Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey

About a week ago I bought Tender Prey, the much-lauded 1988 LP by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and I have to say it's one of the most intriguing and downright scary albums I've ever listened to. Nick Cave may be my next rock idol. On the front cover he looks equal parts devil and debonaire: arms crossed in a bloodred button-down and jet-black sport coat. He looks like a young Elvis if he'd been the star of Night of the Living Dead.

Lyrically, the album sounds like he's obsessed with old Gothic novels, the most terrifying parts of the bible, and the middle part of Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that I can't get through. Recurrent themes are murder, the devil, selling and/or taking souls, and seeking refuge or mercy.

Sample lyrics:
"You stand before your maker
In a state of shame
Bacause your robes are covered in mud
While you kneel at the feet
Of a woman of the street
The gutters will run with blood
They will run with blood!

You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge

In the days of madness
My brother, my sister
When you're dragged toward the Hell-mouth
You will beg at the end
But there ain't gonna be one, friend
For the grave will spew you out
It will spew you out!"
-"City of Refuge"

But all horror movie-novelty aside, The songs are just damn good. There's a lot of variety, with tracks ranging from ballads like "Watching Alice," rockers like "City of Refuge" and "Deanna," and piano-driven romps like "Up Jumped the Devil." Cave's got a huge baritone voice, in the ilk of singers like Ian McCulloch and Scott Walker.

Tracks to check out:
"The Mercy Seat"
"Watching Alice"
"City of Refuge"

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