Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Live At The Royal Albert Hall- Album Review
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Album:
At the time Cave was touring in support of his album The Boatman's Call so the set list draws quite a bit from that record and its predecessor Murder Ballads . Those albums are known for their piano-based ballads and ornate song structures.
As a result, the renditions tend towards the pretty over the violent and depraved. The performance is hurt by that. Cave's shows are best when he is in his intense preacher mode (read my review of his recent Toronto show here ).
Even usually dramatic songs like "Red Right Hand" and "Do You Love Me?" lack a spark. The show closer "The Mercy Seat" never quite reaches the frenetic climax that the audience has come to expect.
The acoustics of the performance are also a drawback. The hall sound cavernous and Cave's vocals are almost constantly plagued by a hollow echo.
Both "Henry Lee" and "Where the Wild Roses Grow" also suffer from a lack of a female vocal for Cave to play against. Blixa's Germanic drawl just doesn't add the same haunting quality to the songs as Polly Harvey or Kylie Minogue do.
Some of the songs do come across very well under the circumstances. "The Ship Song" and "People Ain't No Good" are both delicately beautiful.
Nick Cave live material is fairly plentiful. If you don't have any I would recommend picking up the 2-CD, 2-DVD Abattoir Blues Tour Live set, the CD Live Seeds , or the DVD God Is In the House before this one. Leave Live At the Royal Albert Hall to the die hard fanatics.
Best tracks: "The Ship Song", "People Ain't No Good"
Track listing for Live At The Royal Albert Hall :
- Lime Tree Arbour
- Stranger Than Kindness
- Red Right Hand
- I Let Love In
- Brompton Oratory
- Henry Lee
- The Ship Song
- Where The Wild Roses Grow
- People Ain't No Good
- Do You Love Me?
- Far From Me
- The Mercy Seat
6.0
Comments (1)
I've heard songs from this (see bootleg), and I have to agree with you for the most part. Unfortunate, isn't it, sigh.