| From Her to Eternity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1984 | |||
| Recorded | September–October 1983 and March 1984 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:32 | |||
| Label | Mute | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology | ||||
| ||||
From Her to Eternity is the debut studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in May 1984 by Mute Records. Produced by Flood and the band itself, the album's title is a pun on James Jones' debut novel, From Here to Eternity (1951), and its subsequent 1953 film adaptation.
After the break-up of Nick Cave's former band the Birthday Party, Cave formed a new project with former band member Mick Harvey. Cave and Harvey were joined by a semi-fluid group of bandmates, initially including Einstürzende Neubauten member Blixa Bargeld on guitar, Hugo Race on guitar, and former Magazine member Barry Adamson on guitar, bass, and piano. After some studio work, the band's premiere public performance was held on New Year's Eve, 1983 at the Crystal Ballroom in Melbourne, under the name "Nick Cave – Man or Myth?", followed by a tour. [3] The band then briefly called themselves "Nick Cave and the Cavemen" before adopting the "Bad Seeds" moniker, in reference to the final Birthday Party release, The Bad Seed extended play (EP).
The majority of the album was recorded at Trident Studios in London in March 1984. "Saint Huck", "Wings off Flies" and "A Box for Black Paul" were recorded at The Garden studio (owned by John Foxx of Ultravox) between September and October 1983. JG Thirlwell, an early member of the group, co-wrote "Wings Off Flies" and made uncredited instrumental contributions to the album, but departed early in the recording sessions due to creative disagreements and to work on his own solo material. [4] The band is also seen playing a live performance of the title track in the 1987 Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire . This version, recorded at Hansa Studio, Berlin in February 1987, is included on CD reissues of the album.
Cave later said, "Well, I guess we weren't kicking people in the teeth anymore. I mean, it just became different. I wanted it to be more lyrically orientated and getting Blixa Bargeld from Einstürzende Neubauten in the group made an incredible difference. He's a completely kind of atmospheric guitarist and incredibly economical and it gave me room to breathe." [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| The Guardian |  [1] |
| NME | 6/10 [7] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10 [8] |
| Q | [9] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [10] |
| Select | 4/5 [11] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 [12] |
| Uncut | [13] |
From Her to Eternity has been well received by critics. Trouser Press wrote that while "the album relies less on shock effects than any the Birthday Party ever made, the explosive parts are that much more effective." [14] Chris Long of BBC Music described it as "imperfect, visceral, exciting and, ultimately, classic." [15]
Mat Snow said it was, "one of the greatest rock albums ever made. Dynamic, subtly layered, funny and plain obsessive, From Her To Eternity is the work of a visionary unfettered by worship of the romantic rock'n'roll mythology, and which thus reaches peaks hitherto unscaled." [16]
Pitchfork ranked it 63rd on their list "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s", calling it "ghoulish to the point of ridiculousness, which is the entire point [...their] visceral hyperbole is something powerful, as though we’re hearing humankind’s palm read by a fortune teller with a cockeyed grin and a hand snatching your wallet." [17]
The album was remastered and reissued on 27 April 2009 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set, along with the three subsequent studio albums in the Bad Seeds catalog, namely The Firstborn Is Dead (1985), Kicking Against the Pricks and Your Funeral... My Trial (both 1986). The CD features the original 7-song vinyl LP's track listing, while "In the Ghetto", "The Moon Is in the Gutter", and "From Her to Eternity" (1987 version) are featured as bonus audio tracks on the accompanying DVD, rather than being sequenced into the album as in earlier CD pressings. The DVD also includes music videos from the time and the first installment of 'Do You Love Me Like I Love You', a 14-part documentary by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.
All tracks are written by Nick Cave, unless otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Avalanche" | Leonard Cohen | Cohen | 5:13 |
| 2. | "Cabin Fever!" | Cave |
| 6:11 |
| 3. | "Well of Misery" | 5:25 | ||
| 4. | "From Her to Eternity" |
|
| 5:33 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Saint Huck" | 7:22 | ||
| 6. | "Wings Off Flies" |
|
| 4:06 |
| 7. | "A Box for Black Paul" | 9:42 | ||
| Total length: | 43:32 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Avalanche" | Cohen | Cohen | 5:13 |
| 2. | "Cabin Fever!" | Cave |
| 6:11 |
| 3. | "Well of Misery" | 5:25 | ||
| 4. | "From Her to Eternity" |
|
| 5:33 |
| 5. | "In the Ghetto" | Mac Davis | Davis | 4:06 |
| 6. | "The Moon Is in the Gutter" | 2:36 | ||
| 7. | "Saint Huck" | 7:22 | ||
| 8. | "Wings Off Flies" |
|
| 4:06 |
| 9. | "A Box for Black Paul" | 9:42 | ||
| 10. | "From Her to Eternity" (1987) |
|
| 4:35 |
| Total length: | 54:49 | |||
All personnel credits adapted from From Her to Eternity's album notes, [18] unless otherwise noted.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Technical personnel
Design personnel
| 2009 Collector's Edition Remaster personnel [19]
|
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC) [20] | 40 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) [21] | 1 |
| Chart (2024) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [22] | 171 |
The Birthday Party were an Australian post-punk band, active from 1977 to 1983. The group's "bleak and noisy soundscapes," which drew irreverently on blues, free jazz, and rockabilly, provided the setting for vocalist Nick Cave's disturbing tales of violence and perversion. Their 1981 single "Release the Bats" was particularly influential on the emerging gothic scene. Despite limited commercial success, The Birthday Party's influence has been far-reaching, and they have been called "one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early '80s."
Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Fever Ray, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P. Casey, guitarist George Vjestica, touring keyboardist/percussionist Larry Mullins, also known as Toby Dammit, and drummers Thomas Wydler (Switzerland) and Jim Sclavunos. Described as "one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward", they have released eighteen studio albums and completed numerous international tours.
Blixa Bargeld is a German musician who has been the lead singer of the band Einstürzende Neubauten since its formation in 1980. Bargeld was also a founding member of the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, serving as a member from 1983 until his departure in 2003.
Nocturama is the twelfth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on February 3, 2003 on Mute and ANTI-. Produced by Nick Launay, the album is the last to feature founding member Blixa Bargeld who departed the band shortly after the album's release.
The Firstborn Is Dead is the second studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 3 June 1985 by Mute Records. Produced by the band and Flood, the album saw lead vocalist Nick Cave continue his fascination with the Southern United States, featuring references to Elvis Presley and bluesmen like Blind Lemon Jefferson. The album was recorded in the Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany. Cave later said of the album, "Berlin gave us the freedom and encouragement to do whatever we wanted. We'd lived in London for three years and it seemed that if you stuck your head out of the box, people were pretty quick to knock it back in. Particularly if you were Australian. When we came to Berlin it was the opposite. People saw us as some kind of force rather than a kind of whacky novelty act."
Kicking Against the Pricks is the third studio album released by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. First released in 1986, the album is a collection of Cave's interpretations of songs by other artists. The title is a reference to a biblical quote from the King James Version of the Christian Bible, Acts 26, verse 14.
Your Funeral... My Trial is the fourth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 3 November 1986 by Mute Records. The album was originally released as a double extended play (EP), while also issued on CD with a different running order and the additional track "Scum". During this period in his life, Cave was steeped in heroin addiction, perhaps evidenced by the melancholy, desperate mood of this album. This was the final Bad Seeds album to feature Barry Adamson until he returned for Push the Sky Away (2013).
Anita Louise Lane was an Australian singer-songwriter who was briefly a member of the Bad Seeds with Nick Cave and Mick Harvey and collaborated with both bandmates. Lane released two solo albums, Dirty Pearl (1993) and Sex O'Clock (2001).
Hugo Justin Race is an Australian rock musician and record producer who had been based in Europe from 1989 to 2011. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1983–85), and The Wreckery (1984–89) with Nick Barker and Robin Casinader. As from October 2013 he was simultaneously a member of Hugo Race and the True Spirit, Hugo Race Fatalists, and Dirtmusic. True Spirit have released 12 albums. Race returned to live in Australia in 2011.
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" is a murder ballad by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and pop singer Kylie Minogue. Released in October 1995, it is the fifth song and lead single from the band's ninth studio album, Murder Ballads (1996), released on Mute Records. It was written by the band's frontman, Nick Cave and produced by Tony Cohen and Victor Van Vugt. The accompanying music video was directed by Rocky Schenck.
Tabula Rasa is the sixth full-length studio album by the German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten, released in 1993 through Mute Records worldwide and through the band's own label Potomak in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Haus der Lüge is the fifth full-length studio release by the German band Einstürzende Neubauten, released in 1989 by Rough Trade Records. It was reissued in 2002 by Some Bizzare Records in the U.K., the band's own label Potomak in Europe and Thirsty Ear Recordings in the U.S.
Martyn Paul Casey is an English-born Australian rock bass guitarist. He has been a member of the Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Bass.
Mutiny/The Bad Seed is a compilation album by the Birthday Party. It is compiled from 2 EPs, The Bad Seed recorded in October 1982, and Mutiny! recorded in April and August 1983, and both were released in 1983. The Bad Seed and Mutiny! were released as a compilation in 1989. It is written by Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard, and Tracy Pew.
Einstürzende Neubauten is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld and N.U. Unruh, long-time contributor Alexander Hacke, plus Jochen Arbeit, and Rudolph Moser, who both joined the line-up in 1997.
"The Weeping Song" is a song by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released as a single from their sixth studio album, The Good Son (1990), on 17 September 1990 by Mute Records.
The discography of The Birthday Party, an Australian post-punk band, consists of four studio albums, two live albums, six compilation albums, six extended plays and nine singles. The group began under various names in Melbourne in 1973; formed by vocalist Nick Cave, guitarist Mick Harvey, drummer Phill Calvert, guitarist John Cocivera, bassist Brett Purcell, and saxophonist Chris Coyne —all of whom were students at Caulfield Grammar School. By 1978, following several membership changes, the band consisted of Cave, Harvey and Calvert with bassist Tracy Pew and guitarist Rowland S Howard. Under the name The Boys Next Door, the band released several singles and two studio albums, Door, Door in 1979 on Mushroom Records and The Birthday Party in 1980 on Missing Link Records.
"From Her to Eternity" is a song by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds appearing on their debut studio album From Her to Eternity (1984). The lyrics were written by Nick Cave and Anita Lane, with the music written by Cave, Barry Adamson, Blixa Bargeld, Mick Harvey and Hugo Race and it was recorded in March 1984 at Trident Studios in London.
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