Prayers on Fire [Explicit Lyrics, Original recording remastered]

The Birthday Party | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 16, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics, Original recording remastered
• Label: Buddha
• ASIN: B00004T0N7
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,527 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Zoo-Music Girl

2. Cry

3. Capers

4. Nick the Stripper

5. Ho-Ho

6. Figure of Fun

7. King Ink

8. Dead Song

9. Yard

10. Dull Day

11. Just You and Me

12. Blundertown

13. Kathy's Kisses

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Classic CD...., October 9, 2000

By 

Ward (Berkeley CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prayers on Fire (Audio CD)

This album is a work of absolute greatness. Just about every single song is fabulous. There are a few uneven points, like, for instance, "Yard," which in my opinion was a bit too draggy. And the lyrics are sort of... um.... how to say this.... enigmatic. There we go. Despite this, this is one damn damn fine album. It somehow manages to straddle the line between their earlier Boys Next Door records, their major Stooges influence, AND their later gradual metamorphosis into 80's goth rock heroes (as seen on Mutiny and The Bad Seed.) The good massively outweighs the bad in this case, though, and I highly recommend this work to anyone who has not heard the Birthday Party before. A very good introduction to either Hee Haw or Mutiny/The Bad Seed, and probably the best place to start with the Birthday Party. (P.S.: The 'Explicit Lyrics' label is very misleading. I don't know who put it on there, but it doesn't belong. The lyrics are too enigmatic to be 'explicit' anyway.)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal, September 25, 2006

By 

O. Zahzah - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prayers on Fire (Audio CD)

An epochal No-Wave masterpiece, transcended only by its successor, Junkyard. One can see this album as the turning point upon which Nick Cave's sardonic dementia truly began to shine through in his songwriting. Features such indispensable classics as "Dull Day" and "Nick The Stripper", the latter of which is an unflinching take on self-loathing that Kurt Cobain could have learned a lot from. A must-have for all Nick Cave/Birthday Party/No-Wave enthusiasts.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece, December 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Prayers on Fire (Audio CD)

This album was a turning point in rock music, or perhaps even in music in general. It's Mahler's 9th of rock music, and so is all Cave's later work, really. Not that this is "symphonic" music, mind you. It's raw emotion. Violent. Passionate. Yearning. Poetic. Humorous. Angry.

Nick Cave is one of the few original musicians alive today. His lyrics dig into the turbulent male soul unlike any other poet's or writer's of our time. His music is disturbingly beautiful and tender, even when the songs' stories and instrumentation reach near-Apocalyptic levels.

Cave bores a tunnel to the deepest parts of your soul. You may find yourself dancing, screaming along, even crying. It all started with "Prayers on Fire."