Posted on: July 8, 2011 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Nick Cave is right up there with Leonard Cohen and the late Jeff Buckley as being one of those musicians everyone claims to love but if you look purely at record sales all three still hover closer to cult status rather than international superstars…which is far from being a bad thing (unless you have to pay a mortgage).

If you’ve been resolving to actually listen to Cave versus just nodding along with the rest of the music snobs when they start talking about the most influential artists over a pitcher of PBR, now is a fantastic opportunity with the re-release of four of his best records. Let Love In (1994), Murder Ballads (1996), The Boatman’s Call (1997) and No More Shall We Part (2001). EMI is in the process of remastering all of the albums from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and these latest brings us up to numbers 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Let Love In probably has his most recognizable songs including “Red Right Hand” and “Do You Love Me?”, but each release is powerful in its own right. The themes that Cave is best known for: violence, death, religion and love, all make appearances throughout, delivered by Cave’s deep, unwavering vocals, like the poet laureate for the depressed and cursed.

Not one to be content with just his day job, Cave also fronts the garage rock band Grinderman, has worked as a soundtrack composer, and is a published author, screenwriter and actor.

The expanded releases of the classic albums also include B-sides, videos and short films. Now would be a good time to finally listen to the music you should have given a chance to years ago.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Let Love In, Murder Ballads, The Boatman’s Call and No More Shall We Part/EMI/2011

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