984. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/ The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)

Track Listing

Abattoir Blues:

1. Get Ready For Love
2. Cannibal's Hymn
3. Hiding All Away
4. Messiah Ward
5. There She Goes, My Beautiful World
6. Nature Boy
7. Abbatoir Blues
8. Let The Bells Ring
9. Fable Of The Brown Ape

The Lyre of Orpheus:

1. The Lyre Of Orpheus
2. Breathless
3. Babe, You Turn Me On
4. Easy Money
5. Supernaturally
6. Spell
7. Carry Me
8. O Children

Review

How often does a double album do exactly what it should? Having not a single skipable or less than great track, looking like an excess of talent rather than lack of editing? Being able to separate the two halves perfectly according to mood, content and concept and doing both equally good? Not very often, but that is exactly what happens here.

Nick Cave gives us what is one of the finest double albums in history, with less filler than the White Album, less bloated than The Wall... the only comparable one would be Blonde on Blonde but there is more variety here... even if I would be hard pressed to put this very excellent album above Blonde on Blonde.

Nick starts off by defying expectations, after Nocturama and Blixa leaving no one expected that the first half of the double album could be as aggressive and rocky as it ended up being, and in the second half he does creepy sensibility as only he can do it, making beauty and the grotesque seem like best friends. Getting older and his albums keep getting better.

Track Highlights

1. Hiding All Away
2. Breathless
3. Cannibal's Hymn
4. Easy Money

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The double album was recorded by Nick Launay at Studio Ferber in Paris in Spring 2004 by The Bad Seeds line up of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, and James Johnston. It was the first album by the band in which Blixa Bargeld did not take part. Cave decided to split drumming duties for the two albums, having Sclavunos drum on Abattoir Blues and Wydler on The Lyre of Orpheus.

Someone made a funny video for The Lyre of Orpheus:


Final Grade