Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus

This sounds super generic to me, and I don’t even know why. 2.5/5

Big fan of what The Bad Seeds and the gospel choir bring to the table. Can't always say the same about ol' cavernous nicholas. No real hate; it just takes a lot out of a guy like me to follow along to 82 minutes worth of tales, especially when delivered by a Geordie Greep soundalike (an artist I've always had trouble getting into).

Standouts: Cannibal's Hymn • Nature Boy • Easy Money • Carry Me • O Children

I don't think Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are capable of making music that isn't captivating, compelling, and powerful. Going into an entirely unfamiliar double album always feels daunting, but the quality of the music made it a fine listen.

My first Cave exploration. 2004 is definitely one of those special years for classic albums

kinda weird

Somewhat crappy alt rock

It's very good. But is this the point that the slow decline in Nick Cave's career began? There's 11 lps (not counting the ones with the Birthday Party) that are better than this and none following. Just about still a 5 star record but the compilers should have chosen better.

Börjar bra med Get Ready For Love. Gillar även There She Goes, My Beautiful World och Let The Bells Ring. Men det är skiva två som överraskar positivt med melankoliska mer lågmälda låtar. Ännu en skiva som känns för lång. 3,5 av 5.

I liked The Lyre of Orpheus more than Abattoir Blues. This was the perfect album to listen to on October 1.

I love being sad

I only knew the last song from the Harry Potter movie. The rest is alright, but I don't like that there is so much gospel singing.

I'm certain I'm not alone in saying that double albums have a way of being a bit off-putting, especially if it's from an artist I've never heard before. However, I'm pleased to announce that this was really good. Lots of good moments in here, although I may have felt it was starting to drag a little towards the end.

Oh great a double album of Nick Cave for a bank holiday Monday .
The opening track made me think of a raucous interpretation of Blue Moon for some reason and i actually enjoyed how rocky it was.
‘Nature Boy’ is reasonably enjoyable, but there’s something about the album as a whole that i just can’t connect with.

The Lyre of orpheus leaves you in no doubt Anais Mitchell’s songs were the Orpheus Eurydice songs best to form a good musical around (and just better songs). It offers a much gentler sound to Abattoir Blues and is far less enjoyable.

Supernaturally eventually injects some much needed energy but overall the second side/album is just a bit drab and uninspired to justify the need to make this a double album

Oh how I wish this wasn't a double album.

Were this a sensible length, this would have been getting a very high mark. I really enjoyed Abattoir Blues with the exception of a couple of the tracks - for me it's hit rate was far in excess of The Lyre of Orpheus.

That being said the actual song The Lyre of Orpheus was great - it made me laugh multiple times, particularly the fake-out 'fuck' in the lyric "Orpheus looked at his instrument, And he gave the wire a pluck, He heard a sound so beautiful, He gasped and said "Oh my God"".

I have said before that while doing this that Nick Cave has joined my list of people who objectively can't sing yet it doesn't matter to me for some reason, and this double album cements that. The gospel choir juxtaposed with his voice was hugely enjoyable for me.

If I were just rating the first disc it'd be a 4, but the second disc (and honestly the fact it's so long it requires a second disc at all) drags that down. It's just far more moody and plodding, which I don't enjoy as much as the energetic first disc. As a result this is getting the same mark as the two previous Nick Cave albums on the list despite me feeling like that's possibly not a fair result.

3/5

Not that familiar with Nick Cave's work, but I liked it. Didn't even mind the length.

side one good focused and fun. side two more hit or miss with at least one skip (“hey! ho!”).

Wow! Is this Nick Cave’s best? Possibly!
First disc (Abattoir Blues) is incredible. The second is very good, lot more slow and lyrical. I’d say a 4.5 in total but I’ll round up for sheer consistency across 80 mins of music.

I like Nick Cave but only in small doses.

Eh

I think I like this album more every time I listen. It made me want to listen to the whole Nick Cave discography.