Tender Prey (Remastered)

iTunes Review

With each new studio release, Nick Cave transformed his sound without actually changing his approach. The Bad Seeds line-up constantly altered and the addition here of former Gun Club guitarist Kid Congo Powers and multi-instrumentalist Roland Wolf creates a more full-bodied attack. The spartan barbarism of Cave's earlier work gives way to a moderate civility as Cave finds the middle ground between his voodoo moans and his con-artist croon. He'll never be mistaken for a polished interpreter; he misses too many notes. But he sings suave for the piano ballads ("Watching Alice," "Slowly Goes the Night") that have become more frequent, gives it his spirited all for the drunk-at-the-pulpit exaltation of "New Morning" and gets quite agitated for the garage rock bump of "Deanna." However, the obvious masterwork here is "The Mercy Seat." At seven minutes, the song steadily builds in nervous tension as a man on death row recounts his march to the electric chair while Cave's Hammond organ wavers in defeat as the string section heightens the cinematic drama and Cave's multiple vocal parts arouse an even greater sense of unease.