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Nick Cave is easily among the greatest songwriters of the past few decades. One of his most unique attributes is his ability to convincingly portray a variety of different roles: a lover, a man of God, and a cold-blooded killer. Finally, with this long anticipated, B-Sides & Rarities collection, you get a taste of each of Mr. Cave’s personalities.
Aside from a few songs that were left out and Cave’s solo material; these 56 songs on 3 discs represent everything they’ve done for the past 21 years that didn’t make it onto their albums. There are covers (Neil Young’s “Helpless,” Roy Orbison’s “Running Scared,” Leonard Cohen’s “Tower Of Song,” and Leadbelly’s “Black Betty,” to name a few), acoustic and alternate versions, and b-sides and rarities that are at least on par with (if not, better) than the album material.
Volumes I & III respectively feature the rowdy and mellow sides of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, with aspects of both leaking into each disc. While I enjoy it all, I’m partial to Volume II, which culls material from the dark eras of Let Love In and Murder Ballads. There’s quite a variety of material on here, including the drunken bar sing-a-long: “There’s No Night Out In The Jail,” murder ballads: “Knoxville Girl” and “The Ballad Of Robert Moore And Betty Coltrane,” the MURDER ballad: “O’Malley’s Bar” with alternate lyrics, and a wonderful rendition of “What A Wonderful World,” which is a duet between Cave and Shane MacGowan of The Pogues. Perhaps one of the most interesting songs of this collection, however, is “Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum,” which is a moody number featuring the talents of The Dirty Three.
If you’re a fan of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, B-Sides And Rarities is obviously necessary. While it may seem intimidating to newcomers or casual fans, it does provide an excellent overview of their career and would definitely make a wise purchase.
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