Customer Reviews

First Born Is Dead

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Has an album ever had a more exploding `super nova'-like opening song than Nick Cave's second album "The firstborn is dead"?
"Tupelo" is a Godfearing, thundering preach about a lovelorn town that one could find easily in one of the old-testament books. Or could it even exist as a town-soon-to-die in "The revelation of John"?
Nick howls and whispers, both with the same ease, and the Bad Seeds are everlasting present with backing vocals and an extremely well performed musical sideshow.

After the rage comes the quietness. And this moment of quietness and contemplation comes in the form of "Say goodbye to the little girl tree". Tender, joyful and still as sharp as the guitar strings Blixa Bargeld is tipping on.
But as soon as the last notes have floated away, the Bad Seeds accelerate again, whilst Nick is going "Woohoo-hoo!", impersonating the locomotive that carries the pounding song "Train long-suffering".

"Knockin' on Joe" sets the tone for the following album "Your funeral, my trial", giving the audience the feeling they're listening to something old, older at least, not from 1985 when "Firstborn..." was released, but of something further away in time, yet still, or perhaps therefor: timeless.
Also worth mentionning is the Dylan cover "Wanted man", and Nick Cave simply hits the bull's eye with this one, making it totally his own and giving it a tension that remains unbreakable until the last notes.

This album has no weak spots, only good songs and better ones. And one of the most original outputs here is "The six strings that drew blood". Cool, minimal and understated guitar fiddeling, nonchalant whisteling, mesmerising singing, and a surreal story unfolding with every casually dropped line.

Of the early Bad Seeds albums, this one is by far the most memorable, being a carefully build bridge between the experimental and the lyrical.
Smokey, smoking, mystifying. Music to slowly die by.

After the punk and righteous hip hop of the early 80's, things started to get a little rough for music, so a lot of people say...they have not listened to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds THE FIRSTBORN IS DEAD. This is the kind of album that could have come out in the 1950's or yesterday, and it would still be great. Actually, it is the timelessness of Cave's music that seems to draw a lot of his fans.

This album is so experiemental that it will blow your mind, but it is by no means silly. The guitar work and musicianship in general is of the highest caliber. You really can't go wrong with a Bad Seeds album, but if you don't own this one and you're a fan, I suggest buying it. It will give you a whole new perspective of where this guy comes from.

It includes a cover of Dylan's "Wanted Man" that makes every other cover of the song sound childish. "The Six Strings that Drew Blood," my personal fav, is a dark western-blues jam that reminds you of a heroin induced vision of a guitar player. "Tupelo," by far the most "hitworthy" song on the album, is amazing also.

In short, I don't recommend this album to just anyone, but to anyone who owns some newer Cave material who is looking to find more. You won't be disappointed...but give it some time to grow on you, because you may be surprised at just how different his older music is...

Although it's not as wild and frenetic as From Her To Eternity, The Firstborn Is Dead is a more focused effort featuring better overall playing from Cave & The Bad Seeds, and stronger songwriting. Drawing particularly on the deep well of American blues and folklore for this album, rather than Goth obsessions, Cave here has an album that is a bit different, lyrically and musically, from anything else in his catalog. Tupelo is incredible, one of his classic tracks, filled with all kinds of surreal imagery, and a commanding performance brings it across. Wanted Man which was written by Bob Dylan and recorded by Johnny Cash, is covered here, and to great effect. It only further signifies the album's theme. Slow, brooding songs like Knockin' On Joe, Blind Lemon Jefferson (the old blues theme again) and The Six Strings That Drew Blood serve to make this album totally excellent, and a masterpiece of dark imagery. When Cave sings on the Black Crow King "I am the King of nothing", you believe him. A decidedly good second effort.

This would be my personal favorite Nick Cave release. Great, haunting Bargeld twang, coupled with the most evocative lyrics Cave's ever written. The production is so sparse it's agonizing at times, but that's the beauty of the record; its dark, miserable simplicity. A natural progression from "Box for Black Paul", and an all-around great blues record. Buy it, but don't expect any "Birthday Party" lunacy. Expect the sound of an artist changing, stripping things down and creating a mood.

I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that the previous reviewer is mistakenly talking about From Her to Eternity, Cave's first album. The Firstborn is Dead is quite good, though, even if nothing else on it quite matches the greatness of Tupelo.

A good CD indeed. The obvious highlight is the single Tupelo, with its bizarre combination of apolcalyptic imagery and Elvis stuff, but more or less all the songs are good, from Black Crow King to The Six Strings That Drew Blood. Very blues, very good. Buy it.

Nick Cave is a man who has inspired extremes of loyalty. Heralded as a Messiah of Goth during his Birthday Party years in the early '80s, his career as singer-poet with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds has followed a perverse and fascinating road.

Melding Captain Beefheart with bone-hard blues, the record suggested a new melancholy in Nick Cave's writing. First Born Is Dead is all about Nick Cave's obsession with Elvis Presley, as the opening rainstorm of Tupelo bears out. The accents of the American Deep South tangle with grim Biblical imagery of retribution, death and prophecy: Well Saturday gives what Sunday steals/A child is born on his brother's heels/Come Sunday morn the first-born is dead/In a shoebox tied with a ribbon of red.

All right, let's get right down to it..."Tupelo." I mean, even though "Tender Prey" is easily Cave's masterwork, "Tupelo" is by far his greatest song to date. Simultaneously referring to the births of Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley, and Cave himself, the lyrical imagery here is stunning...even, I will admit, better than "The Mercy Seat." Cave's obsession with death and religion working at full force here. (trivia: nick had a twin brother who died at birth...and he was also born with a tail, which was surgically removed immediately after his birth) truth? fiction? who can even draw the line here? Brilliant.

Don't not give this a try based on the other reviews, especially if you've discovered Nick lately. This was the first album I bought of his (woops, betraying my age!) and it definately stands up. I love his later stuff too, but to really understand the changing trajectory of his songwriting and style, this album, with its reinvented Delta blues, is crucial. "Tupelo" and "Say goodbye to the little girl tree" rank in my top 10 Nick songs ever, and "Knocking on Joe" is so chilling it's hard to listen to: Wonderful!

Tupelo is the greatest song ever , The band sounds like thunder and Nick`s voice is at the best.At first there is no beauty here but it comes slowly under your skin. This song will never let you down. The rest is not that good , but it is so strange and wellplayed , you cant miss it!