Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 'Lyre of Orpheus' / 'Abattoir Blues'

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('cus I can't find anything using the search function except for a few comments on the leaked vesion)

At any rate -- I dig Lyre of Orpheus ( Lyre of Orpheus / Breathless / Carry Me / O Children! especially), and I'm undecided about most of Abbatoir Blues, having only listened to it once in traffic.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Saturday, 30 October 2004 20:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Off-the-cuff thoughts on Abbatoir Blues:

Get Ready for Love -- Noisy, undisciplined, reminiscent of Ian Hunter + Frank Black.

Cannibal's Hymn -- Great intro; the funky baseline rescues this from dirginess. Cave's voice is superb on this.

Hiding All Away -- Boring.

Messiah Ward -- Fantastic piano, engaging bass-work, haunting vocals until about 0:34. After that ... dull until about 1:34 and good from there on out.

There She Goes My Baby -- Great writing, otherwise Nocturamaish orchestration. Uninspiring.

Nature Boy -- Obviously the single. Classy, like a looking-glass Vegas-act. The video for this is stellar.

Abatoir Blues -- Meh.

Let the Bells Ring -- Lackluster, constricted, anal-retentive production keeps this from being the song it really aims to be. Nice strings somewhere in the background. Would've liked them to play a more central role in the arrangement. Definately my favorite.

Fable of the Brown Ape -- Somehow this reminds me of Brian Wilson's 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow.' The little clicks at the beginning are ... what are they? They're unnecessary and annoying. This song is crafty - William Morrisy, but not terribly artistic. The freak-out at 1:05 is total silliness.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Saturday, 30 October 2004 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

i like both of these records but left them in New York and haven't heard them since they leaked. I'm seriously considering buying them, but I'm worried they may not be as great as I remember. But I remember digging Abbatoir Blues about ten times more than the last two Cave albums

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Saturday, 30 October 2004 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

1 b, 2 t's!

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Saturday, 30 October 2004 22:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"Kisses of Fire" is not in my abbatoire.

― Pangolino (ricki spaghetti), Saturday, 30 October 2004 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

(I spelled "abbatoir" four different ways on this thread)

― Remy (x Jeremy), Saturday, 30 October 2004 22:43 (twenty-one years ago)

very curious about what ya'll think.. i was selling some CDs at the store today, including some Cave records and briefly (oh so briefly) thought about getting these.. Nocturama & No More Shall We Part were total stinkers, though.

― Ian John50n (orion), Saturday, 30 October 2004 22:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Ian, come IM

― Remy (x Jeremy), Saturday, 30 October 2004 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Abbatoir Blues is boss. It's actually--presently--my favorite of the two. But they're both great. I think "There She Goes..." and "Hiding All Away" are fantastic, both. I dig that gospel bombast, which works out for him I think.

― Dark Horse, Saturday, 30 October 2004 23:11 (twenty-one years ago)

The albums are quite good though mannnn has he ever spun off a few lyrical clunkers on this one. "woke up with a frappucino in my hand"...? "God's a major player in heaven?" (or something like that)? I cringe when I hear those.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Sunday, 31 October 2004 02:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Those are getting Leonard Cohen-bad!

― Pangolino (ricki spaghetti), Sunday, 31 October 2004 02:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I took the first one as satiric, but the second one ... jesus, it's terrible.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Sunday, 31 October 2004 02:31 (twenty-one years ago)

OHHHHH MAMA

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Sunday, 31 October 2004 02:31 (twenty-one years ago)

(I guess the point about the frappucino was that he was doing things that weren't like himself because his moral code was scrambled. Which means he'd never actually have one. But the fact that he'd sing about one is still distressing.)

BTW, I like how a photo in the liner notes shows a song sheet with Abattoir Blues misspelled as ABBAttoir Blues, with the ABBA helpfully underlined. Maybe this is an indication that the lyrics of "Abattoir Blues" were meant to achieve transcendence through banality, kind of like "The Day Before You Came"?

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Sunday, 31 October 2004 02:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I've just listened to "Hiding All Away" and have to say that I don't think he's trying for banality.

― Pangolino (ricki spaghetti), Sunday, 31 October 2004 02:53 (twenty-one years ago)

This album is kind of half great, half horribly embarrassing. The ballads with the gospel choir on The Lyre Of Orpheus are pretty gorgeous - especially "Easy Money" - but gah, the blues 'rockers' on Abattoir Blues, just horrible, almost as bad as Nocturama.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 1 November 2004 10:09 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

anyone still listening to this one? second half of lyre of orpheus is kicking my ass...all in all, as a double-cd, ok, but not spectacular.

― Star Cauliflower (Star Cauliflower), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 01:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I played it some more and it didn't sound quite as good to me as it did initially. But I'm not sure I got to the part you're speaking of. I'll have to dig it out soon.

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 01:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm a huge fan of Nick's, and I've been listening to it regularly since it was released. I'm loving it more every time. The previous two were very worrisome as far as material went...and largely forgettable. Even Boatman's Call was a little troubling for the tawdry tell-all lyrics. Abattoir/Lyre is a relief, first and foremost, as well as a really solid effort, given Blixa's absense (which I had thought would spell the end, to be honest). It feels like the old Bad Seeds I know and love...just a little older, and more sober.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 07:17 (twenty-one years ago)

four years pass...

Still rep for the Lyre disc hard, every song is the shit. saw him on this tour, amazing stuff for a balding man

― wilter, Friday, 5 June 2009 12:46 (seventeen years ago)

This is my favorite Nick Cave album.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Friday, 5 June 2009 13:13 (seventeen years ago)

I also listed it as my fav album of 2004 at the time. Might still hold up.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Friday, 5 June 2009 13:14 (seventeen years ago)

eight years pass...

"Abattoir Blues" is so so great. This plus "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" a super one-two comeback (of sorts) punch, certainly the last of this mode of the band before Cave went electro-skeletal.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 20 October 2017 14:22 (eight years ago)

"AB" is really when I got back on the bandwagon with Cave and "D,L,D!" is probably his most underrated record, coming between the two G-Man records I think at the time it got overlooked and also it was the height of the mustache era, but is a fucking great record. There are some cool b-sides from that time as well, specifically "Accidents Will Happen"

― chr1sb3singer, Friday, 20 October 2017 15:34 (eight years ago)

"Abattoir Blues" is my favorite Nick Cave album, and I've got them all. It's just strength-to-strength - I love the freak-out part in "Hiding All Away", the Johnny Cash tribute "Let The Bells Ring", the timely "There She Goes My Beautiful World" and the backup singers all over the place work so well.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 20 October 2017 15:44 (eight years ago)

Would love to hear Cave's skeletal electro period.

― Position Position, Friday, 20 October 2017 15:46 (eight years ago)

Ha.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 20 October 2017 15:48 (eight years ago)

six years pass...

happy 20th to nick cave incorporating a gospel choir

also rhyming 'hysteria' with 'wisteria' and 'orpheus' with 'orifice'

(i really like the AB part; the latter half is okay)

― mookieproof, Saturday, 21 September 2024 00:04 (one year ago)

i have seen nick cave live many many times and I reckon the tour for this LP was the peak (the boatman’s call tour was also a peak)

― Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Saturday, 21 September 2024 02:21 (one year ago)

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