meandthestereo

Artist: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Album: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Label: Mute
Release Date: April 8th, 2008
Decision: 3/5 Mediocre…After a While
Favorite Tunes: “Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!”, “Today’s Lesson”, “Albert Goes West”

1. The Background

Frickin’ 90-year old (OK, he’s actually 50) musician and writer Nick Cave and his band of Seeds that are Bad put out yet another album in search of the roots that made them famous back in the day of said famous-ness. What follows is one song referencing the Lazarus story from the Bible and then a bunch of other songs about weird yet cool things. 11 songs, about 53 minutes long. Sigh. Here we go:

2. The Substance

I’m going to be writing a post about the concept of an “album” and how it should be perceived by the artist, but that’s for another time. However, some things that make up my “album concept” bothered me about this album. More on that in the Decision. So, let’s talk quality: Great recording quality here, no real surprise, though. Cave shouldn’t have any problems scrounging up enough money for a decent producer. His vocals really come out clear and crisp and his deep monotone…umm tone shines through also. The Bad Seeds are an amazing band (I especially like the bassist) and they seem to really employ classic and modern effects in their music, and they mix things up enough to keep things moderately interesting throughout. The songs have some interesting concepts, and Cave is skilled enough as a writer to employ various forms of description that range from being simplistic to very graphic.

3. The Decision

3/5 Mediocre…After a While. I was going to give this a 4/5. I really liked it in the beginning. However, I just feel like it lacks the longevity that a 4/5 album should have. I don’t listen to this album anymore. It’s just not as attractive as it was at first. Here’s what I think the problems are: Cave is way to fantastical. His story-telling is so outside-the-box and strange that you’re never really quite sure what he’s singing about. Also his lyrics flow from his mouth so quickly and offbeat that it’s ridiculously hard to sing along easily unless you’ve studied the album religiously. I also wish his voice was more versatile. OK, so he whispered a couple of times, but after that it was just the same ol’ Nick Cave boom. The songs are kind of long, and that is most annoying in “We Call Upon the Author” where all Cave does is blabber quick lines of lyrics and then yells “We call upon the author to explain” about 50 times, because he seems unaware that the listener knows the chorus already. And again, I had hope, because the album was flowing so well, especially through the first three songs, but you really lose track of what’s going on. I believe that it is the artist’s responsibility to keep me in line during my listen. Don’t necessarily guide me, but don’t lose me halfway through. This album got a lot of raving reviews, but I hate to base my opinion of an album off of one listen. This is where I believe my reviews differ from other sites. I listened to this album a lot, to see if I would think it was better with each listen, but really, it just became more forgettable. Still, check it out if you get the chance.