The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Looking back I've missed a number of seminal albums, as they passed me by. I remember being at Glastonbury in 1998 but don't remember seeing the wonderful Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, as I only knew him from his duet with Kylie Minouge "Where the Wild Roses Grow". Fast forward eleven years and his beautifully sublime album "The Boatman Calls" is one of my most played albums. Released in 1997 The Boatmen Calls" is Cave's 10th studio album and very different from the ones that have come before such as the "Murder Ballads" Gone are the tales of violence, instead we have Cave in a very mellow, reflective mood pondering on love, ...  Read the complete review

Having only really come to Nick Cave since the best of album(yes, i'm ashamed!), i've since started buying his back catalogue, and what a diverse amount of music the man has made. The Boatman's Call is far and away my favourite record of his, and the best record i've bought since the Pixies' heyday. The combination of intense, deeply personal lyrics, the most personal i've heard yet, and the excellent haunting accompaniment of the Bad Seeds, make it a listening experience of such weird and wonderful feelings. Each listen after the first reveals something else. One of the reasons why it is such compelling music, is because the ...  Read the complete review

Following the gloriously over the top 'Murder Ballads', in which Cave focused his dark humour into murderous storytelling, 'Boatman's Call' falls neatly in to the other side of the man's musical persona. These songs are as personal as anything Cave has written, dealing with the break up of his marriage and the end of his relationship with P.J. Harvey. The result is an album that is uplifting in its melancholy. Despite the often overwhelming sadness of the lyrical and vocal delivery, there remains an element of hope which is beatifully reflected in the Bad Seeds' understated muscial accompaniment. Stark, yet retaining the ...  Read the complete review

I bought this album out of curiosity, after splitting with my girlfriend i read a review that said this was a good break up album , so without even listening to a single track by nick cave i bought this along with he's other album ( murder ballads ). I was pleasantly suprised as both albums especially this one are great. If you like what i call real music sombre ballads with heartfelt lyrics then you may love this ! The lyrics flow like poetry of the tongue while the music adds as backdrop to the feeling of the songs that are both sweet and heartbreaking. Into my arms is a beautiful song a love song of devotion that is both sweet while ...  Read the complete review

I'm sorry, I cannot give an un-biased, balanced opinion of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds because I adore the dark, desperate humour entailed within their music, and the clever, deep and meaningful lyrical content is complemented to perfection by the treacly yet creepy powerful voice that overlays the music. ' The Boatmans Call' has to rank up there with greatest albums of all time. The opening track, 'Into my Arms' is fantastic, and coupled with the second 'Lime Tree Abour', is worth the cost of the entire Cd, whilst certain of the other tracks, ( People Aint No Good, Brompton Oratory and Black Hair, etc), simply re-affirm that the ...  Read the complete review