Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Nick Cave

Vocals, Piano

Mick Harvey

Various ('83 - '09)

Blixa Bargeld

Guitar, Keyboard ('83 - '03)

Barry Adamson

Bass ('83 - '86)

Thomas Wydler

Drums ('85 - )

Martyn P. Casey

Bass ('91 - )

Warren Ellis

Accordion, Flute, Violin etc. ('96 - )

Conway Savage

Piano, Keyboard ('91 - '18)

Formed: 1983
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Post-Punk, Piano Rock
Years Active: 1983 -
Meaning of the Name:
Way of Working: Collaborative in the early years, later led by Cave & Warren Ellis
Associated: The Birthday Party, Warren Ellis, Grinderman, Anita Lane, Kylie Minogue
Labels: Mute, Bad Seed, PIAS

Essential Releases

The Good Son (1990)

Tender ballads replace rebellious angst in a stylistic shift away from the punk of earlier efforts.

Let Love In (1994)

Sinister goth rock.

Murder Ballads (1996)

Grizzly collection of haunting songs about violent, brutal death.

No More Shall
We Part (2001)

More refined and reflective work concerning mature themes such as marriage and religion.

From the fire and brimstone of their early post-punk to the tender mercy of later projects, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds wove religious themes into piano-driven music that was at times romantic, gothic, contemplative, and brutal. Maturing over five decades, the group gradually replaced the rush of drugs with spiritual and artistic highs.

It all started with emergence of precursor The Birthday Party on the late-'70s Australian punk scene, as confrontational misanthropes gleefully defiling society's sacred cows. 'Two dead marines standing in a line. Drink to me!' (from 'Junkyard'). After a few short years, the group collapsed under the weight of creative stagnation and spiralling drug use. Misanthropy will only get you so far.

The one sober member of the band, Mick Harvey, a talented multi-instrumentalist in his own right, handled the mundane realities of the music business while Cave indulged his heroin habit. Though Harvey performed the essential, unglamorous work necessary to keep the outfit functional, their spiralling drug use was an unstoppable force.

Harvey hesitantly formed the Bad Seeds with Cave and a rotating line-up of musicians in 1983 because he believed in the power of Cave's songwriting. Though ostensibly an Australian project, the band's core roster was international and operated out of London and Berlin rather than Melbourne. Members have included the venerated German guitarist Blixa Bargeld, of Einstürzende Neubauten fame, a Swiss drummer who strikes with Accurist precision, Thomas Wydler, and the painterly English bassist Barry Adamson.

People of different nationalities swapping in and out created a steady stream of new ideas for Cave to experiment with, but they were secondary to his piano. Sometimes menacing, sometimes intimate, it was always contrary to the received wisdom that rock should be dominated by the guitar. Both the piano and the guitar can effectively captivate an audience without additional accompaniment, and, as such, are the select tools of choice for singer-songwriters everywhere because they can play melodies and chords at the same time (polyphonic instruments).

The Bad Seeds are essentially a vehicle for Cave's songwriting, which has a literary vein similar to Leonard Cohen, but his rock is often penned in the style of blood-soaked pulp fiction (see Murder Ballads) and Old Testament wrath. For example, 'Tupelo' (1985) presents the birth of Elvis Presley, in Tupelo, Mississippi, as the coming of a prophet:

"Water, water everywhere, where no bird can fly, no fish can swim...Until the King is born in Tupelo"

Perhaps Cave's biggest influence, however, is the master storyteller Roy Orbison. They stalk the stage with the same brooding intensity, dressed in mysterious black suits, but their connection goes beyond mere performance as both men tragically outlived two sons. Cave's dying in 2015 and 2022, respectively.

Already poignant songs such as 'Into My Arms' (1997) take on a new, devastating meaning in the face of such loss.

"I don't believe in an interventionist God, but I know, darling, that you do. But if I did, I would kneel down and ask him, not to intervene when it came to you."

Cave wrote the song after divorcing his first wife Viviane Carneiro, essentially saying that her flaws make her perfect, which conradicts the Christian idea that human beings were perfect and flawless until Adam committed Original Sin. In the song, Cave wrestles with his familiar opponents: belief and doubt: "I don't believe in the existence of angels, but looking at you I wonder if that's true." I can't help but wonder if he would still champion a non-interventionist stance given the brutal outcome of later years.

He raged as a young man with every reason to rejoice, and when confronted with time's cold hand of grief found grace. Nick Cave poured a lifetime of hard-earned experience into his work, searching for meaning on this meagre Earth. His work is an essential listen for anyone who values high-quality music and the answers to life's big questions.

Skills

*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.

Emotional Impact

i Does it connect with the heart? What does it make you feel and how much of it?

90

Mental Impact

i Does it connect with the head? Social issues, interesting observations, clever lyrics, similies etc.

75

Originality

i Are they unique? Did they break new ground, use new techniques or create new genres.

80

Artistry

i Using creativity and imagination to present themselves in a unique way. Example, Wu-Tang Clan as Shaolin and Marvel characters etc.

90

Authenticity

i Do they really mean what they say? Is it autobiographical, personal?

70

Live

i Stage presence, working the crowd, performance. Miming, forgetting lyrics reduce this.

95

Production

i Studio techniques. More important for electronic music including hip hop.

70

Musicianship

i Their ability to play individually and as a group. Technical skills. DJing. Freestyling for hip hop.

85

Singing

i Technical attributes.

70

Songwriting

i Storytelling. Cohesive themes. Is the song about something? Stan by Eminem is an example of excellent songwriting.

95

Danceability

i Does it make you move? Do you tap your foot, nod your head or move your whole body?

35

Fun

i Is listening to it a good time? Are the lyrics funny? Depressing themes lowers value.

45

Consistency

i Have they put out good music across their careers. Two good albums and 5 band ones will reduce this value.

95

Range

i Fast, slow, ballads, party jams. Do they go beyond their own genre?

80

Cool

i Laid-back, icy detachment, unflustered.

60

Charisma

i Factors include appearance, force of personality. Elvis making people faint etc.

60

Commercial & Critical Success

Awards >>>

• ARIA Award WINNER! x7

Certifications >>>

• Let Love In - Gold in Australia; Silver in the UK
• Murder Ballads - Gold in the UK
• The Boatman's Call - Gold in the UK
• No More Shall We Part - Silver in the UK
• Abattoir Blues - Gold in Australia & the UK
• Dig, Lazarus, Dig! - Gold in Australia & the UK
• Push the Sky Away - Gold in Australia & the UK
• Skeleton Tree - Gold in Australia; Silver in the UK
• Ghosteen - Silver in the UK

Charts >>>

• Let Love In - Number 8 in Australia
• Murder Ballads - Number 3 in Australia; Number 5 in Germany; Number 8 in the UK
• The Boatman's Call - Number 5 in Australia
• No More Shall We Part - Number 4 in Australia; Number 8 in Germany
• Abattoir Blues - Number 5 in Australia; Number 7 in Germany
• Dig, Lazarus, Dig! - Number 2 in Australia; Number 4 in the UK; Number 6 in Germany
• Push the Sky Away - Number 1 in Australia & Holland; Number 2 in Germany; Number 3 in the UK
• Skeleton Tree - Number 1 in Australia; Number 2 in the UK; Number 3 in Germany
• Ghosteen - Number 2 in Australia; Number 4 in the UK; Number 6 in Germany
• Wild God - Number 2 in Australia; Number 2 in Germany; Number 5 in the UK

Critics >>>

• Melody Maker - Henry's Dream - The Best Albums of 1992: 7th
• Mojo - Dig, Lazarus, Dig! - The Best Albums of 2008: 1st
• Mojo - Skeleton Tree - The Best Albums of 2016: 3rd
• Mojo - Ghosteen - The Best Albums of 2019: 1st
• Mojo - Wild God - The Best Albums of 2024: 2nd
• NME - Henry's Dream - The Best Albums of 1992: 5th
• NME - Murder Ballads - The Best Albums of 1996: 7th
• Pitchfork - From Her to Eternity - The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s: 63rd
• Pitchfork - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus - The Best Album of the 2000s: 180th
• The Observer - Ghosteen - The Best Albums of 2019: 1st
• The Times - Ghosteen - The Best Albums of 2019: 1st
• Uncut - Skeleton Tree - The Best Albums of 2016: 3rd
• Uncut - Wild God - The Best Albums of 2024: 1st

Similar Acts

• PJ Harvey
• Tindersticks
• Mark Lanegan
• Murder by Death
• Crime & The City Solution
• The Handsome Family
• The Blackeyed Susans
• And Also the Trees

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