Tender Prey Explained
Tender Prey is the fifth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 19 September 1988 on Mute Records. Produced by Flood, the album was recorded during several sessions over the course of four months in London and West Berlin (where the band were based at the time of its release) and dedicated to Fernando Ramos da Silva.
Details
The album opens with frontman Nick Cave's signature song, "The Mercy Seat", which has been subsequently played at almost all of the band's live performances since 1988, and was later covered by one of Cave's influences, Johnny Cash, on (2000). "The Mercy Seat" was released as a single in May 1988 prior to the album's release and "Deanna" was released in September. On the CD version, the video mix of "The Mercy Seat" is also included as the last track.
Upon its release, Tender Prey received positive reviews and charted in the United Kingdom and Greece. However, the album failed to chart in either the band's native Australia or the United States Billboard charts. The album was remastered and reissued on 29 March 2010 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set and in October 2010. It was also listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums, alongside The Boatman's Call (1997), in the Top 30.[4]
Cave later said, "It was a nightmare, that record. It is reflective of a group—particularly myself—who was just writing songs and there was no larger idea behind it. Sometimes some of the group was there, sometimes they weren't. I hear bad production and I hear bad performances as well."[5] Cave later admitted that the album, "was made at a difficult time in my life when things were spiralling out of control in a lot of areas."[6]
In 2012, the album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia.[7]
Track listing
- "The Mercy Seat" – 7:17
- "Up Jumped the Devil" – 5:16
- Nick Cave – vocals
- Blixa Bargeld – guitar, backing vocals
- Mick Harvey – bass, xylophone, backing vocals
- Kid Congo Powers – guitar
- Roland Wolf – piano
- Thomas Wydler – drums
- "Deanna" – 3:45
- Nick Cave – vocals, Hammond
- Blixa Bargeld – guitar
- Mick Harvey – drums, bass, acoustic guitar
- Kid Congo Powers – guitar
- "Watching Alice" – 4:01
- Nick Cave – vocals, piano, harmonica
- Mick Harvey – bass
- Thomas Wydler – drums
- Hugo Race – guitar
- "Mercy" – 6:22
- Nick Cave – vocals, vibes, harmonica
- Blixa Bargeld – slide guitar, backing vocals
- Mick Harvey – bass, backing vocals
- Kid Congo Powers – guitar, backing vocals
- Roland Wolf – piano
- Thomas Wydler – drums
- Hugo Race – backing vocals
- "City of Refuge" – 4:48
- Nick Cave – vocals, Hammond, harmonica
- Blixa Bargeld – guitar
- Mick Harvey – bass, acoustic guitar, percussion
- Kid Congo Powers – guitar
- Roland Wolf – organ
- Thomas Wydler – drums
- Backing vocals – The Bad Seeds & Friends
- "Slowly Goes the Night" – 5:23
- Nick Cave – vocals, Hammond
- Blixa Bargeld – guitar
- Mick Harvey – bass, xylophone, backing vocals
- Roland Wolf – piano, organ
- Thomas Wydler – drums
- Ian Davis – backing vocals
- "Sunday's Slave" – 3:40
- Nick Cave – vocals, piano
- Blixa Bargeld – guitar
- Mick Harvey – acoustic guitar, drums, bass
- "Sugar Sugar Sugar" – 5:01
- Nick Cave – vocals
- Mick Harvey – acoustic guitar, bass, percussion
- Kid Congo Powers – guitar
- Roland Wolf – piano
- Thomas Wydler – drums
- "New Morning" – 3:46
- Nick Cave – vocals, piano, harmonica, tambourine
- Blixa Bargeld – guitar, backing vocals
- Mick Harvey – acoustic guitar, drums, bass, organ, backing vocals
- "The Mercy Seat" (video mix) – 5:05 (CD only)
Note: Early issues of the CD version of the album had a track indexing issue in which "Sunday's Slave" and "Sugar Sugar Sugar" were indexed as the same track.
Personnel
Writing
Personnel
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
- Nick Cave – vocals, Hammond organ (1, 3, 6, 7), harmonica (4–6), piano (4, 8, 10), tambourine (10), vibraphone (5)
- Mick Harvey – bass (2–10), backing vocals (1, 2, 5–7, 10), acoustic guitar (3, 6, 8–10), drums (3, 8, 10), percussion (6, 9), xylophone (2, 7), guitar (1), bass loops (1), piano (1), organ (10)
- Blixa Bargeld – guitar (2, 3, 6–8, 10), backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 10), slide guitar (1, 5)
- Roland Wolf – piano (2, 5, 7, 9), organ (6, 7), guitar (1), backing vocals (6)
- Kid Congo Powers – guitar (2, 3, 5, 6, 9), backing vocals (5, 6)
- Thomas Wydler – drums (1, 2, 4–7, 9), backing vocals (6)
Guests
- Hugo Race – backing vocals, guitar
- Gini Ball – strings
- Audrey Riley – strings
- Chris Tombling – strings
- Ian Davis – backing vocals
Chart positions
Notes and References
- Web site: Deming. Mark. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Biography & History. 18 July 2020. AllMusic.
- Web site: Lopez. Samantha. 8 October 2019. 10 Goth-Rock Albums Every Music Fan Should Own. 18 July 2020. Consequence of Sound.
- An Eye For An Eye: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Tender Prey Revisited . Freeman. John. The Quietus. 30 September 2013. 21 December 2016.
- Book: 100 Best Australian Albums. O'Donnell. John. John O'Donnell (music journalist). Creswell. Toby. Toby Creswell. Mathieson. Craig. Craig Mathieson. Hardie Grant Books. October 2010. Prahran, Victoria. 978-1-74066-955-9.
- Book: Tracee Hutchison . Tracee Hutchison . Your Name's On The Door. 183. 1992 . ABC Enterprises . Sydney . 0-7333-0115-0.
- Album by Album with Nick Cave . Dwyer . Michael . . 550. 41. Tilmond Pty Ltd . July 1998. Sydney, NSW.
- Web site: From AC/DC to Indigenous languages, ten new titles added to the National Registry of Recorded Sound. 30 August 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130515134436/http://www.nfsa.gov.au/about/media/releases/2012/08/27/acdc-indigenous-languages-ten-new-titles-added-national-registry-recorded-sound/. 15 May 2013.
- Web site: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | Artist. Official Charts Company. British Phonographic Industry. 30 September 2014.
- Web site: Indie Hits: "C". https://web.archive.org/web/20110606125710/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/c.htm. Cherry Red. Lazell. Barry. 6 June 2011 . 30 September 2014.
