Rocktrospectiva: The Rocker And Quieter "Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus" Turns 20

Released on 20 September 2004, "Abbatoir Blues"/The Lyre Of Orpheus" was the 13th., studio album by the Australian alternative rok outfit Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. It is a double album of seventeen songs. This edition, approved personally by Nick Cave, is finally available again on it's original format. English guitarist and organist James Johnston joined the Bad Seeds for their thirteenth studio album. This masterful double album was produced by Nick Launay at Studio Ferber in Paris in March-April 2004 with Cave splitting drumming duties for the two parts, with Jim Sclavunos on Abattoir Blues and Thomas Wydler on The Lyre of Orpheus. The entire album was completed in twelve days, and notably, the last track on the album, O Children, was featured in the 2010 film "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part One". 

The album generated extremely positive reviews, 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, it's attention to craft and theatrical flair more prevalent. But that doesn't make it any less satisfying. The album spawned three singles "Nature Boy", "Breathless"/"There She Goes My Beautiful World" & "Get Ready For Love".

The album 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, with the song "Let the Bells Ring", was a posthumous tribute to Johnny Cash. The most remarkable tracks are "The Lyre Of Orpheus", "There She Goes My Beautiful World", "Hiding All Away" & "Nature Boy".

Praising an universal acclaimed, many critics described the album as a group of songs full of gothic rock, with more driving menacing numbers have been separated from the slow and scurrilous in a double album that is not two-halves of a whole so much as two distinct records released simultaneously and in one package. The first album is oftenly considered a volume-cranked rock and roll record full of angry songs and the other a more quieter, elegant affair nearly a  gospel rock standout. 

 

This album rewards the listener with a bit of the best of everything he has to offer, aside from the power of the music and lyrics, the set draws on Cave’s compelling persona: part priest, part sideshow barker--crooning one moment and eviscerating the next. A particularly rich and rewarding record. 

 

Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus Track List:

 

1. Get Ready For Love

2. Cannibals Hymn

3. Hiding All Away

4. Messiah Ward

5. There She Goes, My Beautiful World

6. Nature Boy

7. Abattoir Blues

8. Let The Bells Ring

9. Fable Of The Brown

10. Ape

11. The Lyre Of Orpheus

12. Breathless

13. Babe, You Turn Me On

14. Easy Money

15. Supernaturally

16. Spell

17. Carry Me

18. O Children