release date: Feb. 5, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Victor Van Vugt, The Bad Seeds
label: Mute Records - nationality: Australia
Track highlights: 2. "Stagger Lee" - 3. "Henry Lee" (feat. PJ Harvey) (4 / 5) (live) - 5. "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (feat. Kylie Minogue) (live) - 7. "The Kindness of Strangers" - 10. "Death Is Not the End" (live)
9th studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds follows two years after Let Love In is a return to the style of The Good Son (1990) with focus on piano-founded tracks and ballads. The album feature two prominent guest artists: PJ Harvey and Kylie Minogue, the latter singing a duet with Nick Cave on the album's biggest hit single "Where the Wild Roses Grow", but I have always liked the duet with Cave and Harvey better. On the final track, a Bob Dylan cover, several guests feature: Anita Lane, Kylie Minogue, PJ Harvey, and Shane MacGowan on additional vocals. Generally, I think this is one of the band's better albums. The album is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Rumour has it that Cave and Harvey virtually initiated a short-lived love affair, which had its birth from the moment when they recorded the music video for their duet - all done in one take and without much direction. The relationship came to an abrupt end as Harvey turned Cave down, which may be heard on his subsequent The Boatman's Call (1997) [about their relationship].
[ allmusic.com, Record Collector, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 ]
