This might sound crazy, but it's pretty rare for a day to go by without me listening to at least part of this record. While, at 13 songs, Live Seeds represents an extremely small percentage of Nick Cave's extensive catalogue with The Bad Seeds, I think it is their quintessential release. Almost every song sounds better here than on the (still amazing) studio recordings; Cave performs so masterfully that even through a recording, the listener feels as though they are in a sweltering Southern church with Cave addressing them directly.
From The Mercy Seat, where Cave continually proclaims "I am not afraid to die" while the song crescendos violently, aurally expressing the explosion of an electric chair and the messy departure of a murderer's soul; to the gritty, savage swampland of Papa Won't Leave You, Henry, where the listener can almost taste the sweat, dirt, and blood Cave describes; to Tupelo, where Cave alternately yowls and croons through a fictional tale about Elvis Presley being born during a thunderstorm, it is clear that Live Seeds isn't just another throw-away live album put out as an afterthought; rather, it is the perfect extension of Cave & The Bad Seeds' studio catalogue and a testament to Cave's unmatched skill as a performer. Live Seeds is messy, raw, blood-drenched, and apocalyptic - more powerful than any gospel I've ever heard.
Download via MediaFire: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Live Seeds, 1993
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