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In some ways, Murder Ballads is the record Nick Cave was waiting to make for his entire career. Death and violence have always haunted his music, even when he wasn't explicitly singing about the subject. On Murder Ballads, he sings about nothing but death in the most gruesome, shocking fashion. Divided between originals and covers, the record is awash in both morbid humor and sobering horror, as the Bad Seeds provide an appropriate backdrop for the carnage, alternating between blues, country, and lounge-jazz. Opening the affair is "Song for Joy," a tale from a father who has witnessed his family's death at the hands of serial killer. It is the most disturbing number on the record, lacking any of the gallows humor that balances out the other songs. Cave's duets with Kylie Minogue ("Where the Wild Roses Grow") and PJ Harvey ("Henry Lee") are intriguing, but the true tours de force of the album are "Stagger Lee" and "O'Malley's Bar." Working from an obscure, vulgar variation on "Stagger Lee," Cave increases the sordidness of the song, making Stagger an utterly irredeemable character. The original "O'Malley's Bar" is even stronger, as he spins a bizarrely funny epic of one man's slaughter of an entire bar. During "O'Malley's Bar," Cave and the Bad Seeds are at the height of their powers and the performances rank among the best they have ever recorded. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Number of Reviews: 2
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This is a Dark Place
Jack, Bookseller, 01/17/2006
And Nick Cave leads you there with all the aplomb of the mythical ferryman of Styx. What makes this CD so appealing? So many different perspectives on Murder, on dying. This shows murder and death in all its perverse forms, shows sorrow, rage, jealousy, betrayal, hatred, seduction, banality and unltimately, a hopeful redemption, no matter how ugly a death is. This is well worth your time.
This rules
A reviewer
(sandy.lawrence@eds.com)
, 06/20/2000
Man this is a great cd. Nick mesmorizes with his vocals. The lyrics are great/grim. I can't stop listening. My girlfriend thinks I am a freak! gotta get this!