Product Description

The fourteenth studio album from Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds transports the biblical character of the title to contemporary New York, as well as drawing inspiration from escapologist Harry Houdini. Featuring the majority of his usual personnel in The Bad Seeds (including violinist Warren Ellis and organist/pianist Conway Savage), 'Dig, Lazarus, Dig' displays a rawer, more garage-inspired rock sound closer to Cave's side-project Grinderman. The lead single (and title track) displays the kind of meandering wordplay and subversive narratives that Nick Cave has become notable for.

Track Listing

1. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
2. Today's Lesson
3. Moonland
4. Night Of The Lotus Eaters
5. Albert Goes West
6. We Call Upon The Author
7. Hold On To Yourself
8. Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)
9. Jesus Of The Moon
10. Midnight Man
11. More News From Nowhere

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1674 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks

Amazon.co.uk Review
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! finds Nick Cave back at the helm of his long-term band The Bad Seeds after some impressive soundtrack work--2005's The Assassination of Jesse James--and a busman's holiday in the raw, rocking Grinderman. As the title suggests, Lazarus finds Cave returning to familiar themes of God and redemption, although some of the raw poise and wild-eyed humour that resurfaced in Grinderman remains: take the opening title track, which retells the Biblical story of the resurrection of Lazarus as transposed onto the sleazy, poverty-stricken backdrop of modern-day New York City. Musically, the likes of "Moonland" and "Night of the Lotus Eaters" have a swampy feel, all skittering drums, simmering bass and smoky organ riffs; elsewhere, there are rockers that tie on dissonant guitars without losing their dissonant touch ("Lie Down Here"). Probably the album highlight comes with "We Call Upon the Author", a sprawling, "Sister Ray"-like chugger that shows off Cave's skill for magnificent, sung-shouted narratives: "Now mixamatoid kids roam the streets, we've shunned them from the greasy grind/The poor little things, they look so sad and old as they mount us from behind". --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Resurrection Joe
To say Nick Cave isn't the force he once was, is like saying Vlad the Impaler had minor anger management issues. Glories LONG gone, he's resorting to loose balladeering and conventional rock in a vain and desperate attempt to disguise the fact he's got nothing new to say and should've given up on this music thing a long time ago.
A new Nick Cave album is cause for despair, where once it was cause for celebration. Ok, you can't go on re-living past triumphs (ask Morrissey) but the guy must have SOME of that early threat and purpose kicking around somewhere. Where's the gusto and urgency that drove classics like 'Nick the Stripper' or 'Mr Clarinet' ?
He's become a rock dullard, a pale imitation, a caricature of all he once meant.
He's got a hopeless band together. The keyboard player looks like Bob the Murderer off 'Twin Peaks' and the rest of them try ham-fistedly to be eccentric, playing at being rock misfits in a Beefheartian sense, but the sad drone of long departed inspiration means the sound is a resounding mis-fire.
Like a once-proud wild animal that's become old, and needing to be put out of it's misery, Cave is a sorry sight. He tries vainly; 'Jesus of the Moon' is appalling, melody-less and uninspired. 'Midnight Man' is unco-ordinated pseudo HM dreck, in dire need of some serious oomph and pazzaz. Each song is asleep on it's feet, and finally, laboriously, drag 'Dig!! Lazarus Dig!!' sorrowfully along to it's spiritless, uninteresting conclusion.
The spark's gone. It went a long time ago, and what we're left with is lazy MOR for the less discerning 'alternative' masses. Cave always seemed close to breaking point, never far from the loony-bin, and his music reeked of that creative morbid intensity. But he doesn't need his straight-jacket any more. He's a summer season, woolly jumper and fabric softener man now.
I bet he even does requests....

You should know what to expect
When I say you should know what to expect, you know what I mean. You know this album will be brilliant and you know it will sound like 'a Nick Cave album', in other words, Nick Cave sings on it and it sounds as emotive, dark, poetic and different as anything you've heard before...

it doesn't disappoint.

One comment I'd make is that the sounds of the more recent albums, including the beautiful ballads of the Boatmans Call and No More Shall We Part have, to a certain degree, changed direction towards the electric energy most recently seen with side project Grinderman.

If you're a fan of his more traditional Boatman's Call sound, you may be disappointed, although there's enough variation here to please everyone. If you're more sane and love everything he does equally, you'll love it.

Rock Album Of The Year
I am 16 years old and have been a Nick Cave fan for 2 years and this has to be one of the best "prog rock" albums of all time. Cave is obviously a rather witty person and we here this with such lyrics as "spent the next seven years between her legs begging for my wife."The Bad Seeds play very well behind Nick Cave with Mick Harvey in great form on lead guitar and the wonderful warren ellis playing violin and such things leading the band on to Nick Cave's superb vocals on every song especially "We call upon the author" the complete stand out in a world class and all time classic rock album and the best and most mature of NC's career so far and long may it continue.