If Skeleton Tree was Nick giving us a glimpse into his heart, Ghosteen is him putting his soul on display. No words can really sum up how this album had made me feel
I personally like this album slightly more than Skeleton Tree, but they’re both 10’s in my book so I’m just happy they are getting/have gotten the praise they deserve.
Ha, I read your review on rateyourmusic, unless there is someone w the exact opinion. The bands output is so expansive and wide ranging, as well as consistent, that different people can hold them in the highest esteem and still have rather divergent opinions on the catalogue. Boatmans Call is probably my favorite album of all time. Its tone is one I’ve never moved away from. Abbatoir/Lyre is the first of theirs I heard and it blew my mind. No More Shall We Part is way up there too. Honorable mentions to Let Love in and Push the sky away. This new one though. It’s as honest as Boatmans, but through imagery in words that does not grow weary. Through that imagery, and the lush ether of the sounds that surround it, this may be one of the most cinematic albums of the past decade. If not a narrative, all the images still build on each other, washing over the brain to build scenes and landscapes full of sky, quiet thunder, and 19th century villagers mourning. Thematically it runs w the same premise that has permeated what I consider their greatest material: the unceasing dichotomy between wonder and reality. Here it is explicit in parts, and actually mostly throughout its entirety. It is a dichotomy that at the end of the album is left unresolved. Or is it? The narrator does not actually seem like he is about to give up on the search for “peace of mind.” Cheers.
I understand where Mark is coming from, but I prefer this to Skeleton Tree. It's a 10/10 for me. It's more cohesive and haunting. The textures are lusciously atmospheric, and the lyrics are some of the most haunting I've ever heard, even if there isn't a single standout track. Cave proves himself to be one of the greatest poets of our generation.
Good review. Fyi - the wavering falsetto in the second half of the song "Hollywood" is supposed to represent a grief-stricken female character singing about her lost child.
Seen him perform most of this album and Carnage in Glasgow last night. Beautiful. Ghosteen is actuall my favourite of the trilogy. Wasn’t that into PTSA & St.
I agree with the comments on structure and sequence, however... These challenges are more than made up for by the texture of beauty and hope. Yes, it shares the grief of ST and the meandering nature of PTSA... but in my opinion it betters these albums through lowering some of the "anger" and "distance", and by welcoming us to join Nick, perhaps not physically, but emotionally. The connection becomes stronger because of this, and the messaging more universal - without any dumbing down... still beautifully poetic and abstract.
Great review! Considering how ambient the album is, i was surprised at how immediate the emotional textures got to me. Are you hyped for the new Elbow album?
Also feeling a 9. It's beautiful and a struggle, so I'm going to sit with it a while more. I think we're on the same level of Nick Cave fandom. I know it's a bit out of your wheelhouse and would be quite the undertaking, but have you ever considered a discography ranking?
spectrum pulse j hope from bts made number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart what if kpop goes to trap music to get a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
spectrum pulse I think people is starting to getting tired of trap music if people want a number one hit on the billboard hot 100 chart people to make a new music genre or be stuck with trap music and also people need to start standing out with there music and nobody is doing it now or days music that is on the billboard hot 100 chart sound the same
