Nick Cave-The Boatman's Call

Love.
Loss.

Faith.

Fear.

Passion.

Peace.

Its not heresy or overstatement to say this is Nick Cave's Blood on the Tracks.. Comparing a record to that masterpiece is a bold statement. It indicates that it is a record that stands as a classic and one of the finest in his career. It also says know that this is going to be the most honest and laid bare confessional music of his career. It is, and its remarkable. In the first 30 seconds Nick reveals will compromise his religious beliefs for his love:

"I don't believe in an interventionist God, but I know darling that you do

But if i did i would kneel down and ask him not to intervene when it came to you

Not to touch a hair on your head, to leave you as you are

and if he felt he had to direct you, then direct you into my arms."

Over the next eleven songs he sings of idyllic trysts, misanthropy, heartbreak, devotion, hope, painful memories. In my favorite song on the record "Far from me" he warbles a plea to the timeless pain of a mate that just doesnt get it a "brave hearted lover who at the first taste of trouble, went running back to mother". This song cycle is of a man entering middle age, entering fatherhood, stopping and looking down the road from where he has travelled, then turning and looking forward, all the while resigned that at the end of the day he is alone, or rather his existsence is the only thing he is truly sure of, can truly count on.

The quiet stately sound of this record was startling when it first came out. Fans of Cave who came to love the furious hurricane of sound the Bad Seeds would whip up each record were met with melancholic piano, baying viola, it was if this was a chamber performance. But the sound suits the mood and the quiet beauty pays tribute to Cave's reflection, remorse and reminiscence. This record is a thing of beauty to treasure and behold and return to often.-Greg Trout

Nick Cave