Customer Reviews

The Life and Music of Nick Cave

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

 

 

This book is so beautiful and the pictures are so superb, that while walking by it in a store, I picked it up and glanced at it - didn't care about price! I was, and am VERY pleased with this book. The bio info is not the best in a Nick Cave book, but there is certainly no other Cave book with such great photos presented so well. I don't think, visually, this will ever be surpassed. If you are a Nick Cave fan, it's worth the price. But for a bio, look elsewhere in Amazon.

The first thing I have to say about this book is this: IT'S HUGE! I never expected it to be so large. The picture of it here at Amazon is misleading. I want other people who purchase this book to realize just what they are getting. The book is more valuable for its pictures rather than its content. It talks mostly about his music and career, breaking down almost every album and song he's done, from the Birthday Party years on up. It gives us some insight into Nick's life, but not nearly enough to satisfy my craving for knowledge. The pictures however, are superb, showcasing him in a more personal light, as we see pictures of him as a child, with his own child, and with the many women who've influenced his work and life. It's well worth the $32 you have to dish out for it. If you're a fan, this is a must have.

I received this book as a gift, with little knowledge of its contents. I was a bit disappointed with the text; as far as a biography of Nick Cave goes, there is not much to offer. I found most of the writing to be the kind of fawning, "aren't-I-clever" music journalist style I dislike. There is little information on Mr. Cave's formative years, and the bulk of the writing focuses on his musical releases (done in that music journalist way, as opposed to actually imparting any information.) However- the photographs are stunning. This is brilliant photography, and I would say I have more of a feel for Nick Cave as an artist from studying the pictures than from reading the text. I found Ian Johnston's biography "Bad Seed" an excellent book for information on the LIFE of Nick Cave, and after reading it, the photos in Maximilian Dax' book were even more meaningful. I'd recommend both books for a more complete look at Nick Cave.

Artist? Hedonist? Rock n Roller? This book reveals Nick as all of these, and yet with his integrity intact. The book places him on his deserved pedestal but still manages to dish up dirt, as told by Nick's detractors from the fickle media circus of the '80s. After reading of his battles and struggles - artistically and with his own demons, I enjoyed his music even more knowing he worked damn hard to be heard. The book sheds light on what he was up against. Filled with intimate photo portraits and quotes from Nick's friends, "Life and Music..." is a lovely biography that leaves you informed, but wanting much more. A lot of the copy is dedicated to disography. I wished for more insight into his personal life, psychologically. Physically, the book is huge and loosely bound, feeling unstable,ready to spill. Much like The Cavester himself perhaps. 4 stars for lack of much interview with Cave personally. But 4 stars for a satisfying peek into his world.

A very good bio for those of us who are interested in the brilliant artist. It provides a rare look at the life of a man who has often been labled as "private" and "enigmatic" through personal photos. The text itself is a brief life overview, short on detailed occurances and anecdotes properly left to bios previously published. But then that is not the point of this bio. The book does succeed at providing the claim of it's title, giving more than a peak at the closed life of Cave and details into the creation of the industries most beautiful and fierce music.

What can I say? If you are a fan of Nick Cave and wish to know more about him, and the events that have shaped him into becoming the best recording artist to debut in the past 20 years or so, buy this book.

I suppose I expected a little more meat in a book of this scope, but in the world of pop music writing substance is often way down the list.
The authors give an overview of Cave's early life and how he came to be involved in music. It does a fairly good job of charting the formation of his first bands, the move to London, the making of the Birthday Party, the years in Berlin, then Cave's meteoric rise at the helm of the Bad Seeds. But overall, the book is only mildly informative and skips around incoherently at times. The quality of the writing is spotty but it still manages to convey some sense of the man and his motivations.
What I didn't like about the book was the author taking a couple of gratuitous cracks at Margaret Thatcher. What does Thatcher have to do with a book about Nick Cave? And do the authors assume that all Nick Cave fans dislike her for some reason? Straying from the subject can be dangerous and in this case is a distraction from the reader gaining an increased understanding of Nick Cave and his music.
What I did like was the photography. The book is packed with great shots of Cave, his friends, family, and colleagues in a variety of situations. If you are a serious fan of Cave's, the book is worth the price for the pics alone.

Poor binding. The pages just fell off. I don't know if it's just my copy. Great pictures though, and a nice, concise biography.

While I haven't delved too deeply into the text, from what I can tell, it leaves a bit to be desired. The written portion of the book isn't too specific and reads like a bland list of what Nick did each year.

However, the reason I bought this book, and the reason I give it four stars anyway, is because of the photographs. The photos are beautiful, chronicling Nick Cave's early years up to just a few years ago. The book is a good, large size, with plenty of photos to suit many Cave fans. If you're looking for a decent written history, I'd look elsewhere, but if it's photos you want, this is definitely worth the money.