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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is an Australian rock band, formed in 1983 by the singer Nick Cave, the multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and the German guitarist and singer Blixa Bargeld. It arose after the break-up of The Birthday Party, the group of Cave and Harvey, who knew each other from a boarding school in Melbourne. A first version came together in London in September 1983 as a backing band for Cave's planned solo project Man or Myth?. At first the group was called Nick Cave and the Cavemen. In May 1984 that became Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, after The Birthday Party's last EP, The Bad Seed. The bassist Barry Adamson of Magazine was part of the first regular line-up, and later, among others, Kid Congo Powers and Warren Ellis joined.

Music and breakthrough

The debut album From Her to Eternity was released in 1984. In the 1980s the band leaned on post-punk, blues and gothic rock. Later the sound became softer and other influences came in, as on The Good Son from 1990 and The Boatman's Call from 1997. Other albums are Let Love In (1994), Murder Ballads (1996), Push the Sky Away (2013), Skeleton Tree (2016), Ghosteen (2019) and Wild God (2024). After Harvey left in 2009 the sound became more spacious, with electronic and ambient colours.

Influence

The band is regarded as one of the most idiosyncratic groups of the post-punk and alternative rock era. It constantly changed its line-up and showed that an established rock band can reinvent itself time and again, with lyrics that are often about death, faith and love.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a track from The Boatman's Call and notice how soft and restrained it sounds, with Nick Cave's voice close to the piano. Compare that with a track from From Her to Eternity and hear how much rawer the band began.

Discography

Studio albums

See also

Categories: Artists