The Birthday Party (Nick Cave): Live 81-82 (2LP) [4AD]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set comes in a gatefold jacket, with the London show on the first record. Record Collector called it a vital addendum to the pioneering Aussies' work, and the cover of "Fun House" is a relentless eight-minute thrash.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Gatefold jacket
• CD included

About the album

Nick Cave fans who know him as a crooner of murder ballads are in for a shock. Before the Bad Seeds there was the Birthday Party, a band of young Australians who moved to London and set about frightening it, and on stage they were something else entirely. This double album was the first full-length live record the band themselves approved.

Ten tracks come from The Venue in London on 26 November 1981, six from the Aladin in Bremen in July 1982 and the finale from Athens that September. Cave howls and prowls, Rowland S. Howard's guitar shrieks, Tracy Pew's bass throbs underneath, and Phill Calvert and Mick Harvey handle drums. "King Ink," "Zoo-Music-Girl," "Big-Jesus-Trash-Can" and "Dead Joe" sound more feral than they do in the studio, and Jim Thirlwell turns up on saxophone to help the band maul "Fun House" to the finish line.

Exclaim! said it captures pure chaos and finds the band at their peak. The tapes came from Mick Harvey's private collection, assembled with help from Henry Rollins, which is a bit like having a bouncer personally vouch for the volume.

Also at Kops: more The Birthday Party on vinyl · browse Industrial & Goth

Tracklist

Listen

On 4AD (cat# CAD 9005), a reissue of the 1999 live album.