Murder Ballads

This is really not my thing. It felt like the ramblings of a half stoned old man in some seedy bar. If that's your cup of tea you'll love it, but to me it was boring, depressing and badly sung.

A wonderful album. Each track an excellent story of murder in different styles. Features two duets, one with Cave's former partner PJ Harvey and the other with another of Australia's finest exports, Kylie. The duet with Kylie I think represents the attention to songwriting that both artists are appreciated for. Cave and Minogue still perform the track together today. I believe this album, along with the previous Let Love In highlights Nick Cave's final step in transition from hard post-punk toward more experimental alternative rock and the run of albums following Murder Ballads go from strength to strength. It feels like Cave unlocked his USP in Murder Ballads and Let Love In which had always been there but needed the platform and right moment to bring it to the front. Today Nick Cave plays more of a piano man persona but the core link back to Murder Ballads is still at the forefront of his performances.

I liked this more than I thought I would. The dark storytelling reminds me a lot of Eminem, with more of a Johnny Cash spin on the beats. I hope death is not the end.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds open their "Murder Ballads" album with a deep-voiced Nick on "Song of Joy" - a spookish tall tale about a lady named Joy... or possibly about the mere concept of joy itself. Nick's storytelling is brooding and gothy, and I'm here for it! And after 4 minutes of this 6+ song... I can trust this album will be a horror movie for the ears. "Stagger Lee" is another story-telly song about a "bad mother fucker called Stagger Lee" and the bartender does not care. It's campy and fun! And devilishly spooky! "Henry Lee" is the next track on the album and it opens with guest vocals from PJ Harvey (I saw her open for U2 once when I was 11!). Another melancholy tale with accompanying piano and bass AND a pleasantly catching "la la la la" from the duet. The next track, "Lovely Creature" has a build up of tension that is carried throughout, with backing vocals from an unfeatured lady (and more "la la las") that I can only describe as "spooky consistent". "Where the Wild Roses Grow" features vocals by Kylie Minogue (she is the wild rose!) and is another spooky tall tale pop-ish goth song with piano and string arrangements that would make Ben Moody blush. "The Curse of Millhaven" comes in hot and has a head-boppy percussion with an accordion, and it's very fun! Reminds me a lot of My Chemical Romance (Mama comes to mind)... "even God's children they have to die". "The Kindness of Strangers" is yet another murder tale, about a woman named Mary who is tied to her bed with a bullet in her head. This track features an upbeat piano rhythm with guitar and drums. It's easy listening! This track also features a crying woman, which isn't very easy listening, but it is fantastic story telling. The next track, "Crow Jane," continues Nick's storytelling of murder and guns. This song features more piano and even more bass and drums. It's slow paced and has me tapping my foot and bopping my head. "O'Malley's Bar" is the penultimate track on this album, and at 14:28, it's by far the longest song (it's nearly 4 songs worth of song!). Nick does some adlibbing over some piano plucks while singing about a killing spree and how it makes his dick feel, for which I have the utmost respect. My personal favorite line from this track: "And with an ashtray as big as a fucking really big brick I split his skull in half His blood spilled across the bar Like a steaming scarlet brook" After that truly horrific tale of O'Malley's bar, the album comes to a close with "Death Is Not the End" (featuring Anita Lane, Shane MacGowan, PJ Harvey, and Kylie Minogue) - a cover of Bob Dylan - and it's a truly wonderful closer. "Just remember, that death is not the end." A haunting, yet comforting message for the pale, pasty, gothic audience Nick and his friends are surely targeting. Overall I really enjoyed this album. It's weird, it's disturbing, it's haunting. It is simply wonderful! Favorite track: The Curse of Millhaven Honorable mention: O'Malley's Bar

only listened to the first half but i feel like that's all i needed to hear. idk maybe my mind isn't sophisticated enough but i just don't get it sad face emoji

I felt like I should like this album but, the more I listened the more I hated it. The musicality was good but the songwritiing was lazy. You could tell which songs were traditional songs that Cave left mostly intact and which ones he took liberties with. In every case, it seemed that the changes were designed to shock listeners and not to make the songs better. Additionally, Nick Cave's vocal performance on almost every song on this album was sub-par which was surprising to me b/c, in the past, I've enjoyed his performances. Overall, a very disappointing album and one that I frankly am mystified is on this list.

56/100: Every song on this album is basically a worse version of “Ballad of Hollis Brown” and the best song on the album, “Death Is Not The End,” is just a Bob Dylan cover anyway. In fact, if you ever wondered what you get when you cross Bob Dylan with Ted Bundy, well here’s your answer. I can’t think of a bigger red flag than someone getting in their car and blasting the song “Stagger Lee.” Reading the lyrics of these songs while listening along was a deeply uncomfortable experience. I guess that speaks to the power of Nick Cave’s writing and it could be argued that’s what makes this album good, but it’s also the reason I’m rating this album so poorly. I can handle and even appreciate a troubling story in a song when it’s written well and has a thought-provoking moral like Bob Dylan’s “Ballad of Hollis Brown,” but this album is not that. I mean what type of message is “The Kindness of Strangers?” The final line is “So mothers keep your girls at home / Don’t let them journey out alone / Tell them this world is full of danger.” This album feels like murder ballads for the sake of writing about murder, which is the most troubling part to me. I can never see a situation in which I would want to listen to this album again, and if anyone ever hears me or anyone else listening to this, please call the police or a therapist.

I already adore this wonderful silly album. Stagger Lee deserves awards just for its ridiculous use of the word motherfucker. It's hilarious. Henry Lee with PJ Harvey and Wild Roses with Kylie are both darker and moodier - and have a nice balance - Cave is murderer in one and victim in the other. Curse of Millhaven and O Mallets Bar are the highlights for me. Gloriously dark silliness. The latter is 15 minutes long bat feels like three. And Death is not the End is like Band Aid but not for idiots. Perfect perfect perfect.

Rarely do you see a more blunt and descriptive title for a record. This is about an hour of MURDER BALLADS. Listen bud, guy who is thinking about trying Murder Ballads: Consider where you are at mentally. If you are not in a tip-top mental state, maybe skip Murder Ballads. This album is brutal. It's a great listen but I was not ready when I heard it. Alright, now if you are ready to hear some f****d up s**t listen to this one. The tracks here are very cinematic if that makes sense. It is very descriptive of some of the worst concepts I have heard in music. Cave's writing is extremely verbose, but he has you hanging on every word. Fantastic record.

I try to hold out on giving out fives, especially so soon to each other, but man, I love this album. Some insane compositions throughout. A

This is one of the weirdest things I've listened to in years.

Cinquenta e três. Pobre Sylvia. Nunca lhe encontraram o corpo. Esqueceram-se de procurar no lago. MotA: Stagger Lee "Have mercy on me, sir Allow me to impose on you / I have no place to stay And my bones are cold right through"

What a dumb fucking album

this is a new all-time favorite album. fuckin awesome

superb

Maybe it’s a short span of attention or undiagnosed ADHD, but “story” songs have never really intrigued me much. In general, I’ve always been more interested in music rather than lyrics. So that’s what I’m connecting with here, primarily. I know, I know…I’m missing the point of this record. Sorry, I can’t help it. This is a great record - excellent, even - but I think I’ve figured out why I struggle with Nick Cave’s music: Lyrics just aren’t the most important thing to me and his music is usually very driven by narrative. So it goes.

Listening to "Junkyard" by the Birthday Party was a bad experience and made me doubt that Nick Cave could make a good album. But his next project with the Bad Seeds made me think otherwise. The songs are brilliantly written and could be poems. Fun fact: Cave actually provides the gunshots on the second track. 4 stars for "Murder Ballads".

A pretty great record about murder ballads! Americana-based with blues, bluegrass, and American gothic. This is his last album until he gets sappy and orchestral and loses the energy. He embodies the spirit of Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen in his deep raunchy voice and cold demeanor. Only a few weak songs, but the majority of it is strong, and there's good diversity in there, each representing some unique mood and emotion one could correlate with acts of spontaneous murder. I love the dark atmosphere and sense of urgency. Favorites: Stagger Lee, Where the Wild Roses Grow, The Curse of Millhaven, O'Malley's Bar

I've heard of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds but I'm not sure I've heard any of their songs. I definitely didn't know that they had a whole album of good ol' fashioned murder ballads. This should be entertaining. TL, DR: They absolutely 100% Commit To The Bit! Body count is at least 64, possibly in the 100s I'm loving the drama of Cave singing "Hit It" to launch a piano solo after the intro to "Song Of Joy" ... and then repeating it again before the narrator's next victim is surely claimed. Song 1 - Guy murders his wife and 3 daughters with a knife and possibly countless more. *Body Count - 4+ Holy shit, "Stagger Lee" is an insanely obscene song, I'm dying. Stagger Lee is just cursing, fucking, and shooting motherfuckers dead. Song 2 - Stagger Lee murders a bartender and Billy Dilly by shooting them. *Body Count - 2 "Henry Lee" features PJ Harvey, who I love. A pretty tune, their voices go well together. Song 3 - The woman stabs Henry Lee and throws his body down a well. *Body Count - 1 "Lovely Creature" is the most rocking tune so far, faster drums and guitar riffs pepper the opening. This is also the least explicit song, but someone has certainly died and some wickedness has happened. Song 4 - a woman has been murdered and body buried somewhere in Egypt? *Body Count - 1 "Where The Wild Roses Grow" features KYLIE MINOGUE (Aussies stay aussin') This is the most straightforward pop structured song so far, with them trading verses and dueting on the chorus. They sound great together. Song 5 - A man murders Elisa Day, aka Wild Rose, with a rock! *Body Count - 1 "The Curse of Millhaven" is a rollicking one. The choruses are CAMP - La lala la - everyone has to die! This was a hoot to listen to. Song 6 - Lottie kills Bill Blakey's son by bashing his head in and drowning him in a creek, cut off Handyman Joe's head with a circular saw, attempted to murder Mrs Colgate with a knife but failed and got caught. Lottie also caused a group of 20 children to drown after they fell through the ice on Lake Tahoo. Lottie also burned down the Bella Vista slum. A dog is also murdered, but not by Lottie (it was Stinky Bohoon and his friend with the pumpkin sized head) *Body Count - 22+ that are explicitly mentioned "The Kindness of Strangers" aka the ballad of Mary Bellows, a slow and sad piano crooner about the tragic fate of poor Mary who left Arkansas traveling east to finally see the ocean. This is an exceptionally bleak song about a woman travelling alone with a woman's voice crying and speaking added softly in the background of production. Song 7 - Richard Slade handcuffs Mary to her bed, puts a rag in her mouth and shoots her in the head. *Body Count - 1 "Crow Jane" is very slinky and jazzy. This is a revenge song. Song 8 - Crow Jane buys a gun and shoots 20 coal miners who robbed and raped her. *Body Count - 20 "O'Malley's Bar" is a 14 minute long account of a blood bath in a bar - it's all shuffling percussion, organ and bass with little pierces of piano while the narrator describes just killing every single person he interacts with. Song 9 - A man kills O'Malley, his wife, his daughter Siobhan, Caffrey, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Holmes, Mr. Brooks, Mr. Richardson, Jerry Bellows, Henry Davenport, Kathleen Carpenter, and Vincent West *Body Count - 12 "Death is Not The End" is, hilariously, the final song. It's a Bob Dylan cover featuring multiple guest singers, including PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue and other.

Some good singles, including the smash hit "Where the Wild Roses Grow" and "Henry Lee" with PJ Harvey. "The Curse of Millhaven" was also a familiar tune. Didn't care much for the rest of the album. Will stick with the singles.

I remember listening to these songs on the radio late at night when Nick Cave was on some radio program when I was a teenager. I remember keeping the radio very quiet because I was supposed to be sleeping and these songs were not rated PG :-)

No. 252/1001 Song of Joy 2/5 Stragger Lee 2/5 Henry Lee 3/5 Lovely Creature 2/5 Where The Wild Roses Grow 4/5 The Curse of Millhaven 3/5 The Kindness of Strangers 4/5 Crow Jane 2/5 O'Malley's Bar 2/5 (2x) Death is Not The End 2/5 Average: 2,55 Two songs on here I liked. The rest was not really.

starts bad but gets great in the second 2/3

It is commendable that Nick Cave can write songs about such gruesome and unpleasant subject matter without sounding too grim. He does set the atmosphere and mood admirably with his "Tom Waits-like"growl with interesting storytelling. I'm not a big fan, but I'm intrigued and I'll categorize this under the, "listen again later" file.

Silly

O’Malleys Bar saved this from one star

1001 Albums Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads - Song of Joy. Interesting storytelling and vocal style. The orchestration in the background music is interesting. Intriguing but not distracting from the story. - Stagger Lee. Cool vibe and style. Incredibly profane for kind of no reason. Not sure who the audience is for this album yet. - Henry Lee. PJ Harvey gives a nice vocal. It’s nice to have a song with a little more structure after the first two songs. This is the first song that wasn’t 2 minutes too long as well. - Lovely Creature. Really cool background music again that is intriguing and stays out of the way. By this point in the album though, we’re getting dangerously close to “didn’t we already hear this song”. - Where the Wild Roses Grow. Nice to have some nice string arrangement for a change of instrumentation. Kylie Minogue gives a nice vocal performance too and her voice fits well with Nick Cave’s. - The Curse of Millhaven. Sounds like a circus said “okay, we need an opening act where the ringleader comes out and tells a weird story behind a sort of “Devil Went Down to Georgia” vibe from the band. Again, at least 3 minutes too long. - The Kindness of Strangers. Back to our normal instrumentation and back to a 6/8, wandering style. - Crow Jane. Sounds like the kind of thing that happens at a lame open mic night jam. The kind of thing that people think is “jazz” when it 100% isn’t. - O’Malley’s Bar. Finally, a different groove and feel. Reminds me of a Jim Morrison, Doors-style vamp. Nice to have some actual structure again too. Probably the best tune on the album BUT IT’S 14 minutes long for no reason. - Death is Not the End. This is the most “normal” song on the album and feels super loose, like they did this in 1 take in the studio with no rehearsal. I’d rate this album a 2/10. I appreciate the risk and uniqueness but I personally would never choose to listen to it ever again. I know it has an audience but I’m not a member of it.

Nick Cave has a unique way of making you envy the characters who die in each of the songs on this album, by delivering vocal performances so bad that you’ll wish that you were dead too. Hated the vibe, hated Nick’s singing, hated the production (and the addition of a woman crying or other strange noises throughout). Just total shit.

This is barely an album, sounds like it was made by people who hate music and are taking their anger out on it.

ehhhhhhh

A genuine shock. I've listened to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds before but was turned off by Cave's voice. I still don't really like it. Fuck, I'm not even sure Nick Cave likes Nick Cave's voice, but it fits the bill perfectly in this album. Full of atmosphere, inventive lyrics, great musicianship. Where the Wild Roses Grow, Song of Joy, Henry Lee, and The Curse of Millhaven standout tracks in an album full of them.

So dark, so intense, so so good. I’ve long been a fan of this record. Gold.

Some interesting stuff on here. I think it’s a grower so hard to score after one day.

Where the wild roses grow is my all-time favorite song by Nick Cave. Never listened to the album before but I really liked the ambiance of the songs, some of them gave me the shivers. Would definitely revisit this album again!

So begins my love for murder ballads.

Th8s album is amazing. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a band that I've always meant to check out. I always kept getting him mixed up with other artist. This album really fit the mood of this particular fall night, definitely a night I won't forget considering the ramifications of it being the night my country gave into fascism. So far the best album this app has recommended.

Loved this twisted dark album.

Todella hyvä levy. Oli pakko kuunnella ajan ja lyriikoiden kanssa pariin otteeseen, joka nosti heti tähdet viiteen. Erityisesti tarinat Stagger Leestä ja O’Malleysistä viihdyttivät yli odotusten.

Will definitely listen again

10/10!!!! Älskar konceptet!!! Favoritlåtar från albumet var: Where the Wild Roses Grow

5/5 - I never would have thought this would exist

Great

Killer as always from Nick Cave. This is one of my favorites from him. The PJ Harvey collabs add some nice variety to the album. Instrumentally I think this is one of his most gorgeous releases.

Very-very nice. I like Nike Cave. Henry Lee and Where the Wild Rose Grow are the masterpieces. All others are very good too. Brilliant album, IMHO.

Incredible dark singer-songwriter material. Murder Ballads is so outside what most people would associate with "singer-songwriter" in the best way possible.

Have on vinyl. Excellent storytelling, funny, witty and dark. Nick Cave takes risks and ensures that his albums are always interesting.

A perfect folk/Gothic/Victorian horror album. The sound has obvious influences, and the lyrics are iterations of stories that have been told for centuries, but the resulting energy is unparalleled. Also, Cave sounds like a vampire.

Love Nick Cave but have mostly listened to his more romantic and later work, so hadn't been too familiar with this. I regret that now. Dark, vivid storytelling. Snarling, euphoric vocals. A wealth of suprise guests. Simply magical.

I was hooked from the first few moments. I love the way the singing is half sung/half spoken over a musical backdrop that is intense, moody, cinematic, gripping, chilling and spooky. The storytelling, the lyrics are so descriptive, I feel like I am there, watching the events unfold. Out of every artist on this list (apart from the ones I already knew quite well) I have found Nick Cave to be the most consistently fascinating.

A great album taking us to the darkest reaches of the human soul. The groovy pared back sounds help create a soundscape to Nick's hourmous and disturbing visions. Not an album to play at your local disco but to savour in those fever induced moments when the world seems bleak.

Awesome

I dislike Nick and his music but objectively speakong amd judging this CD is a masterpiece. Very well written its pretty twisted and amazing. I dont like his voice or slower songs bit thos one had a pop to it a spark in the tempo. Very good and he earned this 5 start with flying colours

Som jag har väntat på att Nick Cave skulle dyka upp på denna lista. Denna är ju långt ifrån det bästa han gjort. Dock tillräckligt bra för att få full pott. Av alla hans album som är med på denna lista så är det egentligen bara Boatmans call och möjligtvis Henrys dream som platsar. För mig är det en gåta att album som Tender prey, The good son, No more shall we part, Dig, Lazarus dig och Push the sky away inte finns med på listan.

I love this record. Not because of „Where the wild roses grow“ but because of the rest of the songs and atmosphere. One of the best Nick Cave records.

This is one the best albums by nick cave and the Bad Seeds. Every song a twisted or black humour story. Many people talk about Stagger Lee or Where the wild roses grow. But already The opener Song of Joy and the later Lovely Creature are amazing.

No le doy 5 porque alguna me ha cansado. Venga, 5!

Completely nuts album. Extremely unpleasant to listen to at times with shocking descriptions of violence and misogyny, at other times soaringly beautiful, especially the instrumentation. The bottom line is that this shit makes you meditate on the line between life and death in a direct unsparing way that few other musical experiences do, and for that reason it is a classic album.

Came around to it in the end. Will be returning to this album.

felt like a 5 today, incredible stuff

This is Cave at his Lyrical peak in my opinion. Song of Joy, Stagger Lee, Crow Jane, O'Malleys bar. Storytelling at its absolute finest.

One of the best albums we’ve had so far. Nick cave lyrically at his peak and probably his best album - no surprise given the involvement of PJ Harvey and Shane Macgowan. 5/5

Big fan of this. It was a lot cheerier than The Boatman’s Call, probably because he was still knobbing PJ Harvey at this time. Always liked it when an album sticks to one clear narrative, on this case MURDER! Can see this influencing Hellfire by Black Midi. Songwriting is so good and Nicky C’s creepy little voice hooks you in. Don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say ‘Motherfucker’ in a better way.

I like his other stuff, this one feels more raw

The atmosphere on Murder Ballads is completely unique, and it's the main reason why I'm continuously drawn to the album. That and Blixa Bargeld singing "When the cities are on fire with the burning flesh of men, just remember that death is not the end".

Easily the most pleasant kill streak of all time.

Nick Cave is always amazing

Me ha gustado bastante... ¿Tanto cómo para vinilo? ¡Sí!

No le doy 5 porque alguna me ha cansado. Venga, 5!

My personal favorite Nick Cave album. Love the stories and the catchy choruses. Stagger Lee is also fuckin awesome

Absolutely captivating

A great album. Interesting to see how since his personal tragedies, Nick Cave has become a modern-day sage through his Red Hand Files

Absolutely stunning album. Puts me back in my chair every time. Stagger Lee always leaves me catching flys.

Great album. Amazing storyteller. Nick Cave and Tom Waits are national treasures !

Great dark/noir album.

I had listened to this before. Dark topics. Try to listen by reading the lyrics. Inspiration for d&d crime quest. I like it a lot. Need to ibtegrate it to my playlists

No le doy 5 porque alguna me ha cansado. Venga, 5!

dark af. but great 1. 4 2. 3 3. 5 4. 5 5. 5555555 I've loved this song since I've first heard it years and years ago 6. 5 7. 4.5 8. 5 9. 3.5 O'Malley's Bar - I see this one is a fan-favourite, but to me it was so... tiring? I see it's a masterpiece, but I found it too long and disliked some of the 'singing' 10. 5

I used to listen to this all the time! Love Nick Cave

Suddenly Nick Cave makes sense for me! A proper album, Old Testament-thumping American Gothic that peaks and troughs perfectly, with "Where the Wild Roses Grow" as its tenderly beating heart.

Nick decides he wants to make an album about murder and invites two of his ex girlfriends (Anita and PJ) and his current girlfriend (Kylie) to sing. You can’t make this stuff up. I remember the first time I heard The Kindness of Strangers and the the line about Mary Bellows: “They found her the next day cuffed to the bed, rag in her mouth and bullet in her head”. This is sung while there is haunting weeping / whimpering in the background (provided by one of his exes of course). Just when you think the level of depravity could not get more extreme, O’Malley’s Bar comes on. Jerry Bellows (perhaps Mary Bellow’s dad?) is taken care of in that song. This is done by using an “ashtray as big as a fucking really big brick” to split his skull in half. Wow. How could you not conclude that Nick was one weird motherfucker? The album ends with a Bob Dylan song that nobody ever heard of and I see that song as a helpful message to those in need which is an interesting way to finish. I’ve heard of Nick singing at a couple of funerals which is interesting. One was Shane MacGowan’s funeral last week. Shane sang one of the versus on Death is Not the End (each of Nick’s girlfriends also contributed a verse.) Do you not have to be fucked up to write these songs? Nick could of course throw it back at me by saying “Do you not have to be fucked up to enjoy listening to this?” Guilty as charged. I really like this album but try to make sure people don’t see me enjoying it. Sort of the same surreptitious behaviour I employ when reading something like Anaïs Nin’s Little Birds.

Excellent.

Love this album, So many great tracks! Standouts: Where The Wild Roses Grow, Henry Lee, Crow Janes, Stagger Lee, The Curse of Millhaven, The Kindness of Strangers, Death is Not The End Others: Song of Joy, O'Malley's Bar 4.5

One of my favourite Bad Seeds albums.

Interesting concept, kinda like a vulgar version of The Doors. Which I'm sure that's gonna offend someone that I compared these two but its just the vibe I'm getting. Tons of ambient soundscape work in these tracks, I actually had to mute the song at one point to make sure I wasn't hearing background noise from another browser tab. Really enjoyed it.

Very creative. I had no idea O'Malley's Bar was so long because it is engrossing.

Another Nick Cave classic. The guests are great, and I don't really particularly care for PJ Harvey but she's good here. I like the concept of the album (does having an overall theme count as a concept album?) It's just "fun". There are better Nick Cave albums but this is no slouch.

Easiest 5 stars ever. This album has it all, sadness, sorrow, hope, joy and a whole bunch of gruesome murders. The Bad Seeds at the top of their game here, though to be fair they are on most albums. Ending it all with the Dylan cover 'Death Is Not The End' is a stroke of genius. Long live Nick Cave.

Well, I've counted. And unless I've lost count, at least 65 people are brutally murdered during the course of this album. Plus maybe a whole lot more, whose exact demise is not directly specified... Oh! And there was one dog, too. Crucified on a door. What a crazy album. I do remember feeling a little queasy during my first listen though. I knew what the record was all about beforehanded, and started counting the deaths on that very first listen. But I didn't expect the tally to be *this* high, to be honest... It's hard to get an accurate death count anyway, because there are no precise numbers for how many people died in the fire Lottie set in the Bella Vista slums. And speaking of unreliable narrators, there's also the doctor in "Song of Joy". It is never clear whether he is telling the truth or whether he is the killer, making up this story to gain access to people's homes (and a third possibility is that the story is true, but that his grief has turned him into a copycat killer). But whatever the "truth" really is here, this concern about the reliability of storytelling makes "Song Of Joy" a very apt opener for a record named *Murder Ballads*, and it's one of my favorite songs on this album filled with so many horrific wonders. As you go to the next tracks, subtle menace indeed quickly turns into full-blown terror. Which doesn't mean some things are not kept ambiguous. The other fate that's left hanging in the air in the record is the one of Nellie Brown in "Stagger Lee" for instance. Stagger Lee never directly describes her murder after he shoots Billy Dilly in the head. But the female screams you can hear at the end of the song make it pretty obvious she doesn't survive the night either. Slaughters abound in this record, and the most memorable of them is to be found in "O'Malley's Bar". Devoid of any free will, and describing himself the way an author would describe a fictional character, the unnamed protagonist of this song is impossible to forget, as is his murderous rampage in said bar, described with all sorts of graphic details and psychologically harrowing comments about the victims. I think there's almost a "meta" aspect to this song, by the way. Somehow, the story we have here--the longest and final one on the album--presents a character who's related to Cave's position as an artist in the sense that he wishes to accomplish something extraordinary. But given the gruesome topic he addresses here, said artist/storyteller knows his work will never be universally recognized anyway, and that *he*'ll be the one ending up being labeled as a "piece of work", instead of his made-up character. This here is a very personal interpretation of the meaning of the song, I'll grant you that. But whatever the (nut)case may be, a shiver went down my spine during its conclusion, when the police takes the killer away in their car. The last thing you hear Cave doing between moans and rasps and growls is... him counting. Just as I had been doing since the start of the album. I'm not surprised Cave loves stuff like Flannery O'Connor after listening to it, by the way. Because somehow, as gratuitous and violent as the concept of this record sounds and looks, Cave never loses the human angle here. You *feel* for these characters. Empathy, pity, sadness, contempt, terror, disgust, awe... Just as in any good piece of fiction. What makes us feel empathy for the victims is that they all have such colourful memorable names and details about them, for instance. It is superb lyric-writing to identify the characters. Particularly in "O'Malleys Bar", where each victim has a description of their personality or physical appearance given to the listener. They're a sample of humanity at large. Normal, simple, humble, innocent folks leading normal simple lives, here gathered in the wrong place at the wrong time... It's all in the details, like in the great novels or short stories of old. And those details are conveyed by the greatness of the writing, with a few very memorable one-liners here and there, up there with best (and most shocking) lines Eminem could come up with. One example: "Rorschach & Prozac now everything is groovy" Cave sure has a knack to convey the "voice" of his doomed characters in a very striking manner, doesn't he? And let's not forget the music: of course, this being a narrative-driven album, the music is mostly used as background for Nick's menacing voice, but it also does a great job emphasizing all the key moments in the stories that it deserves high praise as well. It's lush, it's moody, it's evocative, it's theatrical. It's all it needs to be for such an original project. Besides, with "Henry Lee" and "Where The Wild Roses Grow", Cave wrote perfect duets giving welcome respite during the LP's tracklist--even if they're still about tragedy and murder. The first of those duets was sung with his old flame PJ Harvey, and it's a delicate performance through and through. As for "Where the Wild Roses Grow, everyone knows this stunner was performed with fellow aussie pop star Kylie Minogue, and most will remember that the tune was quite a surprising indie hit back in the day. It cracks me up every time I think of unassuming listeners liking that latter single on the radio and buying the LP because of it. They were certainly in for a wild ride--one they probably didn't expect in the first place. This album was made for such a list. It is indeed "essential" in the sense that it uses the album format and turns it into something else altogether. And you don't have many records like that in the world. So even if *Murder Ballads* is the sort of LP you would NOT play for a family function, a christmas dinner party or a casual evening with friends--therefore limiting the occasions you would listen to it--it still fully deserves its 5/5 grade here. Great concept, great songwriting, awesome execution... And when I say "execution", you probably get what I'm saying here. Right? Number of albums left to review: 517 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 232 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 110 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 141

Love the addition of the women's voices throughout.

Only Nick I'd heard before now was the Peaky Blinders theme, and this album has those vibes all over it. Love it.

One of my favourite albums so I'm not unbiased here. Kinda like a novelty theme and done with glee and style. There are textures and colours here with the emphasis on red. Every track stands alone with the theme running through it and a tale to tell with a variety of guest stars. So choose your poison?

A masterpiece.

Beautifully disturbing.

Ah, the edgiest of edgelord albums. The music is great, the lyrics are... Um. Edgelordy. If it wasn't so good, it'd probably be on some kind of watchlist. "I am the man for which no god waits, For which the whole world yearns" is a cracking line though.

There's something I find comforting with the over-to-top sincerity performance of this album. Sure, it's about death and murder, but it's also really playful. And PJ Harvey is an automatic win with me. I don't know what about this that scratches an aural itch for me. The performances are tight. The mood is atmospheric. The mix on the bass is astounding. Jesus, Cave is doing a duet with Kylie Minogue on an album about MURDER! I love this to no end. The intro on the Curse of Millhaven is exactly the kind of controlled musical violence that I love. The Kindness of Strangers is really sad. Very good job, Mr. Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Obviamente já com o título do disco o conceito envolve o ouvinte. Com maestria de um mestre de contos de terror ou suspense, a criação musical criou uma atmosfera única e arrebatadora que me deixou sem fôlego. As letras, a música, a atuação vocal e instrumental, além das participações das cantoras, tudo se uniu de uma maneira que me deixou arrebatado. A mistura de blues, rock e folk fortaleceu a narrativa macabra e assustadora. Cada faixa parecia ser uma peça de um quebra-cabeça sinistro e inquietante, sendo que o quê realmente importava era conhecer todas e não buscar montá-lo.

Locurón total de disco.

Maravillosa sorpresa. La verdad viendo la duración y demás, me esperaba algo aburrido, repetitivo o agotador y sin embargo fue un disfrute. No escuché casi guitarras, mucha presencia de coros, órganos, pianos y bajos. Percusión a full. Excelente.

What is there to say about this album that hasn't been said. It's dark, funny, profane, clever and beautiful. Beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.

Today's album is my second by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. This is the album once recommended to me by a friend. This is a very dark album, whose entire theme circles around death and murder. Listening to this album is like listening to a true crime documentary. Nick's writing style and vocal delivery gives an overwhelming feeling of dread and gloom. He pairs with female vocalists such as: Kylie Minogue and PJ Harvey to inject some beauty to his baritone voice. The whole record proceeds through so much death and murder, and finally ends with a song of hope (a cover of Bob Dylan's "Death is Not the End") to pull the listener out of the darkness. This album is beautiful in the most fucked of ways. Nick has a way of genre jumping between albums. The first album of his I reviewed was called The Boatman's Call, which was an intimate acoustic album which featured Nick singing with piano accompaniment. Very soft and mellow. This album was rock oriented (kind of goth rock in a way) and VERY dark. I loved this album. At first, the shock of the material kind of turned me off, but eventually, it won me over, and upon second listen, I really looked past that, and really listened. This is a piece of art! The only way to enjoy this record is by listening front to back. Favourite songs: Stagger Lee, Where the Wild Roses Grow, The Curse of Millhaven, The Kindness of Strangers, Song of Joy, O'Malley's Bar, Death is Not The End Least favourite song: Crow Jane 5/5