Henry's Dream [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Nick Cave

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 13, 1996)
• Original Release Date: May 12, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Mute U.S.
• ASIN: B000003Z4A
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,841 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
It's been reported that Nick Cave hates Henry's Dream. While it is deeply flawed, especially by Cave's formidable standards, he's being unnecessarily hard on this 1992 collection. Aside from any other considerations, it contains "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry," a rumbling gospel epic that remains a concert highlight, and "Straight to You," an exquisite devotional ballad. It is an odd album, however. Just when its predecessor, The Good Son, seemed to hint that Cave had accepted his natural facility for performing heroically overwrought ballads, Henry's Dream is a partial return to the gloomy Old Testament portents of "Your Funeral My Trial" and "First Born Is Dead." That's no problem--"Christina the Astonishing" and "Brother My Cup Is Empty" are especially fine. But it leaves Henry's Dream feeling rather like it's two halves of separate, half-finished albums. --Andrew Mueller

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sheer Insanity!!, March 28, 2002

By	Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The more I listen to Nick Cave, the more I am convinced of his genius. It is reported by the industry reviewer that Cave does not like this album. Well, thank God that he made it!
I am astonished and thrilled by the energy, rage and darkness of this album. The cuts Papa Won't Leave You Henry, I Had A Dream Joe, and Brother My Cup Is Empty really get the adrenaline pumping. Then the CD segues into an eerie Christina the Astonishing that reminds me in its sepulchral quasi-religious tone of Geronimo Trevino's Maria Consuelo.
When I First Came To Town is a melancholy ballad that whispers darkly of rejection and of revenge to come. Then comes John Finn's Wife, a tense and sexy story whose cast of characters seems straight out of a spaghetti western.
Of the two romantic songs on the CD, The Loom of the Land is the most haunting. But the romantic feeling it engenders is suddenly dashed as the album closes with the anti-romantic Jack the Ripper. But, hey, I know guys married to women like the one in the song.
Henry's Dream is a must-own album for Nick Cave fans. I like it as much as Murder Ballads and Let Love In. It is deep, it is wild, and it is sheer insanity. Buy it today!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cave and the Seeds - their most direct and powerful songs, May 6, 2000

By	Kent D. Kelly "darkseraphim" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are the epitome of quality music infused with such an unmistakable, overpowering signature that you end up either loving or hating them in the first 30 seconds of the first song. Anyone put off by literary theatrics, sardonic humor, or overwhelming darkness and passion will probably scream "Enough!" before the first song's even over. And Henry's Dream is the acid test - if you love Cave, here he is at his finest; and barring live performances, this is the finest work the Seeds have ever done. The works here range from throttling hysteria (I Had A Dream, Joe) to alluring, poetic ballads (Loom of the Land). What most impresses is how each song's details, filled with pathos, give you an insight into the workings of human emotion. The funniest and most pathetic moments (such as in Christina the Astonishing, when the delerious woman springs awake at her own funeral) are followed by the most profound revelations. It's really hard to explain - but if you can endure the diametric opposition of crude, vivid pulp and the beauty of the sublime, here you've found a home. This is very challenging music, but fun, enlightening, and rewarding as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Papa won't leave you Henry, January 27, 2000

By	DOMAGOJ MIKAC (ZAGREB, CROATIA) - See all my reviews

For me this is the best album by Nick Cave and the Bad seeds. I've had this CD since 1992. when it was recorded and it's absolutely fantastic. The songs like "Papa, won't leave you Henry", "Brother, my cup is empty" and romantic "The loom of the land" are one of the most powerfull Cave's songs. Vigorous, vulgar and romantic all completely wonderful. Listen it obligatorily!