Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - The Firstborn Is Dead

Although it's hard to pick...

This would be my personal favorite Nick Cave release. Great, haunting Bargeld twang, coupled with the most evocative lyrics Cave's ever written. The production is so sparse it's agonizing at times, but that's the beauty of the record; its dark, miserable simplicity. A natural progression from "Box for Black Paul", and an all-around great blues record. Buy it, but don't expect any "Birthday Party" lunacy. Expect the sound of an artist changing, stripping things down and creating a mood. March 27, 2007

Suffer the listeners that hath come unto Him

Has an album ever had a more exploding `super nova'-like opening song than Nick Cave's second album "The firstborn is dead"?
"Tupelo" is a Godfearing, thundering preach about a lovelorn town that one could find easily in one of the old-testament books. Or could it even exist as a town-soon-to-die in "The revelation of John"?
Nick howls and whispers, both with the same ease, and the Bad Seeds are everlasting present with backing vocals and an extremely well performed musical sideshow.

After the rage comes the quietness. And this moment of quietness and contemplation comes in the form of "Say goodbye to the little girl tree". Tender, joyful and still as sharp as the guitar strings Blixa Bargeld is tipping on.
But as soon as the last notes have floated away, the Bad Seeds accelerate again, whilst Nick is going "Woohoo-hoo!", impersonating the locomotive that carries the pounding song "Train long-suffering".

"Knockin' on Joe" sets the tone for the following album "Your funeral, my trial", giving the audience the feeling they're listening to something old, older at least, not from 1985 when "Firstborn..." was released, but of something further away in time, yet still, or perhaps therefor: timeless.
Also worth mentionning is the Dylan cover "Wanted man", and Nick Cave simply hits the bull's eye with this one, making it totally his own and giving it a tension that remains unbreakable until the last notes.

This album has no weak spots, only good songs and better ones. And one of the most original outputs here is "The six strings that drew blood". Cool, minimal and understated guitar fiddeling, nonchalant whisteling, mesmerising singing, and a surreal story unfolding with every casually dropped line.

Of the early Bad Seeds albums, this one is by far the most memorable, being a carefully build bridge between the experimental and the lyrical.
Smokey, smoking, mystifying. Music to slowly die by.

May 5, 2006

Best album of the 80's...

After the punk and righteous hip hop of the early 80's, things started to get a little rough for music, so a lot of people say...they have not listened to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds THE FIRSTBORN IS DEAD. This is the kind of album that could have come out in the 1950's or yesterday, and it would still be great. Actually, it is the timelessness of Cave's music that seems to draw a lot of his fans.

This album is so experiemental that it will blow your mind, but it is by no means silly. The guitar work and musicianship in general is of the highest caliber. You really can't go wrong with a Bad Seeds album, but if you don't own this one and you're a fan, I suggest buying it. It will give you a whole new perspective of where this guy comes from.

It includes a cover of Dylan's "Wanted Man" that makes every other cover of the song sound childish. "The Six Strings that Drew Blood," my personal fav, is a dark western-blues jam that reminds you of a heroin induced vision of a guitar player. "Tupelo," by far the most "hitworthy" song on the album, is amazing also.

In short, I don't recommend this album to just anyone, but to anyone who owns some newer Cave material who is looking to find more. You won't be disappointed...but give it some time to grow on you, because you may be surprised at just how different his older music is... November 25, 2004

great classic nick

Don't not give this a try based on the other reviews, especially if you've discovered Nick lately. This was the first album I bought of his (woops, betraying my age!) and it definately stands up. I love his later stuff too, but to really understand the changing trajectory of his songwriting and style, this album, with its reinvented Delta blues, is crucial. "Tupelo" and "Say goodbye to the little girl tree" rank in my top 10 Nick songs ever, and "Knocking on Joe" is so chilling it's hard to listen to: Wonderful! February 20, 2002

Blah!

This album is sort of boring.. it seems all of Nick's creativity went into "Tupelo" and he didn't know what to do with the rest of the album. There are maybe two other songs that are passable but then he waxes a little too experimental with his delta blues persona. I could live without this one in my collection, but I suppose since I already own it... October 17, 2001

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