Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus

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Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
The artists' name and the album's title are written in the top third of the cover. A photograph of a series of flowers in part of an arc is shown in the middle of the cover.
Studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released 20 September 2004 (2004-09-20)
Recorded March–April 2004
Studio Ferber, Paris, France
Genre Post-punk, gothic rock,[1] alternative rock
Length 82:30 (43:05/39:25)
Label Mute
Producer Nick Launay
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology
Nocturama
(2003)		 Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
(2004)		 B-Sides & Rarities
(2005)

Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is the 13th studio album released by Australian alternative rock band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It is a double CD with 17 tracks – 9 on Abattoir Blues and 8 on The Lyre of Orpheus – which was released on 20 September 2004.

Contents

[edit] History

The album was produced by Nick Launay at Studio Ferber in Paris in March–April 2004 and Nick Cave used The Bad Seeds line up of Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, and James Johnston. It was the first album by the group for which Blixa Bargeld did not perform – English guitarist and organist Johnston, of the group Gallon Drunk, replaced Bargeld. Cave decided to split drumming duties for the two parts, with Sclavunos on Abattoir Blues and Wydler on The Lyre of Orpheus. According to Launay, the whole album was completed in twelve days.[2]

The album's release was supported by the Abattoir Blues Tour, which travelled through Europe from 2 November to 5 December. In January 2007 a double live album and DVD was issued as The Abattoir Blues Tour. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus's last track, "O Children", was featured in the 2010 film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and the song is referenced as an achievement in Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. In March 2005, to compliment the success of the double album, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released B-Sides & Rarities, a three-disc, 56-track collection of B-sides, rarities, and tracks that had appeared on film soundtracks.

[edit] Critical Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars[3]
Yahoo 9/10 stars[4]
Drowned in Sound (9/10)[5]
Metacritic (88/100)[6]
Music Emissions 5/5 stars[7]
Pitchfork Media (7.8/10)/(7.4/10)[8]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[9]
ShakingThrough.net 4/5 stars[10]
Stylus Magazine A[11]
The Guardian 5/5 stars[12]

LA Times noted that the group unleashed on that album "a bounty of gothic rock".[1]

Thom Jurek of Allmusic described the two parts of the album as "the first disc ... is a rock & roll record ... a pathos-drenched, volume-cranked rocker, full of crunch, punishment -- and taste" while the second "is a much quieter, more elegant affair. It is more consciously restrained, its attention to craft and theatrical flair more prevalent. But that doesn't make it any less satisfying".[3]

The music online magazine Pitchfork Media placed Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus at number 180 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.[13]

[edit] Charts

It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart, its chart success in Europe includes No. 1 in Norway, No. 2 in Austria and Denmark, and top 10 in Belgium, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden.[14]

[edit] Track listing

Disc one
Abattoir Blues
  1. "Get Ready for Love" (Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey, Jim Sclavunos) – 5:05
  2. "Cannibal's Hymn" (Cave) – 4:54
  3. "Hiding All Away" (Cave) – 6:31
  4. "Messiah Ward" (Cave) – 5:14
  5. "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" (Cave) – 5:17
  6. "Nature Boy" (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos) – 4:54
  7. "Abattoir Blues" (Cave, Ellis) – 3:58
  8. "Let the Bells Ring" (Cave, Ellis) – 4:26
  9. "Fable of the Brown Ape" (Cave) – 2:45
Disc two
The Lyre of Orpheus
  1. "The Lyre of Orpheus" (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos) – 5:36
  2. "Breathless" (Cave) – 3:13
  3. "Babe, You Turn Me On" (Cave) – 4:21
  4. "Easy Money" (Cave) – 6:43
  5. "Supernaturally" (Cave) – 4:37
  6. "Spell" (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos) – 4:25
  7. "Carry Me" (Cave) – 3:37
  8. "O Children" (Cave) – 6:51

[edit] Singles

  • "Nature Boy" (MUTE 324) (September 6, 2004)
    • CD: "Nature Boy" (Edit) b/w: "She's Leaving You"
    • 7" vinyl: "Nature Boy" (Album Version) b/w: "(Untitled)"
  • "Breathless" / "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" (MUTE 329) (November 15, 2004)
    • CD: "Breathless" (Alternate Mix) / "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" (Edit) b/w: "Under This Moon"
    • 7" vinyl: "Breathless" (Alternate Mix) / "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" (Edit) b/w: "She's Leaving You"
  • "Get Ready for Love" (MUTE 339) (March 14, 2005)
    • "Get Ready for Love" (Edit) b/w: "Hiding All Away" (Live at Maida Vale) / "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" (Live at Maida Vale)

[edit] Personnel

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Susan Carpenter (28 October 2004). "A fertile mind for dark tales". LA Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2004/oct/28/news/wk-pop28. Retrieved 2-1-2012. "Perhaps inspired by a lineup shift, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds unleash a bounty of gothic rock...Over the dozen records that the world's reigning king of gothic punk has recorded with his group..." 
  2. ^ "Interview With Nick Launay", HitQuarters, 16 November 2009.
  3. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r698805/review. Retrieved 30 September 2011. 
  4. ^ Yahoo review
  5. ^ Drowned in Sound review
  6. ^ "Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/music/abattoir-blues-the-lyre-of-orpheus. Retrieved 30 September 2011. 
  7. ^ Music Emissions review
  8. ^ Pitchfork Media review
  9. ^ Rolling Stone review
  10. ^ ShakingThrough.net review
  11. ^ Stylus Magazine review
  12. ^ The Guardian review
  13. ^ Pitchfork staff (September 28, 2009). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200-151". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7706-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-200-151/3/. Retrieved October 1, 2009. 
  14. ^ "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Nick+Cave+%26+The+Bad+Seeds&titel=Abattoir+Blues+%2F+The+Lyre+Of+Orpheus&cat=a. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 

[edit] Further reading

Masters, Mark. "Nick Cave: Interview.". Pitchfork. 29 September 2008.

[edit] External links

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Singles
Cave and Ellis
Related articles
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