| Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | ||||
| Released | 20 September 2004 | |||
| Recorded | March–April 2004 Studio Ferber, Paris, France |
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| Genre | Post-punk, alternative rock | |||
| Length | 82:30 (43:05/39:25) | |||
| Label | Mute | |||
| Producer | Nick Launay | |||
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology | ||||
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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. 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.[1]
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.
Contents |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [3] |
| Yahoo | [4] |
| Drowned in Sound | (9/10)[5] |
| Metacritic | (88/100)[6] |
| Music Emissions | [7] |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.8/10)/(7.4/10)[8] |
| Rolling Stone | [9] |
| ShakingThrough.net | [10] |
| Stylus Magazine | (A)[11] |
| The Guardian | [12] |
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]
Masters, Mark. "Nick Cave: Interview." [1] Pitchfork. 29 September 2008.