Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus
Chorus has aggregated 18 professional reviews, but a stable score is still being formed.
Hiding All Away is best because its finale moves from queasy funk to full-on hellfire, a breathtaking reversal.
Shared criticism is still limited across the current review sample.
Best for listeners looking for return to form and dark humor.
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Track Ratings
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 18 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds return with Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus, a double album that bristles with invention and grotesque humour. The reviewer's voice delights in the shocks of “Hiding All Away” and the gleeful absurdity of “Abattoir Blues”, arguing these are among the best tracks on Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus because they capture both menace and mischief. Cave's sly wit and cinematic violence mean the best songs - notably “Hiding All Away” and “Abattoir Blues” - feel like a unique return to form. The record often surprises, shifting from queasy funk to full-on brimstone, which makes its standout tracks feel vital and unpredictable.
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Hiding All Away is best because its finale moves from queasy funk to full-on hellfire, a breathtaking reversal.
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Critic's Take
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds return with Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus, a double set where the best tracks crystallise the record's two poles: the gospel-fuelled fury of “Abattoir Blues” and the pensive storytelling of “The Lyre of Orpheus”. Raziq Rauf's prose repeatedly evokes the choir, the howl and the atmosphere, arguing that “Abattoir Blues” brings gospel to the fore while “The Lyre of Orpheus” perfects the tale-being-told mood. This double release feels like a packaged masterpiece, each side offering its own best tracks and rewards on repeated listens.
Key Points
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The best song is “Abattoir Blues” because it 'brings gospel to the fore' and channels guttural blues with conviction.
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The album's core strength is its duality: ferocious gospel-inflected rock opposite a mellow, tale-driven, atmospheric companion.
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Critic's Take
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' double set Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus is at its best when it marries bombast to tenderness, as on “Get Ready for Love” and the closing “O Children”. Murphy's prose delights in the record's theatricality, praising the gospel-punk blast of “Get Ready for Love” and the choir-powered redemption of “O Children” while admitting the odd misfire. He frames the album as a high-wire act between piety and depravity, and that tension yields the best tracks and most memorable moments.
Key Points
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The best song, "O Children", succeeds by transcending inspirational clichés with a stirring full-chorus performance.
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The album's core strength is its dramatic tension between piety and depravity, amplified by gospel textures and cinematic lyrics.
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Critic's Take
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds sound at their most imposing on Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus, and the review points to a few best songs that justify that claim. The critic calls “Get Ready for Love” "one of the greatest songs of Cave’s 26-year career," praising its torrential rocker propulsion and gospel climax. He highlights “Hiding All Away” for its lurching riff and paranoid, Dylanesque verses, and singles out “There She Goes, My Beautiful World” as a roaring, name-dropping plea to a muse. The quieter title track “The Lyre of Orpheus” and other slow numbers are noted as more pretentious, but the gospel-fueled highs make these the best tracks on the album in the reviewer’s account.
Key Points
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The best song is “Get Ready for Love” because the reviewer calls it one of Cave’s greatest and praises its torrential, gospel-driven power.
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