Full title: The Best Of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds includes: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Barry Adamson, Anita Lane, Edward Clayton-Jones, Hugo Race, Thomas Wydler, Kid Congo Powers, Roland Wolf, Martyn P. Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis.
Additional personnel: Polly Jean Harvey, Kylie Minogue (vocals).
Personnel: Blixa Bargeld (vocals, guitar, background vocals); Kylie Minogue, PJ Harvey (vocals); Roland Wolf, Hugo Race (guitar); Chris Tombling, Helen Mountford, Kerran Coulter, Sue Simpson, Jen Anderson, Audrey Riley, Gini Ball (strings); Conway Savage (piano); Thomas Wydler (drums, timbales); Barry Adamson (drums, background vocals); Jim Sclavunos (drums); Tex Perkins, Rowland Howard (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Flood; Gareth Jones ; Greg Jackman; Mick Harvey; Nick Cave; Tony Cohen .
Recording information: Hansa Tonstudios, Berlin, Germany; Konk Studios, London, England; Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, CA; ST; Townhouse III, London, England; Vielklang, Berlin, Germany.
Photographers: Johannes Beck; Alex Cayley; Edward Maxey; Fritz Brinckmann; B. Waldron; Andrea Libonati; Thomas Rabsch; Bleddyn Butcher; Andrew Catlin; Anita Lane; Joe Dilworth.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Conway Savage; Edward Clayton-Jones; Jim Sclavunos; Kid Congo Powers; Martyn Casey; Mick Harvey; Nick Cave; Anita Lane; Roland Wolf; Thomas Wydler; Barry Adamson; Warren Ellis; Blixa Bargeld; Hugo Race.
Nick Cave is unquestionably an album artist. Each of his records has a specific mood and theme, standing as an individual work. That said, his albums have also been notoriously uneven. Sometimes, as on From Her to Eternity or The Boatman's Call, he has delivered near-masterpieces, while on other albums, only a handful of songs have hit the mark accurately, which is why The Best of Nick Cave is a welcome addition to his catalog. Granted, the title is a bit odd (it's better than Greatest Hits, however), but the compilation itself is as good as it could possibly be. All the major songs -- "Red Right Hand," "Straight to You," "Nobody's Baby Now," "Into My Arms," "Do You Love Me?," "Henry Lee," "Where the Wild Roses Grow," "From Her to Eternity" -- are on this 16-track collection, along with several strong album cuts. Some hardcore fans will find a couple of favorites missing, and the disc should have been sequenced in chronological order, but The Best of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds is nevertheless a terrific single-disc overview of his rewarding, occasionally inaccessible work with the Bad Seeds; it's ideal for both the curious and the casual fan. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Given Nick Cave's history of great songs but uneven albums, THE BEST OF NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS truly lives up to its name, condensing his most intriguing songs into one excellent collection. Though it lacks a chronological sequence, the seemingly random track listing works surprisingly well, from the opening Van Morrison-gone-bad raucousness of "Deanna" to the final chaotic blast of "From Her to Eternity."
Though the compilation highlights Cave's penchant for morbid narratives, it also includes disarmingly sincere ballads like "Into My Arms," "Are You the One That I've Been Waiting For?," and "Straight to You," with the Bad Seeds providing unusually subtle backing. Cave's trademark dark theatricality is still at the fore, however, on bleak yet driving songs such as "The Mercy Seat," "Tupelo," "Do You Love Me?," and, of course, the sinister classic "Red Right Hand." minimize