Henry’s Dream

These are a band which I have just never "got" at all. The drawling, theatrical style embodied by Nick Cave is just not for me, and although this is a more palatable, sanded down version of such stylings, a fresh listen hasn't really done it any favours. I remain impressed by Nick Cave's ability to craft out intriguing lyrical narratives, but I could do without the music.

Been a while since I listened to this one. It's good, not.my favourite.

Have to agree with the consensus - there are far too many Nick Cave albums on here. Every other review I'm perturbed at how lazy the bloke who wrote this book is.

Henry’s Dream is a solid album—perhaps not among the very best in the Bad Seeds’ discography, but it still contains some truly great tracks. The opening run of four songs is as strong as anything they’ve done, and closing the album with “Jack the Ripper” is a masterstroke. While the middle of the record has a bit of filler, overall it's a compelling listen—just shy of a 5/5.

Personally, I prefer Murder Ballads, The Boatman’s Call, and Skeleton Tree, but writing this makes me appreciate just how incredible the Bad Seeds’ back catalogue really is.

Nick Cave is one of the finest lyricists around, and the early Bad Seeds sound is phenomenal. They transition effortlessly between heavy, intense tracks and more delicate ballads, all while maintaining a distinct and cohesive style. Truly brilliant music.

Favourite Songs: There are so many standouts—“Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry,” “I Had a Dream, Joe,” “Straight to You,” “Brother, My Cup Is Empty,” “John Finn’s Wife,” and “Jack the Ripper” are all excellent. You could pick any of these as a highlight.

Least Favourite: “Christina the Astonishing” feels like a weak spot on an otherwise strong album.

Album Artwork: One of my favourite covers—visually striking and perfectly suited to the music.

Somehow this was the first time listening to a nick cave album and it was great. Looking forward to his other 3 albums in the book.

2.5 It's interesting in a way that didn't really encourage you to listen again.

Noter un album de Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds est souvent un exercice d'équilibriste. Le faire avec "Henry's Dream", sorti en 1992, l'est encore plus. Plantons le décor : nous sommes entre la grâce sombre et orchestrale de "The Good Son" (1990) et le monolithe de perfection qu'est "Let Love In" (1994). Dans cet intervalle se niche Henry's Dream, un disque fiévreux, narratif, et d'une puissance brute quasi inégalée.

"Henry's Dream" est avant tout un album d'histoires. Plus que jamais auparavant, Nick Cave endosse le rôle de conteur halluciné, de prêcheur sous amphétamines arpentant un sud des États-Unis fantasmé et crépusculaire. L'album s'ouvre sur "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry", une entrée en matière tellurique et menaçante. La tension est palpable, la batterie de Thomas Wydler martèle une marche funèbre tandis que la basse de Martyn P. Casey gronde comme un orage lointain. La voix de Cave, prophétique et démente, nous plonge sans ménagement dans un univers de violence familiale et de fuite en avant. Le ton est donné : ce voyage sera sans concession.

Cette exploration de la folie et de la violence atteint son paroxysme avec "I Had a Dream, Joe". C'est une chevauchée fantastique et meurtrière, un cauchemar éveillé où le rêve se confond avec une réalité sanglante. La performance du groupe est ici à son comble, une tempête sonore menée par les guitares stridentes et anguleuses de Blixa Bargeld et Mick Harvey. Le morceau est un tourbillon, une spirale de démence qui laisse l'auditeur exsangue et fasciné. C'est le cœur noir et battant de l'album, une pièce maîtresse de la mythologie "cave-ienne".

Pourtant, la controverse la plus célèbre de l'album ne réside pas dans ses textes, mais dans sa production. Enregistré sous la houlette de David Briggs, connu pour son travail brut et organique avec Neil Young, le son de "Henry's Dream" a été une source de profonde insatisfaction pour Nick Cave lui-même. Il a souvent déclaré que Briggs n'avait pas réussi à capturer l'énergie chaotique et la dynamique quasi télépathique du groupe en live. Cave trouvait le mix trop "propre", trop américain, lissant les aspérités qui faisaient l'essence des Bad Seeds. Cette frustration est palpable. On sent une puissance colossale, une bête sauvage en cage qui ne demande qu'à défoncer les barreaux.

Cependant, réduire "Henry's Dream" à cette frustration serait une erreur. Car même dans ce cadre sonore contesté, la splendeur éclate. Et elle éclate de la plus belle des manières avec "Straight to You". C'est l'un des plus beaux hymnes d'amour du répertoire de Cave. Sur une mélodie d'une évidence confondante, portée par un orgue majestueux, Cave offre une déclaration d'amour absolu face à un monde qui s'écroule. Les tours s'effondrent, les cieux brûlent, mais l'amour demeure le seul refuge, le seul point fixe. C'est une chanson d'une beauté et d'une sincérité désarmantes, un classique instantané qui prouve que même au cœur du chaos narratif, la lumière peut percer avec une force inouïe.

L'album regorge d'autres pépites. "Jack the Ripper" est un rock garage primal et sexuel, une explosion de fureur contenue. "Christina the Astonishing" est une ballade narrative et éthérée, un conte étrange et merveilleux qui offre une respiration bienvenue. "When I First Came to Town" renoue avec une veine plus folk et biblique, décrivant le parcours d'un étranger au destin tragique. Chaque titre est une pièce d'un puzzle complexe, un chapitre d'un livre sombre et envoûtant.

En conclusion, "Henry's Dream" est une œuvre essentielle, un pilier de la discographie de Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Son atmosphère unique, sa puissance narrative et la qualité exceptionnelle de ses compositions lui valent sans conteste une note de 5 sur 5. C'est un excellent, un immense album. Son statut "d'inférieur" à d'autres mastodontes de la discographie de Cave ne parle pas d'une quelconque faiblesse, mais témoigne plutôt de l'altitude stratosphérique à laquelle le groupe a évolué pendant des décennies. "Henry's Dream" est le rêve tourmenté d'un artiste au sommet de son art, un cauchemar magnifique dont on ne sort pas indemne, et c'est bien pour cela qu'on l'aime tant.

Not my favorite Cave so far, but still damn solid.

4/5

One of my favourite things about this album is the image of the producer David Briggs trying to 'vibe up' Blixa Bargeld by playing air guitar next to him during recording. Pure culture clash.

I loved this album so much in my 20s. It has an almost childish glee for horrific imagery which makes me think of gangsta rap. I accept that he had to move on from the Nick Cave character he was then but he has never been as entertaining to me later on. Having said that one or tunes do feel a bit Bad Seeds by numbers - especially the two singles. Also ridiculous that this is the earliest Bad Seeds record on the list.

This album was fine. Nothing special. I'm not sure why it would be on this list.
Not for me.

I’m at a 4.

This is my first time listening to Nick Cave, who I’ve heard *of*, but never *heard* until now. For a first impression, I think this is pretty good – lots of heavier but very intentionally designed soundscapes, some good grit in the vocals, and a nice progression throughout a lot of the tracks that keeps them as captivating listens. I don’t think there’s ever a bad song here, & for the most part, I enjoyed a lot of this album.

The big key issue I have with this album is about some of the storytelling on a handful of tracks on the back half, specifically Tracks 6, 8, & 9. It’s not that the songwriting is necessarily bad, but they each have their own issues that keep each track from feeling very satisfying, dragging out the 41 minute runtime of the album into something that feels longer. “When I First Came To Town” is a great listen, but the lack of a reveal for why exactly all these townsfolk have turned on the guy leaves it feeling empty for me, combined with the soundscape getting a bit sterile within the last minute or two, reaching the peak of intensity just early enough to overstay its welcome. “Loom of the Land” suffers from a lot of the same issues, enhanced further by the story in the track just not being very interesting. “Jack the Ripper” sort of suffers from these same things, but my issue there is more so that the big intense buildup in each instrumental just feels a bit overdone by that point in the album. It’s also just a bad vibe to end the album on, with the whole toxic relationship thing. They’re all good tracks to listen to, but they’re nowhere near as exciting as the instrumentals and vocals make them out to be, & that disconnect is just biting at me too much.

That excitement is thankfully present on the front half of the album – I think the first 4 tracks here click really nicely, & while “Christina the Astonishing” might feel like a similar sort of drag, the calmer nature of that track worked really nicely for me as a pace breaker to the intensity of the first 4. Mileage may vary, depending on how much you want to listen to a story of a woman so saintly she can smell sin. “John Finn’s Wife” is probably my standout track of the album – just a good old-fashioned duel over a lady, with a great blend of storytelling & vocal/instrumental intensity that feels befitting of the scope & scale it’s reaching for.

Overall, it’s a slightly mixed bag – if the storytelling is never captivating, this album will never really click, and it’ll probably be a 3 that’s in way over its head. If it is captivating, then it’ll click a lot of the time, and be a 4 or a 5, depending on your parameters for a good story. For my tastes, I’m at a 4, mainly because the album experience feels just a bit longer than it should on the back half, with the instrumentals / length of each track never quite matching the true scope of the storytelling. It’s still a pretty recommended listen, though, and I do hope there’s more Nick Cave on the list.

Favorite songs: "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry", John Finn's Wife, "Brother, My Cup is Empty", "I Had a Dream, Joe", Loom of the Land, Jack the Ripper, Straight to You

Least favorite songs: Christina the Astonishing

5/5

Definitely better than the one I had of theirs previous - the bright coloured one, I think it's got some flowers on it. Can't remember the name and can't be arsed to look.

The first four tracks are phenomenal, but it gets a three because everything else after that is a considerable drop off, which is a shame really.

Papa Won't Leave You, Henry and I Had A Dream, Joe are both wild.

Over the top and dramatic...but in a good way. It sometime feels like he is trying to hard, but I do enjoy the music.

2.5 rounded up, pretty meh

The concept is pretty cool but his voice is honestly kind of annoying. The lyrics are very surrealist and set up a whimsical adventure, but the resulting sound does not really please my ears.

Inmiddels kennen we Nick als iemand die een sfeer neerzet op een album. Hij kiest per album een andere sfeer en andere muzieksoort. Maar toch je elke keer duidelijk wie het is en heeft hij een soort hokje om hem heen weten te trekken. Nick krijgt 4 albums in de lijst. Normaal denk ik: maak een keuze 1001! Maar bij bij deze artiest voelt het gerechtvaardigd.

Ik krijg steeds meer waardering voor de artiest. Maar het album zelf springt er wat mij betreft niet uit. Het eerste nummer zet de sfeer erg goed neer. Maar deze keer houdt hij het niet vol. Sommige nummers zijn wat minder krachtig uitgevoerd en dat gaat te koste van die sfeer. Een voldoende verdient het album zeker. Maar meer dan een 3 is dit ook weer niet.

I like what he's trying to do but not how he's doing it. I just can't stand his horribly out of tune voice. I had less patience for this than I did Murder Ballads.

Cave's lyrics can really paint a picture, there's no denying that. But it's just hard to listen to a whole album of it. Great lyrics that become a little much all at once.

I was initially surprised to see this particular album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on the list instead of some others. For some reason, I had overlooked this album for a long time. However, I now realize that I was completely wrong to do so. This album showcases Cave & The Bad Seeds at their best. It takes you deep inside the world of characters that Cave has created. It's sometimes haunting, sometimes boisterous, and sometimes just plain intense.

Standout tracks include the opener "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry," the apocalyptic ballad "Straight To You," and "John Finn's Wife," which might have just become my favorite Bad Seeds song.
A thundering and menacing story, both in terms of music and text. The setting of a wedding in Australia in the late 19th century. The bride's entry onto the dance floor: "And in she came with legs like scissors and butcher's knives, a tattooed breast and flaming eyes and a crimson carnation in her teeth, carving her way through the dance floor."
It sets the tone with that incredible violin throughout.

This will probably remain my favourite Cave song for a long time!

Superb album.