After internal conflicts, the Birthday Party broke up. Members Nick Cave and Mick Harvey put together a pretty impressive collection of talent with Barry Adamson, Blixa Bargeld (Einstürzende Neubauten) and JG Thirwell (Foetus, Steroid Maximus, Manorexia etc.). The line-up eventually pared down somewhat and started cranking out the albums, evolving towards the Bad Seeds' particular blend of delta-blues, murder ballads and goth-gospel.
"Henry's Dream" was their seventh release. Reportedly Cave didn't enjoy the recording process for it himself, but the result is pretty arresting. It's like some giant apocalyptic catastrophe hits during the pulsing, unrelenting acoustic first track, with its dark imagery building to include "lynch mobs/death squads/babies being born without brains". In the aftermath of this event there are those cracked, dry and broken ("Brother my cup is empty"), wandering around the world ("When I first came to town"), but there is also the chance for redeeming love ("Straight to you").
I love the bad seeds, but I have to say that a few of their albums (this one included) tend to lag a bit towards the end. I find the last couple of tracks to be less interesting than what has preceded them. Not bad, just not up to the standard of the rest of the album.
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