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Rating:
THE REVIEW
The slow progression of the first heavy beats of the opening track of this album foreshadow a world made of shadows and ghosts.
You imagine a silhouette advancing in the darkness with a suspicious and threatening demeanor. It's only "Song of Joy", the spectacular opening of "Murder Ballads", the album where perhaps more than others Nick Cave manages to find a compromise between his ability to write captivating ballads with a certain melodicity and his visceral, dirty, and dark signature style, which had made some of his albums difficult to digest, certainly not for his most loyal fans.
"Murder Ballads" is a 1996 album that follows the splendid "Let Love In", and that fully confirms the extraordinary ability to write epic and dark ballads of the good King Ink. About "Song For Joy", it has already been said... A piece that catapults you right into Cave's world, which unsettles and captivates... The track that follows is of equally high level. "Stagger Lee" is a ballad with an absolutely irresistible rhythm, dark, pressing, overwhelming, unique... Truly motherfucker!!!
"Henry Lee" and "Where The Wild Roses Grow" are among Cave's most melancholic and famous pieces, and certainly don't need much commentary. The tenderness that Cave unleashes together with an unprecedented Kylie Minogue in this last track is extraordinary, but it definitely deviates from Nick's typical dull and underground tone. A piece that remains splendid, nonetheless, and that draws timeless images and scenarios. But the true gem of the album remains "The Kindness of Stranger", a sparse and repetitive track, flavored by the extraordinary voice of Nick Cave, and characterized by a female cry that, intertwined with Nick's voice, creates a dreamlike atmosphere, filled with dreams of love and sweet regret. Worth noting in the album is also "Lovely Creature", a slick and dirty ballad, in the typical King Ink style.
There is something negligible in the album, but overall it is a work steeped and overflowing with Nick Cave, in the guise of a filthy and dirty poet as always, but never more than in this album also capable of more immediate and easy melodies, but not for this reason banal.
One of the 3 most beautiful albums by the King Ink.
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Summary by Bot
This review highlights Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' 1996 album Murder Ballads as one of the band's most captivating and accessible works. It praises the blend of dark, visceral themes and melodic ballads, especially tracks like 'Song of Joy,' 'Stagger Lee,' and the melancholic duet with Kylie Minogue. The album is seen as a compelling mix of raw poetry and musical immediacy, making it a standout in Cave's discography.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Australian rock group led by singer-songwriter Nick Cave, formed in 1983; known for dark, literary songwriting that spans blues, post-punk, gospel and experimental sounds.44 Reviews
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By noodles
Murder Ballads is a great concept album that does not talk about death as many mistakenly say, but rather about murdered deaths and their killers.
Thank you, Nick, for throwing away the syringe but not the pen, and most importantly, not the anger.
