At first, I liked it. The musicality was interesting and the 60s English folk influences were enjoyable. But then it’s just essentially a continuous flow of the same thing over and over again for an hour. The rock opera concept itself is imo just an exercise in masturbation. Standout songs to me were The Acid Queen and Welcome. Both of those I listened to twice but on the whole I doubt this is an album I’d ever revisit.

Frenetic and unique production. Not something I’d sink into often but there’s some interesting textures going on. The songs that give me a more south Asian inspired vibe I like a lot (Jimmy). Lyrical content is on the whole pretty stupid and I would say is one of the weaker parts of the album - Missy or Nicki she is not.

Why is Nick Cave so great? Why is any artist who cut their teeth in the zero hour immediately after punk so great?

No.

Some of it’s cool but there’s just this air of tongue in cheek, pretentious heavy handedness that I find kind of boring.

Some of it’s fun and enjoyable, but a lot of it really drives home why this band is a one hit wonder (at least in the US).

No frills, no pretension, no overwrought production, no “clever” lyrical quips, no tryhard striving to create something “profound” - B.B. King didn’t need any of that. Grade A badassery, one of the pinnacles of a music genre that’s in the genome of essentially every style of modern music in the United States and beyond. Guy showed more genuine emotion in 34 minutes than some artists do in their entire career. And the fact that this was recorded in Chicago, a city whose Blues cred is second only to the Mississippi delta, only makes me love it more.

Really enjoyable low key folk, never really gave him a listen and I may explore a bit more.

This sounds like what some dude would blast at full volume in his Impala after he just gay bashed a kid outside a bar in the mid 90s.

Everything sounds vaguely familiar here. I can’t tell if he’s a “musicians’ musician” that has incredible influence etc or if it’s just the late 90s. It’s not at all bad, it’s not amazing, it just *is*. I don’t think I’d add any songs to my regular rotation but I somewhat enjoy most of it.