The Boatman's Call

Yeah! Nick Cave! Love it.

This is the album that helped me finally “get” Nick Cave several years back and now I think he’s one of the best songwriters who ever lived. Many of these songs I’ve now heard live arrangements for quite a bit so it was interesting to revisit these album versions. I’d go so far as to say that if you don’t like this album, you are probably a hopeless rube when it comes to musical taste, no less than if you don’t like Kind of Blue, Revolver or Pet Sounds.

More Nick Cave?

I hate it. I hate everything about it. His voice is grating and the music is pretentious. I never want to hear it again.

I enjoyed this. I like the way Nick Cave sings, but I like even better they way he writes. Some of those lyrics were really great. Four stars.

Another Nick Cave album? So soon? Interestingly, it's very different from the last one I had. It's all introspective piano ballads, a far cry from the shocking theatrics of Murder Ballads. The lyrics are better here, and the songs are often good but not great. Like Murder Ballads, it's a good album that isn't going to be something I listen to often. However, it's not quite as memorable or interesting. This album is ranked #10 of 25 albums for 1997. Other 1997 albums rated by me: Either Or(4/25)-3 Urban Hymns(5/25)-3 In It For The Money(8/25)-2 A Short Album About Love(19/25)-3 Life Thru A Lens(21/25)-1 Let's Get Killed(22/25)-3

This guy AGAIN?

Absolutely no reason this belongs here.

Another great one from Nick Cave. Very somber and stripped down but the lyrics and emotion comes through. Really enjoyed this, very romantic at parts. Into My Arms is amazing.

Not my favorite

Damn, I love Nick Cave so much. This is even more perfect than the last album.

Assumed with the sombre / religious content this was post the death of one of his kids. No just the break up of his marriage and subsequent PJ Harvey obsession and heroin addiction. The dude’s been through a lot. Very strong opening tracks fades a bit in the middle - a bit samey. Before last 4 or so tracks return to form. Far less noisy than earlier albums. Got to be higher than a 3.

Splendid album. Highlights include...Into my arms, (Are You) The One I've Been Waiting For, People Ain't No Good. The out of place but perfectly in place swearing, The bass line on Far From Me. I was half invested in everything Nick Cave did after Murder Ballads but this was the moment he became a cut above the rest for me

Strong album, though it didn't quite blow me away like Orpheus and I liked it most when it veered towards that albums territory. Suitably lugubrious organ on a couple of the tracks.

This is a fine album. Largely dark broody which I’m sure would put off many people, but the quality of the songwriting and lyricism is top drawer. Maybe one star lost for being a tad one dimensional when placed in comparison to Abattoir Blues, but really, really solid throughout.

I've listened to some Nick Cave before but never this album (except Into My Arms, of course). Some wonderful songs here but on first listen I don't love these recordings. I intend to revisit this album at some point because I think there's more here than I could fully appreciate in one listen. It's a three for now.

langweilig

Ugh... this fuckin' guy again? SIX Nick Cave (including one Birthday Party) albums now. Not one of them has changed my opinion. You really think maybe just one more might do the trick, Dimery? I made it one minute and seventeen seconds into this album before I had to turn it off and listen to something new that I might actually enjoy. Hey! A new Queens of the Stone Age song!

I'm going to need an extended break from Nick Cave and Elvis Costello after this project is done.

can't recall if I liked this

I like this more than the little nick cave I had heard before. There’s a little late stage Leonard Cohen in there. Moody, introspective sound. Big fan.

What if Tom Waits but musically one note and boring. The next time the boatman calls, I'm hanging up (1.5)

What the hell was that last song

To be honest, "The Boatman's Call" isn't great. I had a headache at the time, which didn't help. Many of the songs sounded boring, and only the lyrics kept me interested. "The Boatman's Call" is my second least favourite album from Nick Cave (The worst is the one with The Birthday Party). I hope that's the last album I'll get from him. 3 stars for "The Boatman's Call".

Elsku besti Nick Cave og illu fræin. Þetta er frábær plata. Drungaleg á köflum, en ljúf og falleg þess á milli. Textarnir eru geggjaðir eins og venjulega. Alvöru verk.

Stórkostleg plata. Besta plata Nick Cave og er þá mikið sagt. Í raun ein besta plata allra tíma.

It's a big old mug of Sleepytime tea

This is another one where I’m like I get it but the guy’s voice just ain’t for me

Bit of a rough listen. I mean a 50+ minute pure piano driven album with a voice like that… was never going to be easy. Unfortunately this crossed the line into outright boring too many times for me. I found his voice just so deep and slow. The lyrics did not move me as much as they needed to improve this to me.

This album is ok, but each son sounds very similar to each other. "Into my arms" is a well worn classic I suppose. I dunno, this is just not at all my thing. It isn't technically bad, though. Minus one star for Green Eyes. That is a terrible closer. ⭐⭐ On another note, this damnable lost has SEVEN Nick Cave albums. Couldn't you remove just ONE for something else? Cave's arguably most well known song is a duet with Kylie Minogue, who has ZERO albums on here. Like, c'mon guy.

Some of the tracks on this I don't think I've heard before. They show a tender side to Nick that I never knew existed in such a sweet way. It suits him just as much as the raw and messy side I'm used to. Thus album a 4, maybe a 5 with a few more listens.

80

Great live band but this isn’t their best album

It's softer Nick Cave which is not always my thing but this works for me anyway

This is not my fave Cave, not even top 5. But it's still ok!

This was a fun album. It had interesting sounds throughout.

I know of Nick Cave and had just recently got put on the the intro of this album from the movie about time. But honestly he really grew on me throughout this listen. It was a passive listen and still picked up that the songwriting is pretty strong. And the instrumentals are great. Feel like I need to do a deeper dive into this genre of slower lyircal rock

Track By Track Into My Arms - I instantly got a warm feeling upon hearing this. It’s so tender and beautiful. This, I believe has been played at funerals, weddings and everything in between. A universal song in many respects. Lime Tree Arbour - Enjoying the introduction of the organ. Very nice, subtle but very present. This is the first biblical sounding song here. So many of his songs actually sound very timeless and biblical/almost ancient in their origin. Like they’ve been snatched from the mists of time. Gorgeous chorus, how it rises and falls. Yearning. People Ain’t No Good - This is, of course, very sad. But it’s so brilliant melodically and the performance is really heartfelt. The yearning is also very present here too! Warren’s violin building in the final third is just the pièce de résistance. Brompton Oratory - There is a lovely live version of this on his Alexandra Palace record. Gorgeous. This version also sounds churchy but I almost prefer the piano one. It’s somehow even more raw, which communicates the aching and heartfelt, almost desperate feel of many of the songs on this album. Still, it’s a beautiful song. There Is a Kingdom - An ancient/biblical spin on a love song. It’s ,again, another strong chorus. (Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For? - Great rhymes. ‘Sat and I’ve watched an ice age thaw…’ Nice. Great writing. Nice how he interweaves the bible references and lyrics of longing. Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere? - This sounds very Leonard Cohen in its amble along and the piano and guitar interplay. Less of a stand out for me. Not my favourite but still decent. West Country Girl - It’s a very apt title. Sounds like his take on a country-western song. It could even be in a movie. He has composed for soundtracks before (this one’s pretty cinematic). This has the darkness of Nick Cave that is so intoxicating and quite beautiful I find. He’s channeling something big here. Black Hair - How the accordion is used in this song is so perfect. How deeply evocative it is. Such a wonderful song. A little moment of space on the record, a vignette, a simple love song executed beautifully. Idiot Prayer - It’s almost Shakespearean, as well as religious this one. Interspersing various different turns of phrase. It’s like this song builds and floats like it’s a ship sailing along. All one long verse. Far from Me - No notes. Just perfectly executed. I really, really love this one. Despite its yearning sadness. Green Eyes - I don’t think I had heard this before. Lovely. I really could listen to him read a shopping list. Great voice. Overall Review: It’s like all the heartbreak songs in one. But done so, so well. I do have a soft spot for Nick Cave. Particularly his later work. I do not get bored of the piano really at all throughout, which is testament to the songwriting. This reminded me of how well Nick Cave does darkness and finds the pearls in the grit, the magic and beauty in the depths. There is a quote of his I really like: “The writer who refuses to explore the darker regions of the heart will never be able to write convincingly about the wonder, the magic and the joy of love … just as goodness cannot be trusted unless it has breathed the same air as evil.” So much truth in that. He’s actually been an incredibly influential artist for me. I also love the film by Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard ‘20,000 Days On Earth’. Great film. I would say this is probably an evening album though! It is a lot of sad slowness. Stellar writing. Timeless tunes. He’s definitely got a gift. 4.5/5 Favourite Songs: Into My Arms, Lime Tree Arbour, Black Hair, Far from Me

Ca fait vraiment : "Je suis un artiste, j'ai une sensibilité aux choses qui m'entoure" en plus l'album en noir et blanc pfffff. Il veut faire le monsieur tenebreux. Pas ma DA. Nan mais trop chiant juste. J'en suis a la 5e chanson. C'est dur. Est ce qu'on peut arreter d'etre dramatique monsieur. La derniere chanson c'est pour que je sombre enfaite. En plus 20 oct, l'hiver arrive, il fait gris. Personne n'est content. S T O P . J'ai deja froid rien qu'en ecoutant la musique.

NOOOOOONNNNNN Nick Cave laisse moi tranquille. Putain j'ai même pas envie de commencer à écouter le moindre morceau. Il a mis 5 albums de Nick Cave, à l'aide. On dirait L'agent Smith qui s'est laissé pousser les cheveux.

This didn’t come close to Murder Ballads as my favourite Nick Cave album but it was still a really good listen. I enjoyed every song on it but it just lacked that something that blew me away enough to go for the full five. This completes all the Nick Cave albums on the list for me. He’s definitely a Top 5 discovery so far for, I’ve given him three 5 stars and two 4’s. Amazing because I hated Murder Ballads first time I heard it. I was talked into giving it a second go and as far as I can remember it’s the only score I’ve gone back to edit. Top Track - There Is A Kingdom

so calm

Pa da imam 150 godina mozda bi mi pasao ovaj album, inače baš loše. Jednostavno prestarinski đir i nikako mi nije pasao. Jedina pjesma koja mi je valjala: Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?

Enjoyable but slightly depressing album. Reminds me a lot of some Tom Waits and The National. First listen, I didn't care for it. But upon second listen, I actually started to enjoy the music a lot more. I wish it had more variety of tempo and song style, but overall I thought it was quite enjoyable.

he has a cool voice and everything but once again a whole album is too much for me

It's dark, slow and broody. It's more of an emo record to me. Not that he's not emo on virtually every song, but he forgoes the character-based narratives and stories and full-band arrangements for a somber, minimalist mostly piano-ballad approach. It is quite the departure, especially as a follow-up to Murder Ballads (1996). It's a great record, no doubt and very personal and introspective, it's just difficult to listen to much of the time. I tend to gravitate a lot more to some of his other records but I fully recognize how great this material really is. There is beauty in heartbreak and lament, poetry in the failure of relationships. Nick Cave admitted that he sometimes got into relationships for his art and that it would last longer than the heartache or something like that. I can't find the quote again. Surely, his heartache and misery at this time fed his muse.

I like this way more than Murder Ballads. Probably cause the darkness of the songs feels more honest and earned here. I'm docking points for Cave's singing voice again, but it fits better with these songs. Also docking points because it's very samey in tone and tempo. The spoken word overlay in "Green Eyes" was also odd.

This wasn’t my favorite by Nick. Just a little too samey same. All slow, some dark, but too much.

This was the first Nick Cave album I ever heard (albeit a couple of years after it came out). Resonated with me in a way I think I'm still surprised at given I was mostly listening to music that was nothing like this at the time (~99). Still really enjoy the album.

I mean, it’s Nick Cave. Usually an automatic 4 or 5 and this is no exception.

I do love this album. It starts with one of the greatest love songs ever written, but then it's like how can it be a love songs when it kinda feels like a funeral dirge. Genius. The other tracks drift between good and amazing. I particularly love people ain't no good. But then I also am aware that the album is largely at one speed/style/sound and without knowing the songs that well can feel a bit samey, especially since the style is largely dirgey. Is dirgey a word? Anyway, I do love the sound and the album and it's one of the nick cave ones I listen to the most... But I don't think it's quite 5/5. I think skeleton tree and lure of Orpheus are better. But man that first track.

Funeral music

I loved you in Ghost Rider

like one part musty hotel lobby breakup song, one part gospel-ish background music to offertory part of church service. cannot believe I enjoyed listening to almost an hour of these brooding ballads but they're just so catchy yet emotional. glad he was able to process his divorce or breakup or whatever apparently PJ Harvey dumped him before this album dropped, lol

This is a great album. Cave proves that he isn't just one type of artist, he can come out with these beautiful ballads that are so well written and stick in your head for long after. They are full of emotion and meaning. It's a beautiful collection of songs that stands the test of time. Still with his unique personality and perspective shining through. Top Songs: Into My Arms, People Ain't No Good, Brompton Oratory, (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?, Far from Me

In the first line of the first song Cave sings, "I don't believe in a interventionist God" and we're off! Off on a tour where Nick gives us a chance to admire his cleverness almost as much as he does. The songs are each as deeply miserable and dark as each other. Somewhere Morrisey is saying, "You just need to cheer up dude!" It's the ideal soundtrack album for the sad and lonely - ABBA for the depressed.

love his voice but I like the Good Son album better.

So…I hated the previous two Nick Cave albums I got. This one though was really lovely. I was pleasantly surprised.

Ha ha ha ha. I could probably recite this album under hypnosis. There’s some great songs on here (People Ain’t No Good might be my favorite), but I probably like this album a little less now compared to Y2Kish when I was listening to a lot of Nick Cave. I’m still giving it 5 stars though, because if I didn’t then past-me would murder current-me which would sadden future-me. I say this with 100% love and respect: this is the best of Nick’s boring albums. I prefer his higher energy and grittier output.

Great, so pretty.

Very good! I never listened to a lot of Nick Cave, but he’s always seemed like someone I’d like.

The piano led approach really suit Nick Cave’s vocals. Brompton Oratory synthetic beats somehow lift the tempo just at the point it was all getting too samey. There is a Kingdom has a fuller sound to it as well which makes for a warmer experience than felt possible at the start of the album. Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere is exactly what you want from a Nick Cave track. Dark foreboding deep tale where the poor old donkey “moans”. Overall a more melodic album with only the strange spoken overdub on the final track a misstep.

I have an unsettled relationship with Nick Cave albums on this generator; this, unfortunately, is one of the worst so far.

I've said this every time Nick Cave has come up, but he can't sing. And I don't really care. His voice suits the types of stories he's telling and I enjoy it on every album I hear. I tend to like Nick Cave songs best when they're on the quicker, heavier side (musically and lyrically) and this album was mostly broodingly melancholy in a slightly plodding way. I liked it, People Just Ain't No Good and Idiot Prayer especially, but I didn't love it. I think this is a night-time album and I listened to it in the morning, in an uncomfortable bed in a Travelodge. The ambience was all wrong. At some point I'm going to try again, sat in a nice chair, sipping a glass of Cointreau Noir. 3/5

I usually dig Nick Cave when he keeps things dark and slow, but The Boatman's Call just feels like he's trying way too hard. "Into My Arms" is a gorgeous start, it’s actually restrained and hits just right, but after that, the whole thing turns into a 50 minute slog of piano dirges. It feels like he’s playing up the "tortured poet" act a bit too much, and without the usual chaos of the Bad Seeds to balance it out, the lyrics just sound clunky and overly serious.

★★½

This is Nick Cave’s most critically acclaimed album, yet it is certainly not the one to start with if you are new to his music. I specifically say "Nick Cave" because the band's name could easily have been left off the cover — this is unequivocally a Cave record. It is not just that the lyrics deal primarily with his relationships and breakups; it is that every song follows a "vocals plus instrument" formula (usually piano). The music is sparse, quiet, and at times even fades into the background, as if the musicians were afraid of overshadowing the soul-baring narratives. Personally, I prefer Nick Cave in his wilder — and occasionally even frightening — incarnation, but I still found this album quite good: calm and slightly melancholic. That said, the song lengths do drag a bit; given the music's somewhat monotonous nature, one could easily trim a verse or two from some of the tracks.

If I ever start a cult, Nick Cave is the guy I'm gonna hire for the music. This was great! Basically a stripped down gospel album? "Into My Arms" "People Ain't No Good" "There is a Kingdom" "(Are You) The One I've Been Waiting For?" and "Far From Me" were the standouts for me. It did unfortunately kind of ends on a stinker, "Green Eyes" almost sounds like someone doing an intentionally bad Nick Cave song.

Could've possibly been a 3-star in the right environment, but crap while listening at work

Not my favourite Nick Cave album but I do like Into My Arms

Just barely a full year after Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds released Murder Ballads, they all returned with a Piano Rock album that I don't think anyone saw coming seeing just how different it is from the Alt Rock sound previously touched on. This album feels much more tragic and dreary without any of the cool factor used before, instead it just comes across as a very emotional look back at Nick Cave's own life and experiences. It is a much more somber album that doesn't require as much focus as some of the previous Nick Cave projects I have covered and honestly serves as quite the mood piece. I think Nick's writing is able to shine the best here because of how stripped everything else is and I'd argue this is the closest to a solo album he has gotten in the few projects I have heard thus far. The Boatman's Call is a very simple release and is definitely where I'd start most people trying to get into Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, but I also feel that this album could turn away fans who are looking for more stylized pieces of Alt Rock he gets into throughout the rest of his discography. I very much like this project but it is a bit of a perplexing recommendation to pass around. Nuff said?

Vaca catch up

Probably the weakest of all the Nick Cave albums I have listened to so far. The storytelling is still solid on here and the piano instrumentals are good enough. I just don’t think it’s quite to the level of a Henry’s Dream or AB/TLoO. Favorites were Into My Arms and The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?

Not bad, pretty slow.

ugh another cowboy album...

Sad, grim, dark, typical Nick Cave.

The only nick cave album so far I didn’t mind. Although it’s weird as fuck and the lyrics are kinda messed up.

I really cant stand him. The music is boring and the lyrics are so over the top edgy. Maybe if I had a shotgun to my head, an old fashioned and was alone in the woods after a divorce this would hit. Only saving grace is Shrek 2 bonus points and the fact that its not completely unlistenable, I just hate it.

in the stuff to listen to before you die, I think there's more records to listen to by other people who were in The Birthday Party or the Bad Seeds than Nick Cave. I hadn't thought about the Nick Cave version of Shivers vs. the cool Young Charlatans one for a long time but am now thinking about it again. Nick Cave heard Shivers and then turned it into the kind of song it was making fun of. that's so funny.

In conclusion, he’s not the greatest, but you can do a lot worse than a Nick Cave record. Sonically I could probably go a bit higher on this one, but something about titling an album “The Boatman’s Call” is so primally dorky. I can’t explain it and I also can’t let it go unpunished

Not my usual fair. Not miserable but kinda boring.

The opening song, Into My Arms, tells you exactly where this album is going, which is a pretty dark place. The remaining tracks don't measure up to the excellent quality of the opener though and made this a tough listen for me.

Not a favorite of mine in Nick Cave’s catalog but there are some really good songs here. Favorite tracks: Into my Arms People Ain’t No Good Are You the One I’ve Been Waiting For Where Do We Go How But Nowhere West Country Girl …The song Green Eyes though could ruin an entire album, what was he thinking? Good thing it’s the last song so it’s easy to just stop at the song before this one

I definitely liked this better than Murder Ballads but I don’t think I’ll ever listen to it again.

No, Nick Cave, no way. Not even a second time, thanks

Too slow for my liking

Not bad actually. This was a slow nick cave album. Definitely not a good first introduction to him, but I enjoyed it.

Mukavasti kantaa tunnelmallaan mutta ei mitäön kovin säväyttävää. Varmaan eri mielentilassa vois toimia paremmin. Nyt lähinnä väsytti

Laulanta ja soitanta on ihan hyvää, mutta liian laahaavaa omaan makuun.

Kyllä mää saan tästä kiinni. Ei oo koskaan ollut nikkei-veitsisarja oma suosikki, mut hienoo tavaraa on kuitenkin onnistunut ainakin tän levyn osalta tuuttaan. Ainakin perstuntuma on parempi kun siit aiemmasta nikkelistä. Mut, en tiiä jaksasinko kauheesti asioikseni kuunnella. Kuitenkin hyvä plussa turhista ajoittaisista päälleliimatuista immersioo pilaavista karkeuksista huolimatta.

Kuuntelin levyn kahteen kertaan, mutta silti ei oikein mitään jäänyt mieleen. Ei missään nimessä huono (en olisi huonoa levyä kuunnellut kahdesti), mutta jotenkin vaan ei niin kolahda itselleni. Ehkä tää vaatis enemmän keskittymistä, että voisi oikeasti diggailla.

A couple songs were kind of beautiful, but the rest were just horrible. He’s just too sad.

Its nice to hear a different, stripped back angle here, although it lacks the immediate punch that some of the previous albums give. I enjoy it, and although it falls off a little on the back end, it has legs and merits more time to explore.

The Good: The Boatman gave a call... The Bad: He wants his boat back... The Ugly: Boat done sunk, boatman's gonna come calling for a whooping... I don't like Nick Cave... I know that he's the darling of many... just not my darling... I like Tom Waits. So, this album... 3* out of respect.... but truthfully, I can't even remember listening to it, and this was only a week ago... so it did not make an impression on me. Sorry Nick

Oh Nick, we're really in it now 4.5

Into My Arms is a beautiful song. I kind of want to like this album more than I actually do love it — Cave's voice is great, the lyrics have real emotional resonance. But ultimately this kind of sparsely arranged talky music is kind of boring to me most of the time

My first Nick Cave album! Only after 450 albums generated on here and four more to go after this one. This is considered one of his best and was a good enough intro to his music (I've heard interviews of him and him playing live before). Felt like this was one of the last big artists I have listened none of in my life and really enjoyed his vocals, the lyrics and the smooth production. Will give it a 4 for now.

A great album, and one I've not actually listened to end-to-end before! The opener (Into My Arms) is one of my favourite songs anyway - this guy has such a way with words! There are a couple of tracks that I was unsure of and Cara tolerated about 5 minutes before telling me to play some less depressing, but I like that Nick Cave doesn't give a shit, either. His voice and the Bad Seeds musicality hide many sins 😁. It's not quite a 5, but a very solid 4.

A couple of nice piano tracks, but very samey through the whole album. Nice to get the lyrics front and centre with fewer distractions but I feel that a volume of poetry would have had the same effect. To be honest I got pretty bored and though I knew it wouldn't be the most uplifting album, they all sort of blurred into one. Maybe on another day I'd be more generous, as I know Leonard Cohen was a big influence and that comes through in spades (or should I say oars) on this album, but today it is a 2 / 2.5.

This is another really good Nick Cave album. This is quite melancholic and almost entirely “ballads” (not entirely suitable a word for Cave but you know what I mean). Haunting.