Oh yeah. Now this is the stuff. Nick Cave is one of the greatest songwriters of the past fifty years, one of rock's authentic geniuses, and this is probably one of the top three records he's made. And it's a double album! Over eighty minutes! And it's all great! Well, one or two tracks ("Abbatoir Blues", "Babe, You Turn Me On") are a little bit less great, but with this album, picking out the great songs is just a matter of listing everything. Cave's lyrics took a turn for the stranger here--whereas he used to let loose bloodsoaked tales of cowboys, murderers, and murderous cowboys, now he's replaced it for an almost Dylanesque series of bizarre images. And the music? Oh, it's great. More mainstream and less avantgarde than the earlier Bad Seeds stuff, sure, but who cares when the melodies and arrangements are so stunning? It's almost impossible to pick out the best stuff here, but I suppose I'll single out two tracks for special praise: "Hiding All Away" is about as apocalyptic as Cave ever gets, and "Easy Money" is so beautifully, flabbergastingly depressing you'll weep for humanity. I'm not saying any more--you get the drift. Why do you not have this? Buy this!
MY RATING:
9.8
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Hiding All Away"
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