Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son

Released: Spring, 1990
Availability: recently Remastered and Rereleased, with bonus DVD.
Label: Mute Records (former independent, currently under Major Label EMI)

Nick Cave is one of those artists that everyone should have heard of, and even if you haven't I can almost guarantee you've heard a song by him in some incarnation or another. He started with a group called The Birthday Party, his next group was The Bad Seeds. The Bad Seeds contain Blixa Bargeld - a legend in the Industrial scene, so you know the group was good. Take my word for it.

Most often placed in the Gothic Rock scene, Nick Cave has a firm grasp of good old Rock, Blues, and Jazz. Certainly not to be missed.

Foi Na Cruz - This song is entirely in Portuguese (I believe), the title means "It Happened Upon The Cross". Nick Cave always has a religious theme somewhere on his albums, sometimes cynically, and sometimes not. I haven't translated the lyrics.

The Good Son - The title track is light, with a dark undertone. The song builds to an intense crescendo through the verse and immediately relents on the chorus. It fades out with a slightly too long repetition.

Sorrow's Child - A somber piano carries this tune of loneliness and sadness. We can never completely escape sadness in life, at this reminder of that has a really nice tune.

The Weeping Song - I absolutely love this song; confession: I have put this on repeat for over an hour just listening to everything in it. I couldn't possibly describe the effects this song are on me, but it is profound.

The Ship Song - Another slow dirge-like track. This album is not a dance album, it's not a crank-it-eleven rock out album. It is slow, melodic, and even when it's essentially a love song it sounds low. Generally, a good moody album to have for rainy summer nights.

The Hammer Song - You can almost always hear a story in Nick Cave's songs, but rarely as straight forward as in this one. The Hammer Song feels like an old western to me, from the image of the hammer on a six-shooter to the slight twang in the guitars in the background in parts.

Lament - This song may actually be a dirge, and one of the most cheerful sounding songs on the album.

The Witness Song - This song picks up the pace significantly from the previous songs. A relatively quick paced song that just begs to be hummed along with, and definitely requires a foot tapping.

Lucy - This one is definitely a dirge, a slow piano and string song that ends out the album on a long, slow, but ultimately quiet note of devotion and love. The song fades out with a harmonica and the sound of rain falling. . . just to make the point.

If you're wondering why half the songs are The X Song, it's because they never changed them from the working titles as things were being written. Personally, I think that was a good choice. The whole album is a little sad, but not morose. As I said at the start Nick Cave is often placed with the Gothic Rock scene, and not without good reason.