Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their ninth studio album Murder Ballads in 1996 to critical acclaim. Even MTV nominated Cave for this album, but he asked to be removed from the nominations.
“Where the Wild Roses Grow” featuring Kylie Minogue was the most popular song from the album, but to be fair Minogue is a superstar. Unfortunately it is not representative of the album. If you had never heard Cave’s music, then this song would help. His other duet “Henry Lee” featuring PJ Harvey and feels like it belongs on this album.
The only song that I did not care for was “Crow Jane”.
I am not sure which song is the strangest, but I found Bob Dylan penned “Death Is Not the End” with a cast of singers sounding like “We Are the World” or Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?“.
Overall, I sort of liked this weirdly strange blend of music with Cave’s deep rich baritone vocals mixed with the bizarrest lyrics. 8/10.
an ocean roars 