However without the option to vote for the last two BParty eps combined, I chose The Firstborn, Your Funeral, Tender Prey, Henry's Dream, and Eternity.
Five? OK. But in no particular order: Junkyard Let Love In Abattoir Blues/ Lyre Of Orpheus Grinderman Push The Sky Away I find something to like in all proper Cave albums - I totally haven't heard all the soundtracks - but these five choices are albums I kept and keep returning to most frequently. Do I like "The Boatmans Call"? Absolutely. Do I feel the need to revisit it any time soon? Probably not. The older I'm getting the more poignant the two Grinderman records are becoming.
At the moment Henry's Dream is the most popular one. It feels great after liking the album for decades as an underdog apparently loved by no one.
Interesting that The Boatman's Call, often automatically trumpeted by many critics etc as his 'best', hasn't got a higher vote share here.
Henry’s Dream No More Shall We Part Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus Push The Sky Away Skeleton Tree
Let Love In The Boatman’s Call No More Shall We Part Push The Sky Away Carnage but I could change my mind tomorrow, love most of them!
My top two were easy calls: Let Love In Abattoir/Orpheus The other 3 were difficult because Nick’s never made a bad album.
Yeah I suspect your thread is catching real Cave aficionados, for whom The Boatman’s Call is either overplayed or “too obvious” a choice to signal true Cave-cred. It makes no sense (to me) to see it neck-and-neck with Murder Ballads, for instance. My view is that, overall, is that The Boatman’s Call is still his masterpiece, but I have played it to an inch of its life so it’s hits my ears a lot less these years.
The Boatman’s Call doesn't feature much sense of the 'edgy', punky, rock stuff that many of his fans seem to particularly adore.
Let Love In Murder Ballads The Boatsman's Call Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus Push The Sky Away I also love practically all the other albums and Grinderman
That’s true, good point - as much as I love punk and rock, I personally find some of Cave’s punkier / rocky stuff a shade too baroque / theatrical for my tastes, and prefer his more contemplative and personal material … which I guess explains my Top 5.
