Reviews (page 3 of 8)
Probably not an album you wanna listen to on a first date, but still an absolute banger. Threads the needle between vibes and overwrought perfectly and the content lends itself to Nick Cave beautifully. Love this record.
Nick Cave is a legend. At times this album flirts with musical theater which can be off putting however it’s easily forgiven by the good parts.
This was a lot better than I was expecting, but a 15 min song is a lot
What an interesting listen! I don't really like the guy's voice but still find it in me to enjoy the music. Top: Crow Jane Not Top: The Kindness of Strangers
Genius of Nick Cave, genius of the concept, at times a little too intense for me
7/10 Obviously a cohesive piece of work, very fitting for the time of year and pay hired nicely with the book in reading (the awesome North Woods by Daniel Mason). The songs are a bit too relentless in their bleakness (as I expected) and I could have done without the 15 mins of O'Mallhaleys Bar, but generally pretty good
Light 4,5
Very atmospheric. Very noir. Very good.
Alt tyder på at jeg og Nick Cave burde være en perfect match, og selv om jeg har likt mye av det jeg har hørt (Your Funeral ... My Trial, Let Love In, og Skeleton Tree), føler jeg ikke at det har clicka helt. Jeg ser forøvrig at curatorene, i sin uendelig visdom, ikke har inkludert Let Love In, som jeg trodde var DET essensielle Nick Cave-albumet...? Og Ghosteen over Skeleton Tree? Anyways, dette skal egentlig handle om Murder Ballads. Synes dette er bra, men blir litt monotont i lengden. Cave & co. holder fortsatt et bein i gothic rock mens de beveger seg dypere inn i crooner-territoriet hvor Cave tydeligvis føler seg mest hjemme. Klarer vel akkurat å klore til seg 4ern, for når det funker, funker det jævlig bra. O'Malley's Bar fikk meg til å innse at Iceage skylder hele soundet sitt til Nick Cave.
What a weird, awesome choice for the Christmas Eve album! I'm giving it a 4 for the creativity and because I think I'd appreciate it even more with a second listen.
Nick Cave makes me wanna cry
What a crazy and dark album! I really liked it. It reminded me of a reimagined old country album.
Each track tells a murder mystery, and played at an intense tones with some killer riffs, and bears. If it wasn't for three filler tracks, it would be perfect. Favorite Track: "Stagger Lee".
Great listen! Surprisingly easy to throw on. Distinct voice with wild lyrics. I dig it.
An album entirely just about murder stories is bound to be entertaining. It also just fits Nick Cave’s energy and he shouldn’t sing about anything else
Ég hef ekki verið mikið fyrir Nick Cave en ég verð að viðurkenna að þessi plata er algjört gull. Ég er hársbreidd frá því að setja hana í fimmu en ætla að halda henni í fjórum. Það er bara eitthvað svo yndislegt við textamíðina og þemað en lögin eru oft mjög svipað uppbyggð sem stendur í vegi fyrir fimmunni.
3.5
Pretty decent album. I would recommend
A surprisingly fun album about people behaving VERY badly. I like the way it ends with the sweetly upbeat "Death Is not the End."
Nick Cave always sounds like he's trying too hard to add bass to his voice. It's always come across as fake-y and affected. He writes some serious and seriously good lyrics, but his voice bugs me too much to listen to more than a song or 2 at a time. (On Ghosteen he does this a little less and was my first Nick Cave album I actually liked) This album would fare better if it didn't have "Song of Joy" as it's lead track. Bad song. Bad choice. I don't like "Stagger Lee" but I DO like his vocal stylings and the energy in it. "Lovely Creature" has some of the best music on the album. Cool song. The rest are pretty much sing/talk stories. Some a little better than others, but not many that grab me. He does have a good turn of phrase here and there, but also a tendency to be a bit repetitive with a noise. He's kind of like Tom waits without the gravel. Overall, I think this is decent, but I can't imagine when I would want to sit and listen to it all in a row again. I want to give it a 3.5, but I'll be kind and give it a 4 because while it's not 100% for me, I can understand why people would like it more.
Song of Joy - 5/5 Stagger Lee - 5/5 Henry Lee - 5/5 Lovely Creature - 4/5 Where the Wild Roses Grow - 5/5 The Curse of Millhaven - 5/5 The Kindness of Strangers - 3/5 Crow Jane - 4/5 O'Malley's Bar - 4/5 Death Is Not the End - 3/5 Average score: 4.3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ the difference between this and The Boatman's Call is like night and fucking day. i'm glad i didn't allow my lack of enjoyment for TBC to completely write him off kind of surprised by the ratio of hate on this album tbh. maybe even this isn't considered to be among his best? we'll see i suppose
Unhinged, just loose and freaky
Have to be in a certain mood for this album. The storytelling is certainly interesting and enjoyable, also a bit shocking. O'Malley's bar is 15 minutes of murdering people. All in all I enjoyed this and would go back to it to listen to as a whole and not so much for individual songs. I'm guessing that this is not a popular record on this site. I'm going with a strong 4/5
the album art reminds me of christmas 😀
Nobody makes dark, sinister, and brooding as beautiful as Nick Cave. Love the guest spots from PJ when Kylie too. Favorite track: Where the Wild Roses Grow
Amazing
Good
Delivers what it promises, but a bit too heavy on the murder ballads for my taste 3.85 stars
this guy just generally hits
Musically was a bit middling for me but the lyrics put it over the top.
The lyrics on this album are an absolute riot. The music isn't that interesting, but the voice is great and the lyrics sell it for me.
When I first started listening to this, I felt "Uh, not Nick Cave again". Even more so when hearing 'Stagger Joe' which felt a bit overly graphic. But after getting to around 'Where the Wild Roses Grows', I started appreciating the lyrics. Overall it feels quite similar to Tom Waits 'Rain Dogs' album. Though the stories are grotesque, and a bit sadistic at times, I find it interesting to just listen to it with the mindset not to be too upset by the lyrics. I found myself eagerly wanting to find out what the next song would be about. The lyrics are definitely well written, and rhymes well etc. 'O'Malley's Bar' was such a cool song honestly, a huge mistake not to go out on that one in my opinion. Overall it was a bit of a train ride, but I really liked it when it ended so going to go with a 4 on this.
Dark and brooding, with a hint of pretentiousness. Nick Cave’s voice really lends itself well to Murder Ballads. It feels akin to Tom Waits, whom I’m a big fan of. The tracks can feel quite samey in melody and structure, but that’s okay since the main draw of this album is the stories being told. The lyrics work very well and are interesting enough to revisit multiple times. My favourite tracks are “Where the Wild Roses Grow,” “The Curse of Millhaven,” and “Henry Lee.” With those three recommendations, I think I’ve used up my “la-la-la” quota for a while. A great album for spooky season. Weak 4.
Happy guy this Nick
The more I listen to Nick Cave the more I like him. This was great.
Nick Cave Rules. Never listened to this one before it was a cool concept and fits his style perfectly. Duets with PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue were cool and the Bob Dylan Cover at the end with all the different singers was a perfect cap. Probably not the best Nick Cave Album but a fun listen and something I'll probably go back to.
Nick Cave proves yet again to be a man whose music style is very polarizing. This album is heavy, dark, weird, and a slow burn… for better or worse, Cave doesnt know how to stop singing, and loves telling deep stories in his lyrics. You really gotta be feeling a certain kind of way to let yourself get lost in his musical storytelling. Since I did with this album, I’m inclined to rate it highly
I liked this a whole lot better than I expected to. Cave's uber-goth reputation precedes him. The title of the album is a giveaway about the subject matter. It does grow old over the length of an album (a couple three of them per album is just fine) but damn, the music and the musicians really make this a standout album for me. I will get it and let it live in the shuffle section of my music library.
Okay 1001 list you have made me a Nick Cave fan. And a Smiths fan. But still not down with Morrissey.
"Murder Ballads" is the ninth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The album consists of new and traditional murder ballads, a genre of songs that relays the details and consequences of crimes of passion. The album had guest appearances by vocalists PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue and violinist Warren Ellis. The band itself consisted of Cave (vocals, piano, organs, string arrangements), Blixa Bargeld (guitar, vocals), Martyn P. Casey (bass), Mick Harvey (drums, guitars, organs, bass, percussion, vocals, string arrangements), Conway Savage (piano, vocals, organ), Jim Sclavunos (drums, percussion, bells, tambourine) and Thomas Wydler (maracas, drums, tambourine, vocals). The album was the band's biggest commercial success at the time reaching #8 in the UK and also had wide-spread critical acclaim. Nick Cave's deep voice opens "Song of Joy." A creepy guitar, drums, percussion, piano and backing vocals. The music sounds like a musical score in a dramatic story of a widower recounting the murder of his wife and his children by a bloodthirsty lunatic. Cave double downs the intensity in the traditional tale of "Stagger Lee." Antsy, screeching and pounding drums and piano and a reggae-sort of beat. Cave in rapping mode as he recounts various scenes involving murderer Stagger Lee. Lots of swearing, screaming and gunshots. PJ Harvey joins Cave in the duet "Henry Lee." Nursey rhyme vocals with la's and le's in a story of a scorned woman who stabs her man and later burns at the stake. The first single released was "Where the Wild Roses Grow." Kylie Minogue joins Cave in the ballad of a man courting of a man courting a woman who he eventually kills. The music is more baroque with strings and piano. Whispering vocals as Cave creepily states he knew she was the one. The album closes on a happy note with the one song where there is no murder, "Death Is Not the End." All guest and band vocalists are involved even Shane McGowan. Words of encouragement and hope....there is something beyond. These tales of murder can be dramatic, very unique, fairly compelling and sometimes exaggerated. Most of the songs worked for me; a few didn't. There's good and selective use of the guest vocalists. The slightly different takes on musical styles kept the music interesting: duets, movie scores, cabaret, singalong traditional, reggae and baroque. The added noises of screams, gunshots, and other various noises were fine if bordering on campy. I know this ranks high for many critics in the Nick Cave discography; I thought it was good enough to recommend but find both his more recent albums and those albums near the time of this release better.
Melancholy and just plain dark but somehow captivating
I always thought of Murder Ballads as one of the better Nick Cave albums but not the best from their 90s run. Even thought the concept is cool and most of the songs are great, I just don't find it among the bad seed's most compelling set of songs compared to say... The Good Song or Your Funeral My Trial or Let Love In, which is the issue with a band that was and is as good as they are and have put out such solid music for almost 50 years. But all in all, still great.
Escuchar un disco de Nick Cave es como sentarse a ver una peli. A veces es muy truculenta, otras muy dramática, otras muy sexual, pero siempre narrada con su penetrante y expresiva voz. En “Murder Ballads” se habla de (y se siente) la muerte. Solo al final hay espacio para el optimismo (?) con “Death Is Not The End”. Sea como fuere, este es otro de los sobresalientes álbumes del tito Nick, aunque no mi preferido.
Going through a good run at the mo and this my 2nd consecutive album released in 1996. One that has come into my life at various points and I've always enjoyed it when it does. Musically a departure from earlier albums although the penchant for the cinematic remains. The introduction of various female, clean and smooth voices is a nice counterpoint to Cave's rough edge. It's an excellent and compelling album with some massive highs.
Finally someone I've seen live on this list! Even some of the songs on this album I've heard live! Generally I think Nick Cave was better live but I still like this album. "Stagger Lee" and "The Curse of Millhaven" are probably my faves on here, but this is the kinda music I have to be in the right mood for.
There are so many moods and dark worlds to get lost in when listening to Nick Cave, especially from album to album. Tonight the choice is Murder Ballads. It’s not usually the first one I reach for, but there’s no denying it’s an incredible piece of work. The storytelling is feral and mythic. “Stagger Lee” is pure chaos, “Lovely Creature” is a twisted folk tale, and then you get both PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue playing doomed lovers in the shadows of his baritone. Cave writes like no one else. Leonard Cohen once asked, “You want it darker?” And Nick had already been living in the basement. And then—after all the carnage—you get Death Is Not the End. A gentle, aching lullaby of resurrection. It hits like a prayer at the end of a funeral. I'm here for the service. For the melodies. For the madness.
This album makes me think of that scene from Arrested Development where Michael finds a brown paper bag in the fridge labeled "Dead Dove Do Not Eat," peaks inside and then proclaims "well I don't know what I expected." This album contains exactly what its title states: Murder Ballads. And honestly the concept naturally suits Nick Cave and his macabre delivery. While this isn't music I would listen to at full volume in my car, it has a surprisingly narrative quality to it that is entertaining to listen to. Not too much in the way of details to speak to. A lot of the songs fall into Nick Cave's pocketed slow dusty delivery. But there are a handful that stand out from the rest -- Stagger Lee is a solid trudging jam, the Curse of Millhaven feels familiar with its polka-like plonk, Crow Jane adopts a tasty jazzy bass line, and O'Malley's Bar is a long running space filler complete with barroom piano that succeeds on its storytelling. Not something I'll come back to often, but I did enjoy this beyond average... I'll give this a confused 4 / 5.
I have really enjoyed Nick Cave, but the albums are all so similar and I think I'm ready to be done with him. Great voice, unique style, more of a storytelling style. Definitely some weird bits in here, but overall just another really good Nick Cave album that I wouldn't listen to with company.
Well that was certainly one of the more morbid albums I have listened to in my life. And with his style of singing made it such a powerful album. Crazy spooky instrumentals and singing. I said it once and I will say it again, Nick Cave just does not miss with his albums. Every single one that we have had has been a high 4 stars from me and this will not change.
Een album vol melodramatische en/of vulgaire crimes of passions? Het is niet de makkelijkste kost, maar tijdens een vroege herfstbui gister zag ik mijn kans schoon. En eerlijk waar, is er iemand die dit niche genre beter kan toe-eigenen dan Nick Cave? De sfeer, de griezelboek-voorleesstem, de manische toon, de intense begeleiding van The Bad Seeds, en het charisma, het zijn allemaal ingrediënten die de 'murder ballad' tot leven laten komen. Dan wordt het pas een filmisch genre, zoals je dat verwacht en hoopt. Het is een match made in heaven, alhoewel het toch voor een heel uur soms een tikkie ongemakkelijk was om aan te horen. Hij gaat in ieder geval in de aankomende herfst/winterlijstjes. Én die ietwat sarcastische Dylan-cover op het einde is ronduit perfect voor het thema. 8/10 Highlights: Song of Joy Stagger Lee The Kindness of Strangers Death Is Not the End
Day 32 Contains probably my favourite Kylie song about getting brained with a rock 8/10 Highlights Stagger Lee The Kindness of Strangers O’Malleys Bar
4 stars I’ve meant to listen to this album for years but never found the reason to do that. I saw Nick Cave at Coachella in 2013 and he killed it with “Stagger Lee.” But I wasn’t sure how a whole album of that would be. Well, it’s pretty damn good. Great atmosphere, this sick record full of grisly descriptions of death through great storytelling, banging piano and popping drums. It’s unique. Might not be for everyone but I loved it.
Lots of fun. Great stories about darkness almost like a Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan for doom and gloom music.
Gosh, it’s just amazing. So creepy, so musical, and sung with such intensity. Nick Cave is a one of one.
Synes konceptet er sådan ok corny, men det er velproduceret og stemningsfuldt nok til at gøre op for det. Han synger godt, og features er gode
I've had a hard time with Nick Cave on this list, but this is quite the concept album. Could've done without O'Malleys bar though.
Slow and punishing.
Accidentally discovered Nick Cave earlierthisyearon a triptotheUnitedStates (better late than never) when he was featured in a New York Times article. I really enjoyed (is that an appropriate verb in the context of Mr Cave?) this album, his style, the different musical genres used, his lyrics.
I’m giving this album a 4 to a little higher 3. You need to have a particular taste for this album, but I still enjoyed it. Some songs were a little long, though. Most of the songs reminded me of the music from Peaky Blinders.
Great album
# In-Depth Review of *Murder Ballads* by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ## 🎵 Overview and Context *Murder Ballads* (1996) is the ninth studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Released at the peak of their creative power, the album is a concept work exploring the murder ballad tradition—a folk subgenre narrating tales of crime, death, and morality. Unlike typical murder ballads, Cave reimagines these stories with grotesque humor, cinematic grandeur, and lyrical violence, creating a work that is both accessible and deeply unsettling . ## 📜 Lyrical Themes and Narrative Depth ### Storytelling and Dark Humor The lyrics on *Murder Ballads* are a masterclass in narrative songwriting. Cave draws from traditional folk sources (e.g., "Stagger Lee" and "Henry Lee") but injects them with modern vulgarity, dark irony, and vivid grotesquerie. For example: - **"Stagger Lee"** transforms a classic folk tale into a profane, violent showdown, with Cave adopting the persona of a "motherfucker" who embodies pure evil . - **"O'Malley's Bar"** is a 14-minute epic where Cave narrates a mass murder spree with chilling detachment and absurd detail (e.g., shooting a victim through a Banana Daiquiri) . - **"The Curse of Millhaven"** tells the story of a gleeful teenage serial killer, blending horror with macabre comedy . ### Dualities: Beauty and Brutality Cave contrasts romantic imagery with brutality. In **"Where the Wild Roses Grow"** (a duet with Kylie Minogue), the lyrics depict a murder with poetic elegance ("I kissed her goodbye, said, 'All beauty must die'"). Similarly, **"Henry Lee"** (with PJ Harvey) frames jealousy and violence as a tragic love story . ### Recurring Motifs - **Water and Drowning**: Symbolizes death and purification ("Where the Wild Roses Grow," "The Curse of Millhaven") . - **Biblical and Literary References**: "Song of Joy" quotes John Milton, adding layers to the narrator's unreliability . ## 🎶 Musical and Production Style ### Genre Fusion and Arrangements The album blends folk, blues, rock, and classical elements, creating a sound that is both ornate and raw: - **Orchestral Grandeur**: Strings and piano dominate tracks like "Where the Wild Roses Grow," contrasting with the subject matter . - **Punk and Blues Energy**: "Stagger Lee" features discordant guitars and Cave's snarling vocals, while "O'Malley's Bar" builds tension with repetitive piano and percussion . - **Folk Traditions**: The album pays homage to murder ballads' roots but subverts them with modern production . ### Production Quality Produced by Tony Cohen, the album uses analog recording to create a live, visceral feel. The mix is dense but carefully layered, allowing moments of subtlety (e.g., minimalist percussion in "Henry Lee") to contrast with chaotic climaxes (e.g., the raucous choir in "The Curse of Millhaven") . The remastered editions (2011) enhance the cinematic quality without sacrificing grit . ### Vocal Performances Cave's baritone shifts between narrator and character, from menacing whispers to explosive rage. Guest vocalists like Kylie Minogue and PJ Harvey provide haunting counterpoints, embodying victims or accomplices with eerie vulnerability . ## 🧠 Themes and Philosophical Undertones ### Exploration of Violence The album delves into violence as a primal human impulse, often juxtaposing it with humor to provoke discomfort and introspection. Cave stated that the album was a "holiday" project, allowing him to explore exaggerated narratives without the weight of personal confession . ### Morality and Ambiguity Songs like "Song of Joy" and "The Kindness of Strangers" feature unreliable narrators, forcing listeners to question guilt, innocence, and complicity. The album challenges moral simplicity, suggesting that violence arises from desire, jealousy, and societal decay . ### Cultural Critique Cave highlights the murder ballad's history while critiquing its sanitization. As notes, many traditional ballads originated from Black and working-class communities but were co-opted by white artists. Cave’s explicit version of "Stagger Lee" reclaims this history, emphasizing its racial and cultural context . ## 📈 Influence and Legacy ### Commercial and Critical Impact *Murder Ballads* was the band's most commercially successful album, largely due to "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (a Top 10 hit in several countries). Its appearance on *Top of the Pops* introduced Cave to mainstream audiences . Critically, it was praised for its audacity and artistry, though some found the violence excessive . ### Artistic Influence - **Genre Revival**: The album revived interest in murder ballads, influencing artists across genres (e.g., folk, country, and horror rap) . - **Mainstream Subversion**: Cave proved that dark, narrative-driven music could achieve commercial success without dilution . - **Legacy**: The album remains a touchstone for storytelling in music, inspiring theatrical productions (e.g., *Brokeneck Girls: The Murder Ballad Musical* ) and academic discourse on violence in art . ## ✔️ Pros and Cons ### Pros 1. **Lyrical Brilliance**: Cave’s storytelling is both poetic and brutally effective, blending humor, horror, and humanity . 2. **Musical Diversity**: The fusion of genres keeps the album dynamic, from orchestral ballads to punk-blues explosions . 3. **Thematic Cohesion**: Despite its variety, the album remains focused on its core concept . 4. **Cultural Relevance**: It critiques and revitalizes a folk tradition, highlighting its Black and working-class origins . ### Cons 1. **Graphic Content**: The explicit violence and profanity may alienate some listeners . 2. **Length and Pacing**: At over 60 minutes, tracks like "O'Malley's Bar" test endurance with repetitive structures . 3. **Tonal Whiplash**: The shift between comedy and horror may feel jarring or insensitive to some . ## 🎭 Conclusion: A Masterpiece of Dark Art *Murder Ballads* is a landmark album that transcends its genre constraints. It is both a tribute to folk traditions and a subversion of them, using music and lyrics to explore violence, beauty, and morality with unflinching intelligence. While not for the faint-hearted, its artistic ambition, musical innovation, and cultural impact cement its status as one of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' finest works .
Great songwriting and performance on this album.
Never really got into NC & TBS... This album was really interesting though... Not sure about every track - but overall I enjoyed it.
Pues está bastante bien. Jamás lo hubiese dicho.
7/10 Nick Cave makes some really dark, menacing music, his voice occasionally wavering between singing and speaking like a man teetering on the border between reality and fantasy. The album starts off strong, with pulsing, brooding threat seeping out of every tone. Sometimes that threat drifts and drips from the speakers and sometimes it tips into manic urgency as the music drives away behind him. It’s a really interesting and gripping opening half that is sometimes uncomfortable to listen to, and can sometimes hint at something really pretty, but there’s always that undercurrent of grime and mania that persists from song to song. I really enjoy his use of sound effects and fleeting slices of tonality to inject further emphasis and musical variety into his songs, and the opening set rarely seems to rest without throwing something new and uncomfortable your way. But as the album progresses, things do start to slow a little. The variety and interest seems to drain away a little from The Kindness Of Strangers onwards, which isn’t helped by a 15 minute song that musically is pretty repetitive, although remains held together by the psychopathy of the narrative. Things just get a little stale by the end, and I can’t help wishing he’d released a 40 minute cut of the album with a slight resequence of the track order and dropping a few of the less interesting numbers. That first half of the album, though, is absolutely fantastic and the rest is decent, but just doesn’t quite hold up to the same standard for me. Song Of Joy - A bleak and brooding start to the album with little pulses of hope here and there that break through the gloomy bed. The distant elements in the background that sweep, throb and occasionally swarm to the foreground add a massive amount of depth and threat to the track. Nick Cave’s delivery is as dangerous and menacing as ever. Really good stuff. Stagger Lee - There’s a good groove to this one, especially in the bass. There’s a sense of urgency to the vocal delivery that drags forward against the groove which brings great momentum to things. It’s very sonically rich and dynamic with chords that ring out or drift away and the use of sound effects make things so visceral. The build at the end is so darkly evocative of terror. Henry Lee - This is a prettier track, but there’s still an undercurrent of menace. It’s like PJ Harvey is bringing the beauty and Nick Cave is bringing the threat, while the instruments straddle the two. It’s more stripped back than the previous tracks, but it allows the vocal parts to take prominence. Lovely Creature - There’s a driving pace and urgency to this straight out of the gate and we’re back to some more sweeping swells of noise that bring more of that grimy threat to proceedings. It feels like this is a constant build, getting fuller and more grimy as the track progresses, but never really revealing its destination in the best possible way and then just drifts away into the night. Where the Wild Roses Grow - It’s Kylie! I love the way her vocal is recorded here, it’s so closely recorded and feels really intimate as a result. Perfect for the part of a murder victim retelling the story of her murder. This is a more straight down the line song than others on the album, but it’s a beautiful and masterfully written song. It doesn’t lose the melancholy, but spins it into something more open and pretty. The Curse Of Millhaven - Wow, the intro to this jerks you straight out of the calm of the previous track, and then the swell subsides into a really pacy number. Love the organ. It’s perhaps got a little less grim depth than other tracks, but boy does it move. The variation in instrumental focus between the verses really keeps it interesting. I’d say it probably goes on a little too long, but it’s still really good. I bet this is fantastic at a live show. The Kindness Of Strangers - We’re back in calmer waters now and more into an actual ballad that the album title promises. It’s nice enough, but it’s not massively interesting. While the sound effects use on other tracks really add to the depth, I found the use of the woman in the background actually distracted from the song a bit here. Crow Jane - This track does meander just a little bit too much, and off the back of the last track, I feel like the pace of the album is seeping away a little too much. It just kind of plods along and it doesn’t really carry the same menace as earlier tracks. It also doesn’t really offer much in the way of variation or development through its duration either. O’Malley’s Bar - This has got some bite and swagger to it. But it’s also very long, and doesn’t do much interesting musically to justify the length. Narratively, there’s enough content, but personally, I feel like lyrics always come second to music and when the music doesn’t evolve or vary enough over this amount of time, things can start to become stale. It’s not bad, it’s just long. Death Is Not The End - A Bob Dylan cover with quite the gang of guest stars. It’s a bit plodding, hymnal, and fairly uninteresting. Not much to note other than PJ and Kylie are back, and Shane MacGowan and Anita Lane pop by too. It rounds out the album nicely enough, but unfortunately, things had been winding down a bit in the second half anyway.
Me gusta muchísimo la música de Nick Cave así que no me importaría que estuviese toda su discografía aquí porque siempre es garantía de éxito, sobre todo gracias a su voz y a esas letras profundas y tristes que tanto me llegan. 4/5
Really great gothic folk. Love how dark and macabre it is. Definitely think it is a tad front loaded. Not that anything is bad, just a song like The Kindness of Strangers didn't hit me as hard, being more of a "sweet" ballad when the rest of the album stuck strongly to the really heavy and dark gothic folk vibes. O'Malley's Bar is a tad long, but great itself. Love when Nick Cave is in this mode. Up Jumped the Devil from Tender Prey operates on the same wavelength, just more horror than gothic folk.
Does what it says on the tin! Some really visceral imagery. Loved ‘The Curse of Millhaven’. Reminded me of The Pogues and then Shane shows up for the last number!
PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue on this??? Yup this is officially my favorite Nick Caves album so far. Favorite track: Henry Lee
Does exactly what it says on the tin... Songs about death. "Where The Wild Roses Grow" gets a lot of the plaudits but this entire album is dark and menacing, both beautiful and violent...
ну я ваще валяюсь от его бубнежа с придыханями. тексты слушала плохо, но верю, что там все прикольно. почему все молчали, что ник кейв такой хорни? это нам надо да
At his best, I love Nick Cave. This album however, is a bit of a mixed bag. Some songs, Where the Wild Roses Grow and The Kindness of Strangers are really good. Most of the others are decent, but there are a couple, Stagger Lee and O'Malley's Bar where it feels like Cave is trying too hard to be dark. They're a bit adolescent. It stops Murder Ballads from being great, but it's still a good album.
An interesting concept, creepy-ish vocals, a cool sound. Not bad
Transition from early Nick: violence and death with violent music, to classic Nick: violent and death with beautiful music now complete. One star off for the length of O'Malleys bar.
3.5
I really enjoyed this album, not quite 4½, but I can see it moving up that way. I can also see this becoming one of my halloween time Staples. Not that it's typical Halloween fodder, but it does have a very dark sinister feel to it. I'm wondering if this came up in October I would have easily given it a 4½, but I'm going to give it a high 4 (8.8) ★★★★
Nick Cave is great, but my sweet spot for him is a bit later. 4 stars
This isn't my favorite Nick Cave album (I think the albums released before and after it are better), but there's some pretty great stuff here, and the overall concept of the album is pretty interesting. Highlights for me are "Kindness of Strangers", "Death is Not the End", and the incredible duet with P.J. Harvey, "Henry Lee". 4 stars.
Nick Cave esta guay y es un buen crooner? Las letras son autenticas pinturas capturando la imagen de lo que quiere contar y junto con la ambientación te pone en situación. Pero un disco completo de emociones intensas agota un poco
This is #day341 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… as I've mentioned before, I find it hard to connect with the earlier works of the Bad Seeds after Skeleton Tree and especially Ghosteen. But if there's one earlier record of theirs (among those represented on the list) that you could hear before you die, it's probably this one. Murder Ballads feels like a detective thriller set to music. Again, I'm not a huge fan of this version of Nick Cave, aka the dark preacher persona, telling stories, but "Stagger Lee," "Henry Lee" (didn't know these were traditional songs), and "Where the Wild Roses Grow" are standouts, though. Otherwise, there's always Let Love In. Let it be a low 4 out of 5. Looking forward to #day342.
Lyrics: 5/5. Music 3/5
Probably my least favorite Cave so far, but not bad by any means. 3.5/5
Love the storytelling.
Why do I keep enjoying every gothic rock album I hear? This is the most interesting concept album I’ve heard in a while. I don’t really like vocal-based music usually, but his voice is so good that I, for once, thought that the vocals were actually a highlight of an album. Just the sort of “cabaret” vibe this album brings forth with its vocals and instruments is really cool. And the lyrics being exclusively about someone getting murdered help too. I wouldn’t say there’s anything particularly mind blowing about this album (it’s pretty much carried by the atmosphere alone), but it is a very pleasant listen.
This was just a bright ray of sunshine. Lots of fun. A real laugh riot!
Highlight Song/s: Song of Joy, Stagger Lee, Where the Wild Roses Grow and Death Is Not the End I've only heard Let Love In (separate from 1001) before this one, so this is my second Nick Cave album (third, if you count The Birthday Party.) This album has incredible songwriting. It's quite dark, with murder being the main theme. Even though murder themed lyrics seem a bit juvenile, for some reason the way that he does it, it doesn't.
4/5
Good stuff on here, even if it's just a bit similar to Henry's Dream in terms of sound. 4.5 bumped down to 4.
Well, who needs murder mysteries podcasts when Nick Cave delivered this album? . The production and the singing of Nick are really good in setting the listener to murder stories. The first two songs are slaps in the face which are kinda soothed by the ballads with PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue. I personally think OMalley Bar was too long and Death is not the End a very funny and ironic way ro end the album. Good album, but you really need to be in the mood and prepared to listen to it and rake all the gruesomeness. I wasn't.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1001 Albums- # 64 Nick Cave…you bad bad hellion! Tales of murder in a punky cabaret style that only this man and his evil Seeds could pull off 😎 Murder ballads are a powerful subgenre of traditional folk music that tell stories about crimes of passion, revenge, betrayal, or justice, often involving murder as a central theme. This album is solely dedicated to this conceptual theme, raw, poetic, violent, and darkly beautiful. It’s both a tribute to the traditional murder ballad form and a visceral reimagining of it. The album blends gothic horror, black humor, and literary lyricism, with a cast of murderers, victims, and ghosts. 🎧 Classic Track: Henry Lee (Featuring the sultry PJ Harvey 🔥) 🎧 Deep Cut Gem: Death Is Not The End 🎧 Personal Favorite: Stagger Lee 🎧 Memorable Standout: O’Malley’s Bar On Murder Ballads, Nick Cave doesn’t just revisit the old folk tradition — he revives it with blood on its hands and poetry in its mouth. Each track tells a tale of death, often murder, and often at the hands of narrators who are cruel, charming, or insane. Cave is a masterful storyteller. His lyrics feel like short stories — grim, vivid, and literary. There’s a sense of dread, suspense, and often irony in each tale. He channels murderers, victims, and bystanders with chilling conviction. Despite its singular theme, the album never feels repetitive as it offers a mix of spoken-word horror, violent blues, duets filled with longing and betrayal, black comedy and haunted lullabies. 🖼️ Album Artwork: Chilling yet inviting 🏠 The arrangements are sparse where needed, explosive elsewhere. Piano, strings, distorted guitar, and baritone vocals create a macabre theatrical atmosphere. It feels like listening to a gothic stage play set in a graveyard saloon. Cave doesn’t moralize. He embodies monsters, yes — but also reveals the loneliness, guilt, and madness that ripple through violent acts. These aren’t just shock songs — they’re about the fragility of love and the horror of loss, pushed to extremes.
Must admit I’m a late convert to Nick Cave. Had dismissed him from my list of likes until I heard Skeleton Tree. His albums since then have got better and better with Ghosteen becoming an all time favourite and certainly the best album of 2019. Because of my new found love I obviously delved back through his back catalog but this album is still relatively unknown to me apart from the Kylie duet. As a general lover of music originating from tragedy and blackness I’m surprised this has never come to my notice. There is a lot to like on this album with a lot of underlying melodies which contrast with Nick’s dour vocals. Nothing as good as what’s on Ghosteen but you can hear the seeds of what developed to become the mastery of that album. An excellent album narrowly missing out on 5 stars but one now on my list to buy. 4/5 22/6/25
ANOTHER one I've been meaning to listen to for a while. Throughly enjoyed.
Next Gen, dark side Cohen vibes, with a splash of Tom Waits, and a dash of Lux Interior. Humorous and sophisticated in it's murderous musings.
I do like when an album name tells you exactly what you're about to listen
For a record I’ve never spun before I was surprised at how many tracks I recognized, particularly Wild Roses, Death Is Not The End and Henry Lee. I do enjoy a good murder ballad. This was a great album, quite iconic for its genre. I'm learning through this project that I really enjoy Nick Cave's body of work.
The album that got Nick Cave a Grammy and a wider audience. This is a good album to step in Cave's world. It's so over the top, full of humor and gruesome storytelling. Easily one of its most intense and funny albums, quite unique in his catalogue.
I loved that album. It was varied, eclectic, funny and dark at the same time. This album is real adventure to dive in!
A very interesting concept for an album with some very well told stories. Glad I listened but not one that I think I'll revisit often (especially not The Kindness of Strangers, incredibly bleak!) Favourite tracks: Stagger Lee & Where the Wild Roses Grow Probably won't revisit. 4/5
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are an Australian band that make a cabaret-like version of alt-rock, featuring Cave as an intrepid storyteller. Murder Ballads are the ninth studio album from the band, and is the band's most critically acclaimed work. Traditionally, "murder ballads" are songs about crimes of passion, and the album is a collection of these dark, fascinating stories. This macabre genre suits Cave's brooding ramble quite well., and this material became a part of Cave's renown Cave is hard to place into categories - his material wanders toward Tom Waits' - he's an interesting story teller with a dark, but amusing, view of the world.
One of the best holiday records ever!
This is delightfully disturbing.
3.75
Brilliant
Ovaj album nikad nije ima neku prođu među caveovim fanovima. Meni je dan danas super. Puno je campa to je istina ali storytelling mu je realno najzanimljiviji ikad, svaka stvar bi mogla bit scenarij za film
Nick Cave es un género en sí mismo. Tal vez el único a quien pueda compararse (no por estilo lírico, ni vocal, ni musical, sino por poersonalidad) es a otro gigante como Tom Waits. Cualquier disco suyo es de notable hacia arriba, los tiene muy buenos y excepcionales. Sus discos de los 90 son muy buenos (Let Love In y The Boatman’s Call), los de los 00 y 10s también, en fin imposible quedarse con uno solo o una etapa concreta. Este no es el que más me gusta (Abbatoir Blues) pero es un gran comienzo para quien quiera entrar en su obra. Gozó de bastante éxito, gracias en parte a la colaboración con Kilye, gran canción, pero también están PJ Harvey (Henry Lee, fogosa como su romace) o Shane Mcgowan. El propio Nick afirmó que le gustaba matar gente en canciones para no tener que matarlos en la vida real. Aquí se desquita bien, matando a 75 víctimas, y un pobre perro. El final, eso sí es Death is not the end... todo ironía. Aquí hay muertes desde todos los puntos de vista, asesino o víctima, pero todas las canciones rayan a gran nivel.
Really just a perfect style for Nick Cave to make. Pretty haunting at times but still has a perfect, random hint of humor as well. Really enjoyed this one. 7/10
I mean this in the absolute best way possible, this sounds like an album for of Disney Villain songs. 4.5 stars
This was a pretty solid listen with some standout songs that could be easily listened multiple times. Nice variation and unique tone.
todo en nick cave tiene una mística particular.
Eek
Spooky! Second half is a little less convincing, but the first is brilliant.
Delightfully wacky. I think I'm a little Nick Cave'd out after my 3rd in the last month.
I think there are a lot of musicians that wish they could write lyrics like these.
Is there anything more Australian than Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue singing a duet about murder? (No offense to Australians of course) This album has the very literal name "Murder Ballads" recalling an old genre of songs about crimes of passion with a rock n roll edge. It's definitely interesting, but more from a storytelling perspective than the music.
Perfect album for a nice dinner party. Dude murdered 75 people and 1 dog on the track, O’Malley’s Bar. Fuck, I may play this one more time for a buddy a some point because it is really good interesting but fuck Nick, you’re fucked and I respect that. 4 stars
Overraskende fedt, specielt "where the wild roses grow" og the curse of milhaven
The sound of Nick Cave striking the gold of the sensitive/dangerous piano man storyteller that has carried him to such great heights in the rest of his career Some songs don’t work as more than a murderous curio (lovely creature, crow Jane, o’malleys bar) but they’re never not listenable But when it does work, boy does it work Kindness of strangers (the sobs!), Curse of Millhaven, Stagger Lee, Henry Lee and Where the wild roses… are glorious Tempted to give it a 5 but there are better Bad Seeds albums to come so let’s reserve that for those
an intense album of fear and violence populated with violent hateful characters. If the subject matter doesn't offend you this album is a brilliant way to get a taste of music's greater story teller. The band cooks of course and the production is loud and uncompromising, though again piano is the main instrument used to convey these stories of the dregs of society. The 14 minute penultimate song; O'Malley's bar is the star of this seedy show, a tour de force of a song. 4 stars
Another one that Spin magazine told me to listen to for years and I dropped the ball. Very good. A few of these are too much of a carnival for me.
I would've given this 5 stars if O'Malleys Bar wasn't so long
Gear: Abyss DIANA MR Artwork: ❄️🌲🛖 Production (2011 Remaster): 🧏♂️📏💩 Music: 🏠👥💔🔪💀😱 Rating: 👻👻👻👻/5
Fantastic album. This is one I didn’t like as much when it came out because it didn’t pack the punch of Let Love In. But in time it’s revealed itself to have some lovely songs
Enjoyed it. Standout songs: Song of Joy Henry Lee Where the Wild Roses Grow
Having heard their other album on this list, I would say that this album is MUCH more Nick Cave-y than that. These dark, moody, bitter songs are what I expect from him. Anyway, a whole album of songs about murders and murderers, good stuff. The instrumentation is pretty sparse and the vocals are flat at times but overall I enjoyed this a lot, even the Dylan cover Death is Not the End, which I had never heard or heard of before, and the second half of the album was even better than the first.
I didn't expect to like this as I haven't enjoyed Nick Cave in the past, but I really enjoyed this album. I like albums that have a story and the concept of this album is so cool, each song being about a different murder. Musically enjoyable and is a compilation of short stories
Lurid murder ballads from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nearly a 5 star record — it just needed more death, destruction and depravity.
Quite like a few of these, mainly the ones with the ladies.
What a cool album. Gives vibes of Dylan’s early 2000s albums. The instrumentation is amazing but it does feel a bit bloated, which would keep me from coming back to it.
Nick Cave is a very strange artist, it's really hard to describe what kind of music he makes. This is a very interesting album though, I really like the sonic pallets he creates. His voice fits very well with this kind of music too. Mid 4.
the first song started and i thought "okay this is dark… weird thing to write a song about..” and then i looked at the album title again and was like "oh" (sabrina voice), i see what he's doing...
I know Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, but I actually know pretty badly their music. Happy to report that it holds its reputation; this is great stuff. I was a bit taken aback by the first tracks, very row (almost spoken word) but then it somehow clicked. Great atmosphere, great music in the back.
i enjoyed this
I do love an album that pays off on the promise. It's almost silly in how direct it is but you can't help but love the style. Not my favourite album from them but they rarely just miss. I'm battling between three and four. The album does have weaknesses but I do enjoy it.
Interesting concept I guess, some songs are so much better than others, but the good ones are great. I think his voice can be both amazing and terrible, depending on the song. Favourite songs: Henry Lee, Lovely creature, Where the wild roses grow, O'Malley's Bar, Death is not the end. Overall around 7/10
9/10. This album felt so poetic. Nick Cave's storytelling has a lot of depth. It felt like a modernized cabaret. It would've been cool if this album was turned into a movie.
Third Nick Cave album I got since starting and this is the first one I got that is actually very good, I was starting to wonder for a second if I just didn't like Nick Cave as much as I thought. Prior to this I got The Boatman's Call and the Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus double album and those were both 3's. This is "my" Nick Cave so to speak.
Killer album.
I'm not sure what it says about me that I love this album as much as I do. I've owned this album for years and occasionally dig it out (or up on a streaming service). This album is so very dark. It's pitch black. His treatments of the traditional murder ballads are cool as hell, and most of the originals work well alongside the traditionals. The optimistic cover of the Dylan tune at the end is a fun coda to the album, given the subect matter of the rest of the album. Can't give it 5 stars because O'Malley's Bar is too damn long. 4 stars.
legend. moody.
Spannende Duette, einprägsame Stimme, düstere Stimmung. 4/5
An expreirence
Murder Ballads is an album I approach with a mix of fascination and slight exhaustion, because it is so committed to its own darkness. It is lurid, theatrical, and often deliberately uncomfortable, revelling in violence and obsession with a knowing grin. When it works, it is gripping, pulling you into its grim stories with a sense of inevitability rather than shock value alone. What I find compelling is how Nick Cave balances menace with moments of strange tenderness and humour. The narratives are vivid and unapologetic, and the performances are fully inhabited, never half-hearted or ironic. At the same time, the album’s single-minded focus can feel overwhelming. Song after song of death and brutality starts to blur together, and the emotional impact dulls simply through repetition rather than lack of quality. Despite that, Murder Ballads earns its place because of its confidence and commitment. It knows exactly what it is and never flinches. I do not always want to live in this world for an entire album, but I respect the craft, the storytelling, and the sheer audacity of the project.
So original and interesting
Death is not the end
Cupo, inquietante, affascinante. Adoro la canzone con Kylie
This album is a fucking journey and I'm here for it. Nick Cave is one of those rare talents that needs to be heard by everyone at some point.
Another sleeper artist for me (Grinderman aside). I will definitely be checking out more of Nick Cave's work.
I love Nick Cave and his voice. I really enjoyed the album and the gruesome content. Stagger Lee is a standout for me and really great duets.
Not my favourite Cave (that would be Wookey Hole). Some absolute bangers though, mainly involving someone called Lee.
Yes, enjoyed these a lot! Fantastic story telling. I think I prefer some of his later stuff, the last song had a bit of a humpapa feel to it.
3.5
Primer acercamiento a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds en formato LP. Murder Ballads (1996) es el noveno álbum de estudio del conjunto australiano y, a mi parecer, una experiencia sumamente completa. Leyendo el título de este trabajo sabemos desde el comienzo que nos depara exactamente: diez canciones que engloban el asesinato en la forma de historias atrapantes. En este sentido, la producción del disco es el primero de los apartados mejor logrados, lo cual se refleja notoriamente en la terrorífica atmósfera que envuelve cada una de las canciones. Además, es imprescindible destacar el intachable trabajo de Nick Cave sobre cada una de las pistas, entregándonos letras que invitan a escuchar con atención y una interpretación que siempre mantiene al artista y al oyente como personajes vivos de sus historias. Si tuviese que destacar algún detalle mejorable sería que algunas canciones aprovechan mejor estos dos elementos, ofreciéndonos historias más completas o trabajos instrumentales y de producción más elaborados. No obstante, este es un gran disco de principio a fin, y espero que el algoritmo me siga recomendando trabajos de Cave y compañía. FAVTRAXS: Song of Joy; Stagger Lee; Henry Lee; Where the Wild Roses Grow; The Kindness of Strangers; O'Malley's Bar LEASTFAV: Lovely Creature
Man, Nick Cave's free flowing lyrics are so awesome. I could listen to him all day talking about killing people, which makes his dick hard. "I'm that bad motherfucker called Stagger Lee"
Surprising haunting athmosphere. Nick makes me feel tingles ☺️
Entre Bashung et noir desir en anglais
Some great songs, some OK songs. I'm not the biggest fan myself, but I understand why it was so popular when it was new. Favorite song: O'Malley's Bar.
The opening track was ok, and then it got better. This album is really good. Haunting.
Slim Shady meets blues. It's good, but I have the feeling it gets more notability for the subject matter than it deserves for the music. 'Stagger Lee' has a great groove.
inspired but so obviously the production of a nihilistic heroin addict it’s hard to take now
If you thought Nick Cave’s lyrics were brutal, you haven’t heard anything until you’ve heard this album. Savage!
Yep. I’m a Nick Cave guy. I love all his weirdness. There’s a couple of songs I think go on a tad too long. But overall I was interested in hearing these murder tales and enjoyed how they were musicalized. 4.5/5
4/5
More good songs from Nicky
A bold move for mid 90s Cave but in retrospect it’s was a pivotal moment in his maturity as an artist. Here he inhabits a universe of dark mythology and folk tales, relishing the protagonist roles of seducers, serial killers and outlaws. Incredible collaborations with PJ Harvey and Kylie make it an unmissable listen.
So dark. So good
I really got into Nick Cave after watching Peaky Blinders. It’s definitely dark but very cool. I had not listened to this album but I really liked it.
Weird and dark, it was really enjoyable i must say
Only Nick Cave would make the most disturbing album of stories like these and then try to comfort you at the end by telling you 'death is not the end'. I don't feel better, surprisingly. But I did enjoy the fucked up rest of the album😅
Back to back Nick Cave, can be a bit tiresome, but this is probably his best album, so I’ll let him off.
I like Nicka Cave and the Bad Seeds a lot, and have most of not all of their albums. However, I'm not clear why this among that huge body of work was chosen for this list. It's not a bad album, but it's not up there with Cave's best work. I suspect it's to do with sales, with the album boosted by Where The Wild Roses Grow featuring Kylie Minogue getting into the charts. The album's a mixture of traditional and cover songs with originals by Cave, and it has a rather stellar collection of collaborators.
Het eerste nummer doet mij gelijk sterk denken aan Where the Wild Roses Grow, wat we later op het album krijgen. Verder kan ik dit album moeilijk aan iets vergelijkbaars koppelen. Ik durf hier het woord uniek wel te gebruiken. Nu komen we wel vaker iets unieks tegen in deze lijst. Maar dit is uniek en voelt voor mij heel toegankelijk. En dat is wél bijzonder. Maar waar ligt dat dan aan? Nick zingt en praat half om half en heeft een wat rauwe stem. Niet per se ingrediënten voor een toegankelijke plaat. De teksten zijn wat zwart, dus dat zal het ook niet zijn. Ik erger mij vaak suf aan platen met een hoop gelal. ("La-la-la...geld"). En deze plaat valt toch in die categorie. Ik erger mij vaak aan hele theatrale platen. En deze plaat valt toch ook in die categorie. Dus hoe weet die Nick al mijn irritaties te prikkelen en toch een fijne nasmaak achter te laten? Misschien is dit een plaat waarbij je die vraag helemaal niet moet willen beantwoorden.
Nick Cave is een lastige klant. Het is altijd wel soort van sfeervol, duister en melancholisch. Maar ook moeilijk behapbare kost. En een favoriet van de snobs, getuige de 4 selecties. Dat dit album er in staat, snap ik dan wel weer, want het herbergt wel een paar klassiekers die hij uitbracht met zijn muzikale muzes PJ Harvey en Kylie Minogue. Het hele album is een soort verzameling van traditionals lijkt het, het zijn verhalende nummers en hij vertelt de teksten ook meer dan dat hij ze zingt. Al is dat ook de stijl van Nick Cave. Het veelvuldige gebruik van lalala zorgt ervoor dat er nog een soort van zwierige vrolijkheid in zit, ondanks dat het vnl zwartgallige verhalen zijn. Op het eind veren we nog even op, want we herkennen een schijtlollige voormalige nummer 1 hit. Het valt me niet tegen eigenlijk. Het is best interessant om te luisteren. Ik vind dit samen met het voorgaande album Let Love In het best te behappen van hem. Onze snoblijst is van vóór Peaky Blinders, anders had dat album wsch wel een notering gehad.
7.5/10
4.1/5 listened 2x. surprisingly great
What a brilliant album. Great production, marvellous performances by Nick and the band, and v interesting songs/tales.
Nick and the sad seeds
Nick Cave has an intoxicating voice. Very fitting for the subject matter of murder. The story telling in these ballads is poetic and gripping. I don't know how many of these I'd like to listen to on their own but as a collection it's immersive and plays well.
Comically dark. I like that it manages a range on a theme without coming across too much like s novelty album. Also Kylie not being a total pop princess., which is nice.
I always think that Nick Cave albums are going to be a struggle... which this was, but in a good way!
honestly i loved this album. kind of a wierd mix between bob dylan, leonard bernstein, over the garden wall, and herbert huncke. but it works well, that last song easily the best
Interesting concept album. Much better than I thought it would be. Dark but enjoyable listening.
This should have been called "Music to Be Murdered By" and it should have been rapped instead of sung. Maybe get a Detroit rapper on here. Some middle-aged dude who can make "orange" rhyme with "banana." Then maybe this would have been good. I jest, Kylie Minogue is on here. I physically couldn't stop death dropping. Gay rights.
Very strong album
Art, meet death. Death, meet art.
What a wild ride
I enjoyed this a lot, but there is no doubt that his output is a little uneven. For every Wild Rose or Henry Lee, there's a confusing m'f-ing mess of a song around the corner. He's a genius, but I don't always understand him.
I’ve heard this record before and it is good at what it does - very campy songs about murder. I generally would reach for Tom Waits if I want this style of music though.
Akrigtu
Great sound design and storytelling. The lyrics could be more poetic. Not a fan of vaudeville, but I appreciate the concept of the album as a whole.
Snilld frá upphafi til enda.
Very dark and depressing album. Great story telling, great instrumentals, a bit repetitive at times with the longer songs (14 mins) where the story takes a while to tell. I enjoyed the double album a little bit more but this was still an interesting listen. The last two songs were not very good. 7/10
The bridge between their earlier and later work.
Listened Before? N My third Nick Cave album on the list. He's really good. A great songwriter and creative mind. Maybe not the best voice but it fits the material. This is a concept album covering real and fictitious murders. A strange subject for an album but it works for him. I loved it. Even the long ones (O'Malley's Bar at 14:28!) were interesting enough to listen to. Strange, interesting and gritty. The collaborations are also spot-on here. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Where the Wild Roses Grow
Buen disco
Didn’t expect to like it this much, O’Malley Bar was incredibly evocative
One of the joys of my later life has been discovering Nick Cave. I didn't take to The Birthday Party as a teenager and took some time to get over that and actually listen to Cave. He's a fantastic lyricist, polemicist and artist. This is a fun, fascinating, captivating piece of work. Listen away. The man's a genius.
Great profane fascinating concept album. Loved it!
yo ho yo ho a murder life for me
Pretty, chilling
What a voice this man has. Shout out late 90's Kylie (marry me xoxo)
This album was so cool. A concept I hadn't heard of before. Really enjoyed it will have to check out more of his stuff and definitely listen to this album again!
Odd, dark as midnight macabre - stories of murder and mayhem vocalized with terrific ability by a great voice. Reminded me of Tom Waits, of whom I am a big fan.
Better than I thought it would be, Tom Waits lite, not bad.
Better than expected. Dude's voice is amazing.
dark gothic folk rock. though this is not our first foray into this artist’s catalogue, it might be my favourite so far. highlights: “stagger lee”, “where the wild roses grow”, “death is not the end”
I kinda liked this one. That Dylan cover was quite good.
love that joy of life
4.75
I can't believe I hadn't heard of this before. It was a cool album. Kind of like a concept album in themes, but with all different stories both from the murderers and the murdered point of view. Overall I liked it.
Weirdly enjoyable
2/8/24. I was really impressed by this album, almost movie like with the production and vocals. Very haunting at times, but beautiful throughout and each song keeps you locked in through the experience.
... his name in American Fiction makes more sense now
Totally different than what I expected. Looking forward to exploring more of their music.
I quite enjoyed it! It was something a little bit different, though i thought his voice was a bit abrasive at times, but overall ye was good I liked it
I really like the concept and Nick cave is literally the best person for making an album like this. I can't give it a 5 because altho I love both Nick and PJ Harvey I have never managed to sit through Henry Lee. Also Stagger Lee is a bi psychopathic icon.
Obviously quite a dark album, but some very good songs.
Beautiful, stylish music, but really dark. OK, it's titled "Murder Ballads," so that tracks.
Excellent, but not really my kind of music. I loved all the "features" he had on it, particularly P.J. Harvey. I really loved the last song. Not sure why I didn't listen to this when it came out in 1996, but again, like I said, not really my kind of jam. I like and admire Nick Cave more than I enjoy his music.
3.75
4.5
Estava pensant "bua quin estil més interessant, m'encanta" i aleshores a la segona cançó una senyora ha començat a cridar a tota ostia. A part dels crits de la senyora, m'han agradat molt. Trobo que és el tipus de música que mai fa pal escoltar i l'he gaudit molt en conjunt. Especialment com canvia de "balades" més lentes a un estil més animat però sense que es noti o xoqui
Liked it more as it went on. Definitely unique and think it could be more enjoyable if I was in a better mood for it. Rating: 3.7
I had reservations about the album, especially after listening to the first track. It is seldom that I am in the mindset to listen to this type of theme. But it grew on me. I am secretly wishing I remember this next time I mentally need something comparable. Will listen again
I love murder ballads!
I like the one with PJ Harvey. But overall, it's not one of the albums I like. Probably because I am not in the mood of murder today :))
2nd cave so far. I preferred ghosteen, but this album is very very good. Song with pj is good, song with Kylie is excellent, Dylan cover at the end with everybody is good. It's creepy it's haunting, it's good. Omallays is another highlight Strong 4/5
Rating: 9/10 Amazing album. Great storytelling, loved the way Nick Cave used his voice, he was singing the songs in a multitude of ways. Instrumentally this is fantastic as well, very creative. The band have their own style and sound which deviates enough from popular music to make it interesting for the entire listen. The second half of this album is not as musically interesting or creative as the first but still great, first half is a 10/10 for me. Favorite songs: Song of Joy, Stagger Lee, Lovely Creature, Where the Wild Roses Grow, The Curse of Millhaven, Death is Not the End. Least favorite song: The Kindness of Strangers.
This record was a mixed bag for me. There's musical ideas all over this thing that I love. The drawback is often Cave's (unarguably impressive) vocal performance. It's so cabaret at times that I struggle to connect with his narration. He's often playing a character but it's often a character so repulsive that it can make it a tough listen. Some of his vocal inflections are in general just a little irritating to me despite his very skilled performance. There's more to like than dislike on this thing so overall I give it a decent 7.
Astonishingly violent. Astonishingly captivating. Will return.
Sounds like nights out in the late 1990’s. My flatmate loved this album. I like it quite a bit, but Nick Cave’s delivery is easily mocksble, second only to Type O Negative’s Pete Steele.
Will def give it another listen. It’s a fun concept album
This is some dark shit. Seems the perfect music to be hearing just past Halloween. They're all really good, but the songs with guest vocalists PJ Harvey, Kylie Minogue and Shane Macgowan I like a lot. Death is Not the End and Where the Wild Roses Grow are my favorites.
Haunting. Nick Cave is an excellent story teller. This album to me is more or less a really, really sad western movie in the format of song.
I'd forgotten how good this album was. 4.5 stars, to leave room for his even better ones.
Un gran álbum de rock-pop gótico. A pesar de contar con canciones largas y densas, la experiencia de escucha se hace bastante corta y agradable. Las pistas más destacables del disco son las colaboraciones con PJ Harvey y Kylie Minogue, con quienes Cave interactúa de forma casi perfecta.
I think I had listened to this before, but probably a long time ago. I recognised Stagger Lee, the PJ Harvey song and the Kylie Minogue song. Overall a very interesting and well written album. Not one I would be in the mood to dive into often, but I would listen again.
I can't say anything bad. Nick Cave has his style and this album fully shows it. It's adventurous, calm, brutal. It's like a long poem. It has character, great stories, and even an epilogue.
Favourite tracks: death is not the end; O'Malley's bar; where the wild roses grow
This made for a weird and fun listen while driving one of my favourite country routes. This worked pretty well for that! I don't know how much of this I'll come back to, though. Some of the songs passed me by a bit. Where the Wild Roses Grow really moved me though. A beautiful-yet-macabre tale of a lady murdered by her lover, and an overall amazing duet between Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue. Almost impossible for me to pick my favourite between this and the next song on the album, The Curse of Millhaven. I think that one might win out just because of how ridiculous it is. A tale of a psychotic young girl on a murderous rampage, complete with a tuneful and almost circus-esque folk backing. Definitely the highlight of the album. This was generally a weird, fun and disturbing record. Not my favourite, but certainly different! Favourite: The Curse Of Millhaven
Great. The big song with Kylie Minogue is definitely not the high point. First and second songs are an awesome introduction. O'Malleys Bar is SO GOOD Last song with Kylie Minogue again is not very good. I feel like this is a 4.5 for me but it's definitely not a 5, so just going with the 4.
I kind of liked it. Melodious enough with dark tales within when I tuned in. Second to last song went on tho.
Moody and powerful
This album has got such a sense of style and mood to it. From the cover alone the tone is set, and the album really carries that promise through the whole thing. I'd had 'Where the Wild Roses Grow' on my main playlist for years, but this was another classic case of not delving into the album as a whole. I think I did once, but maybe got unstuck after the first song, which frustratingly is a bit of a slog. It picks up a lot from there. Stagger Lee has some real bite, and that's followed by Henry Lee which is a lovely duet. Outside of those, I thought The Kindness of Strangers was also one of the better individual tracks. O'Malley's Bar threatens to derail it as it's SUCH a long samey song again, but it's then finished off with Death Is Not the End which is a great closer. As an album and overall piece of art I think it's very good.
Love it!
He does write a good murder ballad. This is my first Nick Cave album and I’d be happy to check out more.
Indulgent, but when isn't he?
I was a little apprehensive when I saw Nick Cave’s name come up for today’s album because I really disliked the album by the Birthday Party that I listened to. But then I remembered that I quite enjoyed Abbatoir Blues by him with the Bad Seeds, so I’m quite hopeful with this today. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Where The Wild Roses Grow, Death Is Not The End For the first couple of tracks, I wasn’t too sure about this. However, this album grew and grew on me as it went on and I found myself really enjoying it. Unsurprisingly, given the album name, it feels like it could be the soundtrack to a crime drama. Nick’s voice is as discount as I’ve come to expect and kept me hooked as a listener. I was also very surprised by how much I loved the song with Kylie. I’ve never particularly been a fan of Kylie so thought it strange that she features on a song, but is sounds fantastic.
Great band, great singer, great ballads, great contributions from PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue, but not the greatest album. 10 ballads in a row is quite a struggle to get through, although every song is almost perfect. Light melody, some nice bass lines, bit of a toned drums and Nick Cave reciting or sometimes singing the lyrics. Only problem is, one song per day is enough. Definitely their other albums are more approachable.
Great stuff
A little over the top and almost goofily dark at points, but overall fun to listen to and well-done.
O'Malley's Bar wears out its welcome so much it knocks this entire thing down a peg
Personally, I would have survived in these situations. A bunch of ballads about murder (shocker) from everybody's favorite Australian Disney villain. It always sucks when the worst song is also the longest song. There is no reason why "O'Malley's Bar" had to be 14 minutes long. Thankfully, that's the only stinker on the album, and the rest is really solid. Nick Cave's got one of the best voices in music. Can't get enough of that scary gremlin. Wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley though.
Plenty of LARPing here that demeans the album a bit but it's still amongst Nick's better albums.
Tales of misery and woe from a guy whose voice sounds like he’s Seen Some Shit. The duet with Kylie Minogue is particularly lovely.
It's a good solid Nick Cave album, which is an automatic 4*. Probably not up there with his best but a strong listen through. Fewer standout tracks, though the guest spots from Peej and Kylie are good and fun. There's more than a hint of Pogues on some tracks, so Shane Macgowan popping up later feels appropriate. Henry Lee is excellent. O malleys bar is wild. Stagger Lee is so over the top with the dirty I do hope it was intended to be funny. Little touches in the shifting perspectives in Where the Wild Roses Grow absolutely make it, 'on the last day' from the murderer, 'on the third day' from the unsuspecting victim. Death is Not the End is a lovely song. The multiple guest stars though render it impossible now not to think of the comic relief destruction of Lou Reed's Perfect Day a few years later. Still, lovely.
Yeah great the closer is a little naff and o malleys bar is too long but the rest is very good 4/5
This is prime candidate for seedy bar or very old record store music. At first that point was a negative but then it turned into a positive.
Hard to not give this one a five, because it’s super fun and vibey and great. Only thing stopping it from being a 5 is wanting to leave space for albums I feel are a little more innovative. But let it be known, I love this.
Ah Nick Cave, always down for a good time that Nick. He really knows how to pal around. Stagger Lee won me over. Then Henry Lee I started to get. Is this like, that Leonard Cohen album we had, just better executed? This is the first Nick Cave album where it intersects between “interesting concept” and “listenable” for me. I definitely don’t want to live in Nick Cave’s universe. That sounds like a miserable place to be. But I enjoyed this record a lot more than I thought I would going in. 4/5
Classic Cave and Bad Seeds. You can tell they’re just having fun on this one. As dark as it is groovy and soulful.
Song of Joy, Stagger Lee, Henry Lee, Lovely Creature, The Curse of Millhaven(best song), O’Malley’s Bar and Death is Not the End. Amazing lyrics. The music is creepy and chilling. 9/10
I do prefer the quiet Nick Cave nowadays, but how can we resist Stagger Lee sung by Cave-the-Devil himself and the wonderful Shane McGowan?.
PJ Harvey and Nick Cave are a perfect match.
+-
Nick Cave takes time to tell his darkest stories. It feels a little bit steep in Tom Waits' style while still retaining a lot of Cave's original flair for the dramatic. The music itself takes a bit of a backseat in order to not overshadow Cave's storytelling. After all, these are ballads.
dunno what else I expected from "murder ballads" but yep its what it says on the tin. Fantastic and bizarre, nick cave continues to deliver for me. each track is so gruesome and dark and are all a wild ride. best tracks: stagger lee, where the wild roses grow, o'malleys bar
Absolutely amazing lyrics, really paints a visual picture in each song.
Good songwriting throughout, tracklist is a bit spotty. Some really great songs, some more boring, overall a cool album. 3.5/5
I just love Nick Cave’s sound, vocal delivery, the whole production is up my alley. The story telling really set the atmosphere in this album. Beautifully done. Bravo. 4! TBz 1. Stagger Lee 2. Henry Lee 3. Where the Wild Roses Grow 4. O’Malley’s Bar
Nick Cave is not totally my jam, but this album obviously has a lot of effort put into it. For me, this is as good as it gets for nick cave
Sacred? Profane? Nary a difference to Cave & co.
Only Nick Cave could make a collection of songs about historical murders work and be so poetic. Stagger Lee being my favourite story, if not my favourite song. I love Cave when he’s in preacher mode which isnt as often on this compared to others, but it’s incredible anyway. Probably prefer the two albums either side of this but only just. Hes an absolute legend of music in my eyes!
This is just disturbing. I like it. ‘O’Malley‘s Bar’ in particular is extremely screwed up - him gruesomely depicting how he killed everybody in a bar, especially the one whose head he split in two with an ashtray. ‘Song Of Joy’ is also creepy, specifically the, again, gruesomely detailed depiction of her death. ‘The Curse Of Millhaven’ is my favorite song here; Cave acts perfectly in character, almost singing with glee about his killing spree (I didn’t mean to rhyme). The duets with PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue respectively are great, too.
This album is not merely a collection of songs about murder. It is an exploration of the psychology, morality, and aftermath of murder. As such, it doesn't attempt to romanticize the material. It portrays murder and the thought process leading up to it as it is, deprived, shocking, and frighteningly tangible. In the world of this album, murder is just around the corner and no one can be trusted. The music itself is driving, grinding, jarring, and in certain moments, beautiful. This gives the album a sense that it is creating and inhabiting a darker world parallel to ours. Nick Cave's vocal delivery is almost deadpan at times, deepening the shock of his character's nonchalance about murder, and more passionate and aggressive at other times. Some of his lyrics seem to be in place just to make a rhyme work, but overall, develop this world and its personalities very convincingly. This is a disturbing album, but it is deeply engaging and interesting.
Un génere, el de les balades dedicades a assassins en sèrie i gent de semblant calanya, que Nick Cave fa seu, com no podia ser d'una altra manera. Hi ha algun dels temes que es fa pesat, com els gairebé quince minuts d''O'Malley's Bar', però en general és un disc excel.lent en una época que Cave semblava tocat per la vareta de l'inspiració. Tot ell, música, lletra, arranjaments i veu encaixen a la perfecció, i les col.laboracions donen el xic d'aire fresc necessari per fer de l'obra un treball gairebé perfecte
Well, I missed this record years ago. Stunning. Looking forward to many further listens.
ok
geggjuð
Very weird, but also cool
So far sppoooky. Accidentally did shuffle, ass. Where the wild rose grows is an easy listen, nice. Henry lee is a nice track, I feel as though this album is worth a re-listen as the sequencing may aid its flow. Stagger Lee is goood. Yeah, this ones in between a 3 and a 4. Probably a 3.6
Strangely liked this. Reminds me of going to Trans Siberian Orchestra or something. Gotta say Mr. Nick Cave is hitting the base notes pretty well.
The most Nick Cave album Nick Cave has ever made. Every aspect, from the choice of guest stars to the copious use of "motherfucker" in his take on Stagger Lee, feels so Nick Cavernous it's almost parodic. As such, is this an album made for an audience of one, that one person being Nick Cave himself? 1996 saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds reach their summit, in terms of commercial success and critical cachet. In retrospect, it also saw Nick Cave transition from gothy cult artist to respected elder of rock. The conceit of this album exemplifies this change of status: long besotted with grisly subject matter and its visceral impact on the listener, Nick Cave gathered his Seeds and recorded an album of murder ballads, some covers but mainly from his own pen. The most famous song on this album proved a little left-field: Nick Cave got fellow antipodean and remarkably tenacious popstar/wank-fodder Kylie Minogue to duet on Where the Wild Roses Grow, a sombre countryish number with Cave as the killer in unhealthy love with his victim Kylie. Nick Cave doing an album of murder ballads is not so much predictable as the logical conclusion to his work, like Eric Clapton's album of Robert Johnson covers or Rod Stewart's series of the Great American Songbook. And like those two examples, Murder Ballads has the odour of a passion project that just happened to appeal to other people. Nick Cave just wanted to do an album of murder ballads, which incidentally is exactly what his fans wanted him to do. If you don't want to hear Nick Cave sing about slitting an unfaithful lover's throat, then you weren't listening to Nick Cave anyway, and there's no point in you listening to Nick Cave in the future. Now, I quite like Nick Cave. I accept that he's done excellent work. And on paper, this should be the ideal Nick Cave album for me. I'm warped enough to adore violent art, from Georges Bataille to Paul Verhoeven. For me, a film improves Everestally if there's a close-up of someone's head exploding (that spectacle is one of the oldest special effects in cinematic history, with one of Georges Méliès' shorts featuring an exploding head way back in 1901). And there is greatness on this album. The relish and obscenity Nick Cave brings to his take on Stagger Lee, a American folk song based on a 19th-century African-American pimp, is a true hoot. How can you not embrace a line like "I'd crawl over 50 good pussies just to get to one fat boy's asshole"? But there are minor slip-ups in the delivery. Tragically, the general excellence surrounding these flaws magnifies them, like Jet from Gladiators with a nasal carbuncle. Returning to the version of Stagger Lee, it ends with some very clunky lines that forget to use metre correctly. Have you ever accidentally headbutted your partner at the moment of climax? It's a bit like that. Such awkwardness doesn't happen often on the album, but it happens often enough to be awkward. Yet what really prevents this album from achieving greatness is the totality of murder ballads. I am criticising an album of murder ballads for just containing murder ballads. Yes, the duets with PJ Harvey and Kylie have their pleasures, but by track 7, The Kindness of Strangers, you begin to fidget and wish for some bubblegum. When I was wondering what the audience for this album was, I should have clarified that I was wondering what the audience was for the entirety of this album. If it could leave a gorehound like me wanting to hear Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) halfway through, maybe the motive of a murder ballads album was better than the execution. That's murder for you. NoRadio, signing off.
Great side A. Side B less strong.
Concept
I'll never look for this kind of music, but the 1001 list teaches me how (and maybe why) I like Nick Cave. It's not my kind of song, but it's always impressive how much I enjoy their albums.
U OK hon?
Best Song: Where The Wild Roses Grow. Excellent contrast with Kylie Minogue. Worst Song: Henry Lee. I think PJ Harvey is a nice counterpoint to Nick Cave, but I find the la's a bit annoying after a while. Overall: Lyrically very dense. Clearly poetic, which I think will require several listens to extract their meaning. Cave knows how to use his voice within the confines of what it's capabilities. Definitely feels like it is striving for (and succeeding at) being Art with a capital A.
very good writing, very spooky
Equal parts dark/violent and hilarious. Probably not Nick Cave's most acclaimed album, but it's my favorite of what I've heard over the years.
Ah yes, "Music To Be Murdered By"
Nick en zijn slechte zaadjes hebben best veel goede albums uitgebracht. Ik snap eigenlijk niet waarom ik dit toch niet veel draai.
Op dat rare polka-nummer na vond ik dit fantastisch!
At times gorgeous, lovely collaborations, hilariously funny, and awesomely performed on one hand, at times a bit dragged out and a bit dated production wise. It’s a great album just not perfect.
I remember hearing about Nick Cave for the first time in 2008 in college... for some reason he wasn’t a name that I grew up hearing but kept meaning to give him a listen. I’m happy I had an introduction now. I enjoyed this! It didn’t need to be as long as it is and I think that it should’ve ended before O’Malley’s Bar. There is no way that song needs to be 14 minutes long… silly lyrics and a woman with my name got killed. With that said, happy to have heard it and overall it was enjoyable. No complaints.
Very interesting. Very dark. Very folky. Like a super dark version of the Corries. Some of it was good, some I was hoping it would end. Really liked Death is not the end.
One that I know surprisingly better than I realised. Nick Cave is polarising - some might say a bit Mr Marmite. Personally, I like him, but have to be in the mood - and this album seems to ooze autumnal / Halloween vibes, so perfect for this time of year.
Hieno! Aivan kuten suuri osa Nick Caven muustakin tuotannosta. Tämä lienee ainakin se suuri kaupallinen menestys. Toimii silti kokonaisuutena vaikka megahitin sisältääkin. 4/5
Varsin nautinnollista synkistelyä maanantaihin. Jos Nick Cave olis syntyny tähän aikaan niin sillä varmaan olis True Crime-podcast. Onneks ehti alta pois!
Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I was going to when the first track kicked off
I love a bit nick cave. Interesting concept for an album but the end felt a bit corny. Fav Song: Stagger Lee Least fav song: Death is not the end Fav quote: "I'm a bad mother fucker, i'll crawl over 50 good pussies to get to one fat boys ass"