Nick Cave...

Me for one! I think there are quite a few people who use Red Right Hand as test tracks. Murder Ballads does it for me!
Steve

'No More Shall We Part' is the first Nick Cave album I have ever owned. LOVE IT!!!

A friend of mine once said that her dream job would be to murder Nick Cave's wife and take her rightful place at his side!!!

Cave fan here as well! I don't think I have listened to "no more" since I bought my Naim system - good to be reminded sometimes of albums. I have managed to listen to Let Love In though - sounded great - especially Red Right Hand.

/Jacob

I've got lots of his albums and regard him as a musical and lyrical genius. I do prefer the quieter stuff as I get older - The Boatman's Call is probably my favourite, and Murder Ballads is great for when the children are out! Abbatoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus is highly recommended too. The box set B Sides and Rarities has some fantastic stuff on it.

Nigel

I've got loads of Nick Cave stuff and also prefer the 'quieter' albums. The Boatman's Call is excellent.

How about Lyre of Orpheus though? Not many people mention it yet O Children is perhaps one of the best songs he's ever done.

Jonathan

I bought Caves entire works on the strength of 'Boatmans Call ' and 'No More Shall' only to be very dissapointed with the majority of the early stuff. 'Murder Ballards' is the pick of the rest, though 'Nocturma' has its moments. The latest release I found very overated. The boxset is worth the asking price for the last two disks. Some nice bootlegs worth searching out as well.
Neil

I hav emost, if not all.

For newbies I would recommend:

Let Love In; Live Seeds; Murder Ballads; Boatman's Call; anything after that (the early stuff is very raw and hard on the ears).

One of my absolute favourite Cave songs is O'Malley's Bar from murder ballads.

Just to tickle your collective fancy, here are the lyrics...

I am tall and I am thin
Of an enviable hight
And I've been known to be quite handsome
In a certain angle and in certain light
Well I entered into O'Malley's
Said, "O'Malley I have a thirst"
O'Malley merely smiled at me
Said "You wouldn't be the first"
I knocked on the bar and pointed
To a bottle on the shelf
And as O'Malley poured me out a drink
I sniffed and crossed myself
My hand decided that the time was nigh
And for a moment it slipped from view
And when it returned, it fairly burned
With confidence anew
Well the thunder from my steely fist
Made all the glasses jangle
When I shot him, I was so handsome
It was the light, it was the angle
Huh! Hmmmmmm
"Neighbours!" I cried, "Friends!" I screamed
I banged my fist upon the bar
"I bear no grudge against you!"
And my dick felt long and hard
"I am the man for which no God waits
But for which the whole world yearns
I'm marked by darkness and by blood
And one thousand powder-burns"
Well, you know those fish with the swollen lips
That clean the ocean floor
When I looked at poor O'Malley's wife
That's exactly what I saw
I jammed the barrel under her chin
And her face looked raw and vicious
Her head it landed in the sink
With all the dirty dishes
Her little daughter Siobhan
Pulled beers from dusk till down
And amongst the townfolk she was a bit of a joke
But she pulled the best beer in town
I swooped magnificent upon her
As she sat shivering in her grief
Like the Madonna painted on the church-house wall
In whale's blood and banana leaf
Her throat it crumbled in my fist
And I spun heroically around
To see Caffrey rising from his seat
I shot that mother fucker down
Mmmmmmmmmm Yeah Yeah Yeah
"I have no free will", I sang
As I flew about the murder
Mrs. Richard Holmes, she screamed
You really should have heard her
I sang and I laughed, I howled and I wept
I panted like a pup
I blew a hole in Mrs. Richard Holmes
And her husband stupidly stood up
As he screamed, "You are an evil man"
And I paused a while to wonder
"If I have no free will then how can I
Be morally culpable, I wonder"
I shot Richard Holmes in the stomach
And gingerly he sat down
And he whispered weirdly, "No offense"
And then lay upon the ground
"None taken", I replied to him
To which he gave a little cough
With blazing wings I neatly aimed
And blew his head completely off
I've lived in this town for thirty years
And to no-one I am a stranger
And I put new bullets in my gun
Chamber upon chamber
And I turned my gun on the bird-like Mr. Brookes
I thought of Saint Francis and his sparrows
And as I shot down the youthful Richardson
It was St. Sebastian I thought of, and his arrows
Hhhhhhhhhh Mmmmmmmmmmmm
I said, "I want to introduce myself
And I am glad that all you came"
And I leapt upon the bar
And shouted out my name
Well Jerry Bellows, he hugged his stool
Closed his eyes and shrugged and laughed
And with an ashtray as big as a fucking really big brick
I split his head in half
His blood spilled across the bar
Like a steaming scarlet brook
And I knelt at it's edge on the counter
Wiped the tears away and looked
Well, the light in there was blinding
Full of God and ghosts of truth
I smiled at Henry Davenport
Who made an attempt to move
Well, from the position I was standing
The strangest thing I ever saw
The bullet entered through the top of his chest
And blew his bowels out on the floor
Well I floated down the counter
Showing no remorse
I shot a hole in Kathleen Carpenter
Recently divorced
But remorse i felt and remorse I had
It clung to every thing
From the raven's hair upon my head
To the feathers on my wings
Remorse sqeezed my hand in it's fradulent claw
With it's golden hairless chest
And I glided through the bodies
And killed the fat man Vincent West
Who sat quietly in his chair
A man become a child
And I raised the gun up to his head
Executioner-style
He made no attempt to resist
So fat and dull and lazy
"Did you know I lived in your street?" I said
And he looked at me as though I were crazy
"O", he said, "I had no idea"
And he grew as quiet as a mouse
And the roar of the pistol when it went off
Near blew that hat right off the house
Hmmmmmm Uh Uh
Well, I caught my eye in the mirror
And gave it a long and loving inspection
"There stands some kind of man", I roared
And there did, in the reflection
My hair combed back like a raven's wing
My muscles hard and tight
And curling from the business end of my gun
Was a query-mark of cordite
Well I spun to the left, I spun to the right
And I spun to the left again
"Fear me! Fear me! Fear me!"
But no one did cause they were dead
Huh! Hmmmmmmmmm
And then there were the police sirens wailing
And a bull-horn squelched and blared
"Drop your weapons and come out
With your hands held in the air"
Well, I checked the chamber of my gun
Saw I had one final bullet left
My hand, it looked almost human
As I raised it to my head
"Drop your weapon and come out!
Keep your hands above your head!"
I had one one long hard think about dying
And did exactly what they said
There must have been fifty cops out there
In a circle around O'Malley's bar
"Don't shoot", I cried, "I'm a man unarmed!"
So they put me in their car
And they sped me away from that terrible scene
And I glanced out of the window
Saw O'Malley's bar, saw the cops and the cars
And I started counting on my fingers
Aaaaaah One Aaaaaah Two Aaaaaah Three Aaaaaaah Four
O'Malley's bar O'Malley's bar


It's quite a long song!!

Nigel

I am a huge cave fan and would recommend B sides and rarities for some superb songs.

I also think 'no more..' is underated

a few cave fans here, a sad reflection on us that some of us are gravitating towards the quieter stuff although Babe I'm on fire from Nocturama, gets my vote. The Good Son I rate as a good album, and on the quiet side "Into my arms" from The Boatmans call is a classic

cave is an awesome song writer - think red right hand etc is great but one of my favorites is "No more shall we part"

15 feet of pure white snow is a powerful song

he's also written a novel (or two?) - and the ass saw the angel and it's VERY hard to read - have tried twice!

and a screen play (or two) (aha the proposition from web page) which is now screening

someone remarked that it was quite dark and bloody and Cave replied "what do you expect!? I'm Nick Cave, that's WHAT I DO"

Love it

http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com/