Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave (vocals, harmonica, keyboards); Mick Harvey (guitar, keyboards, vibraphone, drums); Blixa Bargeld (guitar); Conway Savage, Martin P. Casey (piano); Thomas Wydler (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Conway Savage (vocals); Dennis Karmazyn (cello); Bruce Dukov, Barbara Porter (violin).
Engineers: Chuck Johnson, Cohen, Dave Cook.
HENRY'S DREAM is perhaps the most fully realized of all Cave's albums. On it, he achieves the perfect balance between his lush, poetic sensibilities and his feral, unfettered rock & roll id. Most of the guitar work is acoustic, but there's no lack of momentum as the band drives harder than ever. Cave's grisly Cohenesque lyric talents are at their peak here. Each song is like a short horror story, or a rock equivalent of Rod Serling's NIGHT GALLERY.
The unrelentingly gruesome imagery of tunes like "Papa Won't Leave You Henry" is hammered home even further by the pounding arrangements. Even when things settle down, as on the folkie ballad "Loom of the Land," there's a barely veiled undercurrent of danger in the air. HENRY'S DREAM is full of some of Cave's finest songcraft, making a case for him as the gloomy bard of '90s alt-rock.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (8/6/92, p.57) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "...[the Bad Seeds] put forth their best playing yet...At times Cave veers into melodrama, but his songs of suffering and sin are still convincing...HENRY'S DREAM stands as provocative--albeit harrowing--music..."
Entertainment Weekly (5/8/92, p.56) - Rating: B+
Q (1/93, p.70) - Included in Q's list of the 50 Best Albums Of 1992.
Q (5/92, p.73) - 3 Stars - Good - "...has a rockier edge than his last outing...much here is driven along by giddy piano or acoustic guitar as Cave relates tales of degradation and woe..."
Uncut (3/03, p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...This is The Seeds being Bad and loving every minute..."
Option (9-10/92, p.94) - "...a lush, melodic sonic playground...quite beautiful..."
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Reviews
– Customer review on 27/10/2006
"Henry's Dream" starts out in a very bombastic and aggressive faction.
There is a change of pace with the ballad Straight To You, which is a much prettier track than the rest of the album.
A similar change of pace happens with Christina The Astonishing, and When I First Came To Town. These two are the weakest part of the album, dragging it down a little.
Cave jumps back to the style of the beginning of the tape with the last three tracks beginning with John Finn's Wife, growling and snarling until you get to the excellent Jack The Ripper.
Blood and "whisky, as I have no head for wine" abound in this quite good release from The Bad Seeds, whose playing is perhaps a little understated in places, which could be improved. Well worth having.
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![Blood on the Tracks [Remaster]](http://image.fishpond.com.au/827969239827-135x135.jpg "Blood on the Tracks [Remaster]")
– Customer review on 27/10/2006
