Nick Cave's covers album from 1986 features an eclectic selection and Cave himself has suggested it's the album where the Bad Seed really developed as a band, possibly through playing strong interpretations of others' material, rather than writing what they could play. Unsurprisingly, most of the songs are from the darker side, but there are a few surprises. Links on songs are to the original / best known version
The album starts with Phil Rosenthal's Muddy Water, done slowly with the menace which the Bad Seeds excel in, while John Lee Hooker's I'm Gonna Kill That Woman is done fractured and squealing, in a Birthday Party style. Sleeping Annaleah (Weeping when Tom Jones did it) is done very similarly to the original, possibly a bit more bouncy, while Long Black Veil (recorded in 1958 by Lefty Frizell) points ahead to Cave's Murder Ballads, a decade in the future, more tortured and less pitying than the original. Hey Joe is much slowed down and menacing than Billy Roberts' original (or Jimi Hendrix's more upbeat version), but feels misjudged, possibly charmless. The slow theme continues with The Singer, made famous by Johnny Cash, and a brave attempt considering how Cash really nailed the song, but it's made special by Mick Harvey's arrangement slowly rising to build the drama. The band chorus in All Tomorrow's Parties works well, delivering a fine interpretation, Blixa Bargeld's frantic guitar outshining Lou Reed's understated original guitar accompaniment. By The Time I Get To Phoenix is another to get the slow treatment, and it's nicely done, less maudlin than more famous versions. For me, the cover of Alex Harvey's The Hammer Song is the weak point of the album, but Cave redeems himself with a very straight and powerful version of Gene Pitney's Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart, and as a spiritual Jesus Met The Woman At The Well is well done, with the doo-wop element removed. But my favourite of all ends the album, as a nod to fellow Aussies, The Seekers, there's a mournful The Carnival Is Over, with a more pronounced march beat, which is a magnificent conclusion.
I really like this collection - the choices aren't obvious and the Bad Seeds have put enough of themselves into while still preserving the originals, or offering something new.
4* - a pleasing collection of interesting covers.
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