The firstborn is most definitely alive, kicking, screaming and taking you down with it! (The Firstborn Is Dead - Nick Cave)

Member Name: DanielKemp

Product:	The Firstborn Is Dead - Nick Cave
Date:	14/05/09 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: TAKE ME NOW NICK! Excellent lyrics, wonderful production, Bad Seeds' backing is superb

Disadvantages: The style of song writing won't appeal to everyone

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Firstborn is Dead (1985)

Producer: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Flood - Mark Ellis

Tupelo
Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree
Train Long-Suffering
Black Crow King
Knockin' On Joe
Wanted Man
Blind Lemon Jefferson
The Six Strings That Drew Blood

The Bad Seeds' debut, From Her to Eternity, was one hell of an unattractive recording. It had its fair share of highlights, but it definitely came across that Nick was finding his feet again after the disintegration of The Birthday Party. It was as if he was chucking a select bunch of ideas into the fray and seeing which of them would stick.

Bearing this in mind, I find it all the more surprising that The Firstborn is Dead is a much stylised album and actually sounds nothing like I would have expected it to, had I been patiently waiting for the release of this album in 1985. It is a straight up blues album. Not blues in the way that BB King and Eric Clapton play the blues, no, this is a primal and primitive interpretation of the blues. This is Nick Cave's blues.

The album sounds ancient in places and gives the impression that it could have been recorded at any time during the start of the 20th century. It sounds as if it was captured live in a little shack out in the Deep South, where the only company you keep is the deadly scorpions in your boots and the howling coyotes of the witching hour.

Tupelo is the opening song and the only single to be taken from The Firstborn is Dead. You know it is going to be good from the moment the crack of thunder pierces the speakers and the monotonous, repetitive drone of the bass kicks in. No more than a few notes cycle continuously throughout the song's 7 minute running time. Cave sounds positively demonic as he preaches, "Oh go to sleep little children, and the Sandman's on his way... but the little children know, listen to the beating of the blood"
When the chorus kicks in the Bad Seeds are on fire, and the guitars tease the listener while the backing vocals mimicking Cave's, "Tupelo-o-o-!" are genius.

Second track, Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree, continues things in a fine way. A bluesy and discordant slide guitar lurks in the background; all the while the primary guitar plays a spidery set of notes. Nick Cave is in fine voice and he keeps the listener engrossed with his superior narrative skills, right up until the closing moments.

Train Long-Suffering is a plateful of Nick Cave brilliance. The Bad Seeds play with a raw intensity; the song is so thoroughly capable of creating a commotion that it makes Cabin Fever from their debut look tame in comparison. The chorus is magnificent and Cave sounds as if he could raise hell with his anguished vocal performance. Essentially it is just about women being evil, causing him pain and Cave being left on his lonesome, but hey, if it sounds this good, then I'm all for the end of the relationship.

Every so often in his career Nick Cave will write a dirge which has the weight of an anvil and the potency of 20 year matured moonshine. Knockin' on Joe is just such a song and makes for an astonishing half way point on the LP. The song details the all encompassing misery which has engulfed a prisoner on Death Row. He is crying out to be taken to his end and that there is nothing else that can be done to cause him harm. Sick of life, ruined by the tortured wait, Cave tells his story beautifully. The piano notes are so mournful and full of hatred, that I would swear it to be a recording of genuine authenticity, had I not known that Nick is merely an artist.

If I had to pick one song from the album it would unquestionably be Blind Lemmon Jefferson. No amount of words and pompous text could ever do this song justice. This is quite simply the embodiment of real blues and it makes for the most passionate recording on the LP. The instruments are used so sparingly that Cave's voice is pushed to the fore and in itself becomes an instrument of some strength. The greatest moment is when Cave grimly recounts the future that awaits the ailing Jefferson, "Down fly two greasy brother crows.... They hop 'n' bop; they hop 'n' bop, like the tax man come to call". Only the fragile guitar slides and booming bass crescendo keep him company in his last moments.

If you have the CD version of this album, and let's face it chances are you do, then things close with The Six Strings That Drew Blood. It was originally a song from The Birthday Party's penultimate EP, Mutiny, but given a re-recording, it was released as the b-side to Tupelo. It's very similar to the other tracks on the album and fits in especially well, although I would have preferred it if the album had ended with the peak of Blind Lemon Jefferson.

The Firstborn is Dead is a Nick Cave album like no other and I cannot praise the stripped bare production values enough. One of the first things I pointed out in my review was that the blues theme runs throughout the entire album, and not once does The Firstborn is Dead compromise its steady resolve to fulfill Nick's artistic vision.

Sure, it isn't an album I'd throw on for a party, but when I'm feeling miserable and I want a prime slice of preaching from Mr Cave, then I chuck on the Firstborn is Dead and relax in comfort, knowing that if nobody else understands, then at least Nick does.

I am certain that this album won't appeal to everyone as it is even more determined to alienate casual fans of the band than From Her to Eternity, but in my opinion this single-minded attitude toward the song writing lands Nick with his first classic Bad Seeds album.

9/10

Daniel Kemp

Read more of my reviews at www.danielkempreviews.co.uk

Summary: Nick delivers the Bad Seeds' first classic album with his terrifying take on the blues!