The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds explained

The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Type:	greatest
Artist:	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Cover:	ThebestofNickCave.jpg
Released:	11 May 1998 (UK) 26 May 1998 (US)
Recorded:	1983–1997
Length:	75:38
Label:	Mute Records
Producer:	Nick Cave, Flood, David Briggs, Tony Cohen, Victor Van Vugt, The Bad Seeds
Prev Title:	The Boatman's Call
Prev Year:	1997
Next Title:	No More Shall We Part
Next Year:	2001

The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is a compilation album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 11 May 1998.

Cave asked each of the Bad Seeds, past and present, to choose their favourite tracks from the ten albums—their lists would then be discussed until a final list was produced. Only guitarist and founding Bad Seed Mick Harvey responded, and it is his listing, unchanged, that makes up The Best Of.

As of 2001 the album has sold 500,000 copies worldwide.^[1]

Track listing

1. "Deanna" – 3:36
2. "Red Right Hand" (Single Version) – 4:48
3. "Straight to You" – 4:35
4. "Tupelo" (Single Version) – 5:12
5. "Nobody's Baby Now" – 3:53
6. "Stranger Than Kindness" – 4:42
7. "Into My Arms" – 4:14
8. "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" – 4:06
9. "The Carny" – 8:01
10. "Do You Love Me?" (Single Version) – 4:37
11. "The Mercy Seat" (Single Version) – 5:08
12. "Henry Lee" (featuring PJ Harvey) – 3:56
13. "The Weeping Song" (Single Version) – 4:20
14. "The Ship Song" (Single Version) – 4:42
15. "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (featuring Kylie Minogue) – 3:57
16. "From Her to Eternity" – 5:32

• Track 16 is taken from the 1984 album From Her to Eternity.
• Track 4 is taken from the 1985 album The Firstborn Is Dead.
• Tracks 6 and 9 are taken from the 1986 album Your Funeral... My Trial.
• Tracks 1 and 11 are taken from the 1988 album Tender Prey.
• Tracks 13 and 14 are taken from the 1990 album The Good Son.
• Track 3 is taken from the 1992 album Henry's Dream.
• Tracks 2, 5 and 10 are taken from the 1994 album Let Love In.
• Tracks 12 and 15 are taken from the 1996 album Murder Ballads.
• Tracks 7 and 8 are taken from the 1997 album The Boatman's Call.

NOTE: Tracks 2, 4, 10, 11, 13 and 14 are the edited single versions (but are not listed as edits in the liner notes).

Special edition

The album was also released as a special edition with a live bonus disc, titled "Live at the Royal Albert Hall", recorded on 19 and 20 May 1997. This bonus CD was later released in 2008 as a regular disk, with four additional tracks and without "The Weeping Song".

1. "Lime Tree Arbour" – 3:42
2. "Stranger Than Kindness" – 5:02
3. "Red Right Hand" – 5:18
4. "I Let Love In" – 4:12
5. "Brompton Oratory" – 3:47
6. "Henry Lee" – 4:00
7. "The Weeping Song" – 4:38
8. "The Ship Song" – 4:12
9. "Where the Wild Roses Grow" – 4:01

Musicians

• Nick Cave – Vocals, Hammond, Organ, Oscillator, Piano, Harmonica, Backing Vocals, String Arrangement
• Blixa Bargeld – Guitar, "Boss Bellini", Backing Vocals, Slide Guitar, "Father" Vocal (on "The Weeping Song")
• Mick Harvey – Drums, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Shaker, Bell, Rhythm Guitar, Extra Piano, Hammond, Bass Guitar, Bass Organ, Backing Vocals, Piano, Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Loops, Vibraphone, Percussion, String Arrangement
• Kid Congo Powers – Guitar
• Martyn P. Casey – Bass, Backing Vocals
• Thomas Wydler – Drums, Timpani, Fish, Backing Vocals, Percussion
• Conway Savage – Piano, Backing Vocals
• Barry Adamson – Drums, Hammond, Backing Vocals, Bass
• Jim Sclavunos – Drums, Bells
• Tex Perkins – Backing Vocals
• Rowland S. Howard – Backing Vocals
• Roland Wolf – Guitar
• Gini Ball – Strings
• Audrey Riley – Strings
• Chris Tombling – Strings
• PJ Harvey – Vocals
• Kylie Minogue – Vocals
• Jen Anderson – Strings
• Sue Simpson – Strings
• Kerran Coulter – Strings
• Helen Mountfort – Strings
• Hugo Race – Guitar

Notes and References

1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Return with New Look at Old Themes. Billboard. 6 April 2001. 6 March 2023.