Murder Ballads

Loved it! Loved the style, loved the variety of voices and styles, the use of irony, loved all the murder and death and darkness. I thought it was brilliant. Didn't appreciate the message that we should all keep our daughters at home because of the big bad world, but I don't think he'd get away with that now so I'm going to overlook it.

Actually quite good fun, notwithstanding the subject matter. Fairly eclectic covering much of Cave/Bad Seeds styles.

I hate it. I couldn't finish listening to it. I think he's interesting but it's not for me.

it all got a bit samey to the end of this. i really wanted to like it, but it just isn't grinderman. nigel, come back, i really want to know what you've got to say about this.

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

ehhhhhhh

Liked Where the Wild Roses Grow and The Curse of Millhaven. Something different and interesting, if not unsettling as hell. Album cover is also pretty cool, one of my favorites so far

Saved Prior: None Saved Off Rip: Song of Joy, The Curse of Millhaven Cutting Edge: O'Malley's Bar Overall Notes: Was a LOT better the third time compared to the first and second. Great storyteller, but I prefer it when my music does something beyond telling a good story. Similar to Marvin Gaye in that I need to be in the mood to enjoy it.

I loved this album. Why have I never listened to Nick Cave? Definitely need to check out more.

Nice, very moody.

Por lo general me cagan las baladas pero sí son de asesinatos y asesinos y gente muerte, pos está chido.

Oooh you're hard, Nick, talking about murder and death and dark stuff.

People always slag of Nick Cave and now I understand why. This is a pile of shite from start to finish, even the Kylie track is terrible. Whilst the macabre themes would usually appeal to me, unfortunately I desperately listened to all 59mins of this album hoping that surely one song would be alright but no! this was a waste of time to be honest and as far as I’m concerned Nick Cave now owes me 59 mins of my life back.

Aika kohtalokkaan kuuloisia biisejä tällä teemalevyllä. Kivasti oli erilaisia biisejä ja kaikissa kuitenkin samankaltainen painostava tunnelma. Where the wild roses grow on tietty se hittibiisi, mutta levyn viimeinen kappale death is not the end oli ehkä nyt ainakin tällä kertaa se paras. Sen verran kurkkasin wikipediasta, että Bob Dylan oli sitä biisiä ollut kirjoittamassa. Mielestäni moni muu biisi levyllä kuulosti enemmän Dylanin tulkinnalta, kuin tuo viimeinen, melodian omaava biisi :D

Matthias Sammer

I’ll pass on “stagger lee”. I don’t hate the music style but I don’t think I love it either.

Well this was one of the weirder sets of music I’ve ever heard... lot of names of people and the same tone for everything, seemed pretty low-quality to my ears

superb

Muy cool estás fases de Nick Cave darketo. Sobre todo la primera mitad del disco. Por ahí vi lamentablemente que uno de sus primeros discos, aún más oscuro que esto, está entre los que tienen las calificaciones más bajas de esta lista jaja. Anyway, los gritos con la carácteristica voz grave de Nick me parecen geniales, en Stagger Lee muy chido eso con su breakdown del final. La otra que me gustó fue Henry Lee, pues claro porque la que hizo con Pj harvey y pues Pj Havey = <3. The Curse of Millhaven me dio risa por las fuertes vibras de Aurelio Voltaire. Mood: steampunk baladista darketón.

Never heard anything by him before so thanks

5

Me ha sorprendido un par de canciones chulas. Buena cadencia y ritmo.

Here we go! Back on the good stuff! I say this is a Nick Cave fan, that sometimes his music can feel faintly gimmicky; peer past his almost aggressive coolness and there's a great writer, still, but his scope is quite limited. Nonetheless, this one's right in his sweet spot, and in mine too if I'm honest.

Not my cup of tea

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.

I don't love albums that really demand my attention lyrically, but I did enjoy this more than the ABC - Love album we listened to earlier. Favorite track - The curse of millhaven

I really wanted to like this album, but the stories that the songs told didn't really do much for me. The songs all kind of sounded the same.

Worth to hear again

El hitazo (jaja) "Where the Wild Roses Grow" es apenas una pizca de este disco tan hermoso. Lo curioso es que esa belleza parta de canciones que enmarcan asesinatos y, con todo, se oye tan seductor todo. Los instrumentos, la voz de Cave, las colaboraciones, las inspiraciones (canciones tradicionales) y los géneros, medio blues, medio folk, medio rock, construyen una atmósfera bastante disfrutable. Se me hace música como atemporal (?). Dicho eso, también, por alguna asociación que quizá se deba mucho a Nick Cave, pienso que es música como para vampiros y otras criaturas de la noche. En fin, lo celebro mucho y entre mis favs, sí, la que es con Kylie, también la que es con PJ sólo por oírla, "The Curse of Millhaven" y "The Kindness of Strangers", pero no hay skips aquí, todo bien. 10/10

Meh. It's violent and depressing.

Couldn't get through it - it's everything I dislike about weird storytime songs

Not my favorite Cave - I feel like some of the other records let the band shine as much as his voice - but I mean I definitely enjoy it. Does it need all these guest vocalists? I think I’d take a version of “Death is not the end” sung by Cave only over what’s recorded here. And I will stop picking those nits and get on with my life.

Yeah I did not enjoy this and there were filthy lyrics in there. I know it is about murder but it was scary music and not enjoyable. I know it is controversial to not like Nick Cave, and I feel like everyone has always just expected me to. But I said it, I'm not a Nick Cave fan. Its out there. Leave me alone

Terrible.

Sonically very interesting. It’s moody and dark but still lush and bright in spots. I dig it but it’s not my favorite so far. It’s kind of same-y for me. I can’t quite describe it. Shoutout to Kylie.

Don't like his voice

Wow, that was quite a ride. I've always like Nick Cave but haven't delved too deeply into his music, but that may be about to change. I feel like I need to sit down and read all the lyrics of these songs like I would a book of short stories. Intense, scary, and violent, but also beautiful. 4 stars.

Murder Ballads is an appropriate name for this album. I didn't hate it, but it's not something I would listen to on the regular. I appreciate the artistry of it.

Pretty interesting. A little too monotone on most songs. Stagger Lee was awesome.

Some fun parts in this, but it wasn’t really my jam. The “la da da da das” and “la da da da dees” got on my nerves lol

Enjoyable, but a little weird.

I understand it’s relevance in music and can appreciate that, but this is definitely not an easy listen for me.

A total gem! Timeless. Adding this to my Road Trip playlist.

Nice bit of nostalgia. Listened 21/1/21

I don't get it...

Conceptually interesting but completely nondynamic

Just OK.

The Curse of Millhaven was a nice break but honestly the album was really not my thing. A interesting voice but IMHO a goth Bob Dylan aka awful.

It's a clever concept but I just can't get into the dark, violent lyrics

Haven't listened to an album this dependent on narrative song structures in a while. Some tracks definitely overlong, but this is an LP meant to be taken in as a whole.

Decent album with good story telling, it's an album of murder ballads

Only listened to first few songs

Liked the Kylie song the best. Couldn’t get into - lots of creepy stories short on tunes. Sorry.

Tämä levy oli joskus ensikosketukseni Nick Caveen hittibiisi Where the Wild Roses Grow:n kautta. Hieman vaikeampi lähestyttävä kuin listalla aiemmin ollut Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. Työnteon taustamusiikkina välillä jopa häiritsevän poukkoilevaa menoa. Rauhassa keskittyen kuunnellessa tämä toimi paremmin, mutta silti preferoin hieman rauhallisempaa Caven tuotantoa. Death Is Not The End oli miellyttävä päätös levylle.

Hated it

Nick Cave war noch nie so mein Fall, nach dem 1. Song dieses Machwerks war mir auch wieder klar, warum: er enthält schlicht keinen Grund, das Album weiterzuhören. Was ich daher auch nicht getan habe. Und mir bei Nick Cave zukünftig sparen werde.

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.

3.0

First time listening to a Nick Cave album and really enjoyed it. Liked the macabre themes to all the songs, and the dark humour.

Cool vibes. Love his deep voice. Works well with the album. Fav track is the duet with Kylie Minogue

Just fucking weird. A girl crying in the background of one of the songs.

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.

"The Kindness of Strangers" and "Where the Wild Roses Grow" are favorite. Another nice album by Nick Cave.

Strange album. I kinda liked it but only out of amusement. Does it belong on this list?

Nooooooooooope. Made it through 1.5 tracks before punting. I can tell that the orchestration is interesting, but there's absolutely nothing appealing with respect to the singing and the content itself. 1 tiny star.

Like a rock opera

Not for me.

Väldigt creepy, inget jag skulle lyssna på annars men gör det den är till för. Instrumenten är snyggt byggda kring Nick och han gör en sjuk insats

växte på en

Great record

Very romantic!

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.

Honestly? Decadent. I liked the theme that this album had going for it, and given everything I've heard about Nick Cave's voice being polarizing, I thought he sounded great! 4 stars.

Melodramatic, and not in a fun, satisfying, or endearing way. The delivery, while not exactly convincing, is fine. The playing is also generally decent. Hasn't exactly turned me off of Mr. Cave, but it doesn't bode well that this is one of his more popular projects. The worst parts of horrorcore, indie-rocked.

2/8 Criminal audio adventure. Standout Tracks: Stagger Lee, The Curse of Millhaven, O’Malley’s Bar

I can appreciate the concept but I personally did not enjoy it. The lyrics were almost too good at describing the gruesome deaths in the songs. I also wasn't a huge fan of his singing voice. There were some nice moments like Where the Wild Roses Grow but otherwise I found it off-putting.

It was not my kind of music, lots of storytelling, not very much melody, rhythm, good instrumentation, or vocals.

Dark. Great lyrics.

fucking offbeat Gen X nonsense

Lovely PJ Harvey duet.