling a pre-written review for Murder Ballads. This is technically my third Nick Cave album, though it's my second as far as the chronology of this list is concerned. It's been ~240 albums since I listened to Abattoir Blues and I don't remember much of it. I do recall thinking that the album was very fucking long, however. How fortunate I am now for having purged all of the albums over an hour in length. Anyways, I'm optimistic going into this album like I am with all of the other Nick Cave releases on this list - I do genuinely want to like this guy. Here goes. Yeah, not bad! I quite liked this. I admittedly wasn't listening to the lyrics as closely as I should have (as is sadly the case for most of my first-time album listens), though from a cursory glance I could tell that the lyrics were the obvious highlight of this album. They're consistently engaging and are generally the central force around which much of this album revolves. Nick Cave's vocal performances are befitting of the strong lyrical content, providing dour, yet energetic and engaging performances. Instrumentally, the music is less varied and more subdued than what I'm used to from Nick Cave, though it's still adept. I appreciate the muffled, soft sounds of this album. On the whole, I thought this album was very competent and is something I'm interested in returning to. There's "Into My Arms". I'm not entirely sure where I've heard this song before, though I'm pretty sure it was in an insurance ad of all places. The song's good. Good vocals, an adept songwriting approach, surprisingly sentimental lyrics (especially after having just come off the back of Murder Ballads) and a very solid piano ballad instrumental. It isn't the best song I've ever heard in regards to what it sets out to do, though it's also one of those songs where I can't think of a single thing I dislike. Solid tune. Book time. A return to Nick Cave's "...searingly personal approach to making music." "The Boatman's Call is widely feted as one of rock's great break-up albums". Many have speculated that this album is centered around Cave's brief relationship with PJ Harvey. "West Country Girl" and "Black Hair" apparently give the most credence to this theory. "There is no great showboating to the lyrics of this album, just an immense sense of loss Cave articulates all too well. The world of The Boatman's Call is described in language that is brittle, and is a place where hope is scant". Despite what the book says, Wikipedia describes this album as a pivot within Nick Cave's style. It's also one of Nick Cave's most acclaimed albums and performed very well on the charts. It charted in a grand total of 13 countries, where it made the top ten in four. It was also the 62nd best-selling album in Belgium for 1997. I imagine it's a controversial opinion to have considering this website's lukewarm reaction to Nick, though I do think five list albums is justified when considering how impeccable his run with the critics has been. I cosign this inclusion.

I love his voice, I love the music, but the lyrics are country-style/evangelical Christian vibes, cheesy. Also, when he throws in random swears, it makes me giggle. There's a time and a place for all these things and I'm stuck between enjoying it and not being able to take it seriously.

**A very sad, dramatic album

It is unique I will give it that but not all creative or good in my opinion. More like a poetry slam with the same middle school band playing the same chords over and over in the background. Definitely could live without ever hearing this album.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 is one of Nick Cave’s most intimate albums. Stripped back to piano, subtle arrangements, and his unmistakable baritone, the songs place the focus entirely on the lyrics and the emotions behind them. What struck me most is the album’s dark, melancholic atmosphere. Even at its most beautiful, there is a quiet sadness running through these songs that never really disappears. Cave doesn’t rely on dramatic gestures; instead, he lets the music speak through restraint, making the emotional weight feel even stronger. It’s not an album I would describe as easy listening, but it rewards patience. The combination of understated arrangements, thoughtful songwriting, and a lingering sense of melancholy makes 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 one of Nick Cave’s most compelling records.

ESTOY HARTA DE LOS ALBUMES DE NICK CAVE NO ME GUSTAN Y ENCIMA ME QUEDAN COMO DOS MAS LOCO DEJENME EN PAZ

Droll, sleepy music with lots of swear words. I like the Shrek 2 song

A good album

I never know what to expect from this band. It's like they intentionally create a completely different sound, and style on every album. While I appreciate their versatility, this album was just boring. It doesn't help this is probably the hottest day via temperature I've ever experienced in my entire lif, so maybe I'm a little cranky today. Favorite Track: "Into My Arms".

Había escuchado otras cosas de Nick Cave y esto me aburrió un poco.

Почему так больно сильно мама

Intensely beautiful, not always approachable. I like that Nick Cave is not afraid to be earnest (if that can be perceived as pretentious, then fine). This is his most paired back style. Rewards an active listener

I’m hot and warm on Nick Cave. Henry’s Dream and Skeleton Tree very much sit within the “hot” category and this album is more “warm”. This collection of piano ballads pitches The Boatman’s Call as one of Cave’s more reflective efforts, which is not to say it’s laid back, it’s too intense for that. Opening track Into My Arms is a song for the ages, one of the very best piano ballads of all time. It sets a high bar which the rest of the album never even gets near. But at the same time, it’s an enjoyable, heartfelt listen throughout.

Nick Cave earns himself his first 5 on Boatman’s Call for me. I can hear so many elements of Cave and co that i love in this record, some of it is his best work (Into My Arms, People Just Ain’t No Good) and some of it points at his much later work such as Ghosteen and bits of Skeleton Tree. I love calm Cave.

I liked the first song, Into My Arms, but the rest was just alright.

I will sooner see the 2026 Supergirl film than listen to the THIRD sad-sack Nick Cave album from this list.

This is one of those instant five star records. A personal favourite album by one of my favourite musicians. It shows Nick Caves introspective side and his ability to make ‘small’ songs. Hot take: Are you the one that I’ve been waiting for is a superior lovesong to Into my arms

Good lyrics and story telling. Occasionally too repetitive but overall solid album.

Standouts Into My Arms Are You The One I've Been Waiting For?

People ain't no good There is a Kingdom Where do we go but nowhere?

12 songs After what felt like an hour, I realized I had only made it to the fifth song, and I think this sums up the album pretty well.

stop please

Ever wonder if the reason he obsesses so much about hair, twinkling cunts, and violence against women isn't because he's deep and poetic, but because he's actually just a total creep?

Oh boy another Nick Cave album. The status quo. Mid

Yawn. Nothing offensive, just some brooding boring music.

sad boi

Beautiful

A lot of the albums on the list seem to come down to whether you had a relationship with the artist or an album of theirs at some point in the past. I like Nick Cave, his schtick, the whole package. I like this, not my go to NC album however. Black Hair sounds like a fast show scetch

Nico Cueva es como si Johnny Cash hubiese nacido y se hubiese criado en Palermo...y sin talento.

Not a lot stuck out to me. Simple, but not in a profound way. 4.6/10

1. Into My Arms - 3 Lyrically the song is fine but the pace is all over the place. The lyrics have to be rushed in certain spots to fit them into the lines and they don't flow but often crash with the music. Sloppy songwriting. 2. Lime Tree Arbour - 6 Much better track. Better lyrics, better flow, better instrumentals. 3. People Ain't No Good - 5 If Morrisey was bearable. Not a huge fan of the topic of the song. 4. Brompton Oratory - 2 Nothing in this track makes sense. Lyrically it's incredibly confusing. 5. There Is A Kingdom - 3 Bland and generic Christian music. 6. (Are You) the One That I've Been Waiting For? - 3 Pace is all over the place lyrically. The verses constantly builds towards a crescendo that underwhelms or never arrives and the chorus lets out so early it's hard to enjoy the track. 7. Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere? - 3 Vocals and instrumentals are out of harmony and crash often. 8. West Country Girl - 6 Good track. It's nothing phenomenal but the guitars on it are quite enjoyable and it's got some part of the lyrics that are a lot of fun. 9. Black Hair - 1 Insanely dull song with incredibly boring and very poorly written lyrics. 10. Idiot Prayer - 3 It's more crashing and out of harmony lyrical performance. 11. Far from Me - 4 It's a very dull song. Some parts are nice like the effect on the guitar between some of the lines of lyrics, but there's nothing there to keep your interest through the whole five plus minutes. 12. Green Eyes - 0 Vocally it is the worst track on the album. On top of this, there is absolutely no reason for a second vocal to be speaking half of the lyrics over top of the singing. Average Rating: 3.25 Adjusted to 5-Point Scale: 1.63 Rounded Up: 2 Stars

Yeah this album just passed by. Not a big fan of Nick Cave's voice and style of music. This one was definitely not his worst, but far from good as well. 2/5

g-man lookin mf nick cave not even bad, i've jus heard enough

Some very decent music for a low energy mood

Not for me. 1/5

snoozer

So this is finally the Nick Cave I've always heard so much about! One of the top reviews here says this is like Tom Waits doing Leonard Cohen songs, which sounds pretty great to me! And it's not even an inaccurate description! But unfortunately, it's Tom Waits without the unique and exciting arrangements, and it's Leonard Cohen without being anywhere close to the greatest lyricist of all time. So alas, it's a big disappointment.

I like Nick Cave but I find this album to be completely stuck in sadness without any musical progression or climax.

Not super interesting.

I dug into Nick Cave pretty deep maybe 15 years ago, but haven't really listened to much since. I wouldn't necessarily say I got sick of it, but it's just a lot, A little bit of these guys go a long way. It was nice to come back to The Boatman's Call, but I don't see be returning again for a while, especially since it sounds like there's many more of these albums on here. I need to pace myself.

This album aiiiiin't noooooo goooooooooood. No, this album aiiiiiinnn't noooooooo gooooooood. 2/5

I knew about this band from Peaky Blinders and they have a unique sound, but I don't want to listen to it for an entire album.

A pretty fascinating album for me. For the length of the first song I was worried this was going to be a slog, I don’t really love this almost Tom Waits style alternative blues, but as the album has unfolded it’s become kind of entrancing to me. The simplicity of the Instrumental lends itself to how interesting Nick’s voice is and how good of a storyteller he is. A few songs need just a bit more from either the vocal performance or the band for it to edge closer to an amazing album and not just a great one.

I like the melodies but nothing else appeals on The Boatman's Call.

Starting with Into My Arms is emotional blackmail! Anyway, the rest is pretty good but I need at least one snarling, rougher-edged song to really enjoy a Nick Cave album.

Rather boring.

Nick cave doing Nick Cave things.

I've only gotten one other Nick Cave album and I enjoyed the punk elements and style a lot. That isn't to say this was bad, but I wasn't expecting somber piano throughout. I suspect a different mood gets a higher rating from me.

- Un album crepuscolare, il giusto sottofondo per un road trip solitario sul calare del giorno. - La voce di Nick Cave fa l’80% del lavoro, come sempre. - Lime tree arbour !! People ain’t no good !!

I think this is an album that you just can't pick up and listen to, rather you need to sit and actually listen to it without interruption.

Intimate and warm. A goth AL Green with god and love front and center.

ganz schön, aber keine ahnung, hab kein bock mehr auf pretentious men

actually besser

so this sounds like more Leonard Cohen? with a bit more instruments in there. Mad props to these guys for red right hand tho that's acc a banger.

So mournful! I mostly dug it, even though it got really religious at times.

its almost great

This is Cave at his most stripped-back—just piano, space, and brutally honest songwriting. The storytelling isn’t grand or theatrical; it’s intimate, almost uncomfortably so. Songs like Into My Arms and People Ain’t No Good don’t build, they unfold, line by line, carrying a quiet emotional weight that really lingers. As someone who enjoys a bit of Steven Wilson-style melancholy, this hits a similar nerve—but through minimalism rather than atmosphere. It’s all about what’s not played as much as what is. Not an album for every mood, but when it clicks, it’s quietly devastating.

Overall: 8/10 Another classic from Nick Cave. This might be my favourite of his albums that I've heard so far, I love the tone and atmosphere so much. Usually religious imagery would turn me off but his voice just sounds like it shouldn't be singing about anything but Jesus. Fav Song: West Country Girl

One of the most boring albums of all time. I played it during working hours in my office and everyone, including Nick Cave fans, asked when it was ending. Sure, he is a poet, but the lyrics are more of the same recycled themes I heard on other albums. The band had no semblance of life on any song. At least it wasn't unpleasant to the ear. 2.5/5

8/10

Some very interesting pondering from Nick Cave here. This is probably the most well written of his works that I've heard so far, but I've musically enjoyed some other albums of his more.

This album shows qualities that would really turn me off, if it wasn‘t for Nick Cave with a voice that is beautifully heartbreaking. It‘s pondering, it‘s quite one-mooded (guess that‘s a word i made up?) but goddamnit, Nick and his band sell it to you as a revelation, an emotional journey on a meandering river through a dying countryside in autumn. There seems to be no hope that life will get better on this record, but there is always hope that i can return to Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

çok hoş chill bir albümdü. black hair hariç her şarkıyı çok chill ve güzel buldum

An emotional album with lyrics that are touching at times and freaky at others. Most of the singer-songwriter albums I've heard up to this point were performed with acoustic guitars, so it was very fresh to listen to Nick Cave's piano melodies. Also, Nick Cave kind of looks like a Thneedville character from the Lorax.

I guess this is the main album people think of when they think of Nick Cave but I haven’t really listened to it much compared to his later albums. I’m sure this is one I’ll come to love upon further listenings so I’ll just go ahead and give it 5.

Why does Nick Cave have so many albums on here

What you expect from Nick C - really enjoyed it

alles piano? klar doch! und nick cave und seine unvergleichliche stimme.

Ein riesiges Album!

an album of ups and downs. im not one to pay much attention to lyrics unless they're exceptionally good or exceptionally bad (in this album: Black Hair), but i think a lot of the reviews complaining about this album's somber mood are overblown. that or im just already accustomed to a good dreary song. the environment you listen in is really gonna make or break your experience with this one; i had it on during a quiet, peaceful evening of some computer work by myself in low light, so i had a great time with it. though there are still some pretty low points here (Green Eyes is... interesting, and Black Hair is black hair black hair black hair) but i appreciated this one overall

I don’t really understand why so many Nick Cave albums are on the list - this one is fine, a little boring, but not anything I would be interested in listening to again.

The instruments sound great. Questionable lyric quality

Melancholic to say the least.

It's a mix of Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones for dudes that roll their own cigarettes. I'm leaving a 3 because I can appreciate the musicianship and writing, but can't draw on a hook that brings me back in.

Thought it was alright but went on a bit too long

Again, not really remarkable but fine

Dirgey Dirger

Arguably his best album; certainly my favourite. Operatic

It’s like he went “I’ll show you a Leonard Cohen ripoff” and then made this not very good album

General thoughts: A piano-centered album with songs about care and love. Simple yet effective on all fronts. The style, the atmosphere, the theme, it's really cohesive in that sense. Minimalistic, maybe a little bit too much. Usually, this kind of setup would make the voice stand out, but I don't think that's the case for me here. The first half is solid, but the second half progressively degrades, particularly the lyrics, which get lamer. Outstanding song(s): Into my arms (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For? Weakest song(s): Green Eyes Far From Me Cover: Also minimalistic, that's probably the keyword for the album lol Real rating: 3.29

Three-leaning-four

Chad asked why i was listening to funeral music with this one.

mais legal quanto mais ouve

Not for me. Thought this one was a snoozer. I don’t find the compositions very interesting and I don’t think I share Cave’s sense of humor sufficiently to appreciate his lyrics.

"Into my arms" is a classic - the rest was the normal quality you would expect from Nick Cave. I like it but not as much as some other stuff.

Honestly I expected worse coming into this one. Nick Cave always stuck me as a poor man's Matt Berninger. This record did not change that opinion, but Nick's doing alright too. It's not bad, just rather boring. Songs sound about the same throughout, similar pace and chord progressions. A solid 3. Ish.

Some of these songs appear on a playlist my dad made for my mum for Christmas. It’s the playlist we put on if we’re all on a car journey together. I’m always excited to see albums on here that feature any of those songs. I do see why people might struggle with it, but I grew up with music like this. There are moments where the album dragged a little for me, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the last song. But I really like the sparse arrangements and I like his voice, even as I can understand why people wouldn’t. (That’s like 80% of my music taste to be fair) It does have some odd lyrics and some weaker songs, but I think it also has some beautiful songs and the sparseness adds to the emotion of them. Fav song: Into My Arms – I also liked People Ain’t No Good, and my favourite song I didn’t already know was West Country Girl Least fav: Green Eyes

Did not enjoy this one at all. Ended a great recent run of albums :(. Nick cave just says stuff over a bang average backing, and sometimes the lyrics are shit to boot. Black hair is soo bad. Specific rating - 2.5 Fav song- people ain’t no good Least fav- black hair/ green eyes

Find this quite hard to score because I love Into My Arms and People Ain't No Good but there is so much on this album that I don't like. He's playing hopscotch with the line between gorgeous lyricism and pretentiousness. I much prefer this Nick Cave era to his birthday party shit. Favourite song: People Ain't No Good Least: Green Eyes

melancholie ten top... maar op een goeie manier

This album just furthers my distaste for Nick Cave.

love this one. into my arms is my song with Ada and I think its a 10/10 song. so good

“I don’t believe in an interventionist god” is one hell of way to get my attention at the start of an album. And then to end with a raw poem set to song, what beautiful bookends to a haunting album.

Started off well, but got worse with each song

I try so hard to not give out 1s, but this album is so close. Maybe it’s just not my vibe, but I never want to hear this album again. I thought I looked the song from Shrek 2 - and maybe I do on its own - but hearing this whole album has made me like the one song a little less. I’ll be kind and round up from the 1.5 I want to give, but don’t take that as a positive review.

Damn. - This was one of the more emotionally heavy projects on this list so far. I was not able to grab the true meaning behind it on my first listen through, but a lot of the tracks were throat lump worthy. for me personally, this is a very special album stored away for a very special occasion where everything around you crumbles and all you can do is watch and hope the real you makes it through. Very emotionally charged and does a good job at relating through unique relation niches but this isnt something one would throw on an aux cord Best song - People aint no good

1.5/5 Best Song: Into My Arms Worst Song: West Country Girl Weirdest Song: Black Hair Honorable Mention: People Ain't No Good Made me sleepy and sad.

#15 I had higher hopes for this. Most of the songs don't seem to go anywhere musically, and his singing comes across as monotone and borderline lazy. Some of the lyrics are cringey, especially in Green Eyes. West Country Girl might be the only song on the whole album worth returning to.

7/10 Much better than I remember it, although the last time I heard it was at a Xmas party when someone felt like switching the playlist up. An odd choice

Nick Cave and the Bad Music

Amazing that all it takes for Nick Cave to make a great album is to slow everything down and bring in more heartfelt and emotional lyrics. His vocal style fits nicely with piano-heavy melodies, and there's a depth to the songs that is such a nice change of pace from the rest of his catalog. Honestly makes me wish the rest of his discography was more stylistically similar, I'd enjoy it all a lot more. Top tracks: Into My Arms, People Ain't No Good, Far from Me

I think Nick Cave is very cool and I have a lot of respect for him but I struggle to rate this higher than 3 stars. I really love a few tracks like Into My Arms and Where Do We Go But Nowhere, but others are just bad. I remember hearing Black Hair a couple years ago and being wound up by how many bloody times he says black hair! Most songs are slow ballads which have their place but I get a little tired of eventually. I appreciate the dark, gothic elements - I can imagine when you’re feeling down this album would really speak to you. I also like how while he’s a good singer, he’s ever so slightly sharp or flat in places. These imperfections make it feel more raw - no post production or filters getting between you and Nick’s words (that I can detect anyway). Overall it’s a good album that deserves its place on the list, and one that I can see myself coming back to and enjoying more in the future.

Maybe I'm not in the mode for something slower paced, but this is really just not hitting for me.

If Nick Cave could sing, this would be a pretty decent album. As it is, this is a pass.

Could this album be more depressing? If you have started to lose faith in humanity, the song "People Ain't No Good" isn't going to help with that. I was having a really great day and then I started listening to this album and suddenly I was depressed and just wanted to crawl into my bed and not leave. 1 star

2 - a bit boring

Sparse and intimate. Nick and the gang doing what they do best.

скип просто лирика под простую музыку не трогает ни разу

I dig Nick Cave. I do. I know he’s the Poet Laureate of the Blackened Bleeding Heart. Just once, could he try writing a pop song? A song that isn’t about death and misery and the sorrow and the graying entrails strewn about the stone floor, or the shattering nobility of broken hearts and the pursuit of impossible love? I’m not asking for Taylor Swift here. Just something that makes me swivel my hips a bit. I know, I know. Like asking a leopard to be a zebra.

Fav song: Into My Arms

Glad I got exposed to more Nick Cave, but I didn’t like this one as much as the murder ballads.

I can understand how people like this album and the vibe of it but it’s just too melancholy for me.

I enjoyed the album. Nick Cave can write some songs. While I was listening to the album I googled why is Nick Cave a thing. It’s crazy that he’s been writing crazy good songs for so long. Quivers is amazing. This album is good. I didn’t think it was overly amazing and I think it was because it was piano based but I’m a Nick Cave fan.

4.3

Pretty down-the-fairway Nick Cave.

Was that a music album or the snooz app?

Parece música de iglesia, terrible, me aburrió mucho

nick cave & the bad songs

Christian rock💔💔 Not that bad

Another reminder that I’m “starting to really like Nick Cave” years old.

This one was pretty good I enjoyed the weirdness of it

It’s morbid, sure, but it’s such a beautiful record. Maybe it’s a little bit monotonous at times but I love the mood that Cave creates here and his songwriting here may be his best and most vulnerable at this point in his career.

I sort of liked the more lounge singer-ish vibe of this album, but I didn't enjoy this as much as some of his other albums on this list. This one would certainly benefit from multiple listens.

Soooo boring

I really dig his voice and any singer who sounds like it. As for the music, it's expectedly depressing (which I like) and unexpectedly religious (which I dislike). Still, even at their most spiritual, the lyrics are pretty good and, now that I know the story behind the album's creation, I definitely need to relisten someday.

very Leonard Cohen-y. good if you're into that down tempo droning stuff I guess.

HEARTBREAKING this man’s voice has so much soul he’s been through it!!!

Some songs are a vibe but overall boring?

Sumptuous ballads, eschewing the wildman murder-perv stuff. Some extraordinary lyrics, backed with gorgeous, simple instrumentation. I listened through twice. Makes me wonder about Polly Harvey: not just highly accomplished in her own right but also maybe one of the all time great muses?

6/10

Great music. Nick Cave is a tough one to listen to on command. You have to be in the right mood. But it’s amazing when you are.

11/05/26 que voz grave estranha e que piano chato e isso se repete em tudo?? monótono pra cacete, voz chata e instrumentais chatos dara 3/10 / 1.5/5, mas isso n merece 1 eu acho

1/5

An album that would definitely kill the mood at a party but beautiful at the same time. Typical Cave themes and lyrics but without all the vim and vigour. Could imagine listening to this on a comfy reclining chair with a large glass of red. 4

laaaaaaaaame. this guy STINKS

Honestly great vibes if that’s what you are looking for

Great record, from an artist I'm enjoying more as I get older

Длинная-предлинная баллада от Кейва.

Капец это скучно

I once more find myself hitting a wall with this list. It’s been three or four days of albums I don’t care about and getting hit with our fourth Nick cave album is tough. He’s great, he’s got great music, but four albums on the list? I get like “how can we choose between sgt peppers and the white album” for why bands can have multiple entries but some of these just feel like Dimmery was a big fan and can’t decide himself, in the same way that is this it and room on fire should both be on here, and probably new abnormal, but they get one because they weren’t 40 year career deep musicians that Dimmery grew up with. Whatever this thing is still like a high three low four I am just so tired of artists that have like 16 albums on the list. I guess what I’m getting at is all of nicks albums on the list so far have been the same moody singing over sparse instrumentation kinda scary ominous vibe. I like that vibe, but I don’t know that four albums of it is “should hear before you die”

Nick Cave’s output is so variable. I do admire that he never rests on his laurels though. This one doesn’t do it for me. This style does not suit his voice and It’s all a bit one note ad a result. Some of the lyrics are a bit clunky. Into My Arms is the high point. Classic cover photo

Has better apbums

Nick Cave - I had never really listened to his work prior to starting this challenge, and I'm glad for the push into his work that this list has given me. He scratches that Leonard Cohen itch. Alternates between gut punching somberness and gut busting hilarity. This was a good Monday morning listen.

Good chill vibe

Listened to this at work it wasn't too bad. Not a normal Nick Cave record. 2.5 stars

He just tries so hard and it does pay off. 4/5

One of the biggest surprises of this project for me is how much I like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This spoke to my inner emo kid in ways actual emo music never could.