release date: Jun. 18, 1984
format: cd (1996 Japan reissue)
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,16]
producer: Flood, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
label: Mute Records - nationality: Australia
Studio album debut by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
When the Australian band The Birthday Party split duo to disputes within the band about musical direction, Nick Cave and multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey found new partners in ex-vocalist and guitarist of German experimental industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten, Blixa Bargeld (aka Christian Emmerich) and former guitarist of British art-rock post-punk band Magazine, Barry Adamson (both had played with The Birthday Party either live or as substitutes), and together with Australian guitarist Hugo Race they formed the band Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds around 1983, a band which initially also featured songwriter Anita Lane.
The album's title is a reference to the film and novel "From Here to Eternity" (1953) by Fred Zinnemann. The music is in essence a blend of styles attributed both Einstürzende Neubauten and The Birthday Party, which means: art punk post-punk noise rock and experimental rock. The first track is "Avalanche" written by Leonard Cohen but in this version, the track is literally unrecognisable. I've tried, many times to understand or just to come to terms with the music but it doesn't move me one bit. I think it's mostly just noise without head or tail, and I find that this is less interesting than the music by both The Birthday Party and Einstürzende Neubauten. However, the album was met by positive reviews.
After the release, both Anita Lane, who was only credited as co-writer on this album, as well as Hugo Race left the band.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
