As previously mentioned, in the early 2000s I trawled my way through Nick Cave's back catalogue, and I suspect this album, the Bad Seeds' second, was somewhere in the middle of that investigation. It's not one that gets a regular outing, and, I suspect is one which suffers from 'second album syndrome'.
The wonderful Tupelo kicks off - thunderclap and torrential rain, before Barry Adamson's thumping bass and Nick Cave's manic, menacing vocals. And this sets the tone for the album - minimal arrangement, dark menacing lyrics delivered with anger - and it works fine, while the songs are strong. Unfortunately, too many rely on just this delivery, and aren't good enough to sustain the interest. Train Long Suffering is lively, with a repetitive call and response theme, and Black Crow King has an interesting delta blues feel. But the only song which comes close to matching Tupelo's impact is the cover of the Johnny Cash/Bob Dylan song, Wanted Man.
Nothing on this album is bad, or a dull listen, but Wanted Man apart, nothing comes close to maintaining the promise of the opening track. Too much of the rest is stylised delivery of ordinary songs.
3* - Enough to interest the Nick Cave fan, but you wouldn't start here.
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