Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace | |
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Starring | Nick Cave |
Cinematography | Robbie Ryan |
Edited by | Nick Emerson |
Music by | Nick Cave |
Distributed by | Trafalgar Releasing [1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 90 minutes (stream) 118 minutes (cinemas) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace is a concert film and live album by Australian musician Nick Cave. It was streamed globally to ticket holders online on 23 July 2020. It was filmed by cinematographer Robbie Ryan and features Cave performing solo on piano at Alexandra Palace in London. Although initially intended to be a one-time-only event, Idiot Prayer was released in extended form in cinemas on 5 November 2020 and as a live album on 20 November 2020.
Idiot Prayer serves as the final film in a trilogy—along with 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) and One More Time with Feeling (2016)—and was described by Cave as "its luminous and heartfelt climax." [2]
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their seventeenth studio album Ghosteen on 4 October 2019. The band announced a 33-date European and UK tour, due to begin on 19 April 2020 in Lisbon, Portugal and conclude on 17 June in Tel Aviv, Israel. [3] An 18-date North American tour, beginning on 16 September in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US and concluding on 17 October in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was also later announced. [4] A month prior to its commencement, it was announced that the European and UK tour was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with all shows rescheduled to later dates in 2021; [5] three months later the North American tour was also cancelled. [6] In lieu of the cancelled shows, Cave recorded a solo performance that June at Alexandra Palace 's West Hall in London. The full performance was streamed globally as a concert film, Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace, on 23 July. It was filmed by cinematographer Robbie Ryan. [7] The production involved significant precautions against the spread of COVID-19. [2]
The film evolved from Cave's 2019 solo Conversations tour, in which he performed stripped down versions of his songs on piano with more of a focus on the lyrics. During the tour, Cave began to consider recording the Conversations versions of his songs in a studio. During the pandemic, he decided to record and film the songs and enlisted cinematographer Robbie Ryan, sound engineer Dom Monks and editor Nick Emerson. Idiot Prayer serves as the final film in a trilogy—along with 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) and One More Time with Feeling (2016)—and was described by Cave as "its luminous and heartfelt climax." [2] It features performances of songs from across the Bad Seeds discography, as well as two songs from Grinderman and a new song entitled "Euthanasia".
Speaking with NME , Robbie Ryan revealed the performance was recorded in one take with two cameras. Ryan also described his role, saying, "It was an interesting process for me, because there was no director really. Nick was the director of sorts, but he wouldn't call himself that. Normally in my world, you get picked by the director and then they run the show. This was different, so Nick was very curious about how we went about it and was very collaborative as to what I thought." [8]
Idiot Prayer was initially marketed as one-time-only event for paying viewers, with no later availability for viewing. [9] [10] However, on 3 September 2020, it was announced that Idiot Prayer would be released as a live album and a concert film. The film is an extended version and features four songs not shown during the livestream. It was released in cinemas on 5 November 2020. The live album was released on 20 November 2020. The live recording of "Galleon Ship" was released as a single on 3 September 2020. [11] [12] The live recording of "Euthanasia" was released as a single on 16 October 2020. [13]
Many viewers of the stream experienced buffering and freezing glitches. Organisers emailed ticket holders to apologise and announced the performance would be put online for those who purchased tickets to view from 24–26 July. [14]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The Daily Telegraph | [15] |
Evening Standard | [16] |
Financial Times | [17] |
The Guardian | [18] |
i | [19] |
The Independent | [20] |
NME | [21] |
The Observer | [22] |
The Times | [23] |
In his review for Rolling Stone , Kory Grow praised Cave's arrangements for bringing "new depth to the songs" and also felt the "stark lighting" complemented each song. [24]
All songs written by Nick Cave, except where noted.
Idiot Prayer (Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace) | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 20 November 2020 | |||
Venue | Alexandra Palace | |||
Length | 83:53 | |||
Label | Bad Seed Ltd. | |||
Nick Cave chronology | ||||
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Singles from Idiot Prayer (Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace) | ||||
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No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Spinning Song" | Cave, Warren Ellis | 1:48 |
2. | "Idiot Prayer" | 3:09 | |
3. | "Sad Waters" | 3:43 | |
4. | "Brompton Oratory" | 3:21 | |
5. | "Palaces of Montezuma" | Martyn P. Casey, Cave, Ellis, Jim Sclavunos | 3:44 |
6. | "Girl in Amber" | Cave, Ellis | 4:31 |
7. | "Man in the Moon" | Casey, Cave, Ellis, Sclavunos | 3:03 |
8. | "Nobody's Baby Now" | 3:57 | |
9. | "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For" | 4:29 | |
10. | "Waiting for You" | Cave, Ellis | 3:02 |
11. | "The Mercy Seat" | Cave, Mick Harvey | 4:55 |
12. | "Euthanasia" | 2:58 | |
13. | "Jubilee Street" | Cave, Ellis | 4:31 |
14. | "Far from Me" | 4:13 | |
15. | "He Wants You" | 2:52 | |
16. | "Higgs Boson Blues" | Cave, Ellis | 6:59 |
17. | "Stranger Than Kindness" | Blixa Bargeld, Anita Lane | 3:33 |
18. | "Into My Arms" | 4:53 | |
19. | "The Ship Song" | 3:08 | |
20. | "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" | 4:31 | |
21. | "Black Hair" | 3:02 | |
22. | "Galleon Ship" | Cave, Ellis | 3:31 |
Total length: | 83:53 |
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 91/100 [25] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Mojo | [26] |
The Philadelphia Inquirer | [27] |
Pitchfork | 8.0/10 [28] |
The Sydney Morning Herald | [29] |
Uncut | 9/10 [30] |
Under the Radar | 6.5/10 [31] |
Andrew Perry of Mojo gave the album a perfect score, writing, "Idiot Prayer is extraordinary, breathtakingly varied within its minimal format, and compelling throughout." [26] Leonie Cooper of Uncut gave the album a 9 out of 10 rating, calling it "the performance of a lifetime." [30]
Under the Radar gave the album a mixed review, writing, "Heartfelt, melancholic tracks such as "Girl in Amber," "Into My Arms," and the spiritual "Galleon Ship" are enriched by Cave's resonant baritone and graceful piano playing. On the flip side, the seminal rocker "Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry," electrically charged "The Mercy Seat," and slow burner "Jubilee Street" just weren’t meant to be heard this way and fall a bit flat." [31]
Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Mojo | The 75 Best Albums of 2020 | 16 |
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA) [33] | 5 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [34] | 3 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [35] | 2 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [36] | 12 |
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) [37] | 46 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [38] | 7 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [39] | 24 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [40] | 15 |
Irish Albums (OCC) [41] | 34 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [42] | 26 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [43] | 7 |
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [44] | 24 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [45] | 6 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [46] | 12 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [47] | 5 |
UK Albums (OCC) [48] | 18 |
Chart (2020) | Position |
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Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [49] | 116 |
Chart (2021) | Position |
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Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [50] | 170 |
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and 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.
Murder Ballads is the ninth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in 1996 on Mute Records. As its title suggests, the album consists of new and traditional murder ballads, a genre of songs that relays the details of crimes of passion.
Let Love In is the eighth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 18 April 1994 on Mute Records.
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus is the thirteenth studio album by the Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 20 September 2004 on Mute Records. It is a double album of seventeen songs.
From Her to Eternity is the debut studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in May 1984 on Mute. Produced by Flood and the band itself, the album's title is a pun on the James Jones novel, From Here to Eternity, and its subsequent 1953 film adaptation.
The Boatman's Call is the tenth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in 1997. The album is entirely piano-based, alternately somber and romantic in mood, making it a marked departure from the bulk of the band's post-punk catalogue up to that point. The Boatman's Call remains one of the most critically acclaimed releases of Nick Cave's career.
Live Seeds is the first official live album by Australian post-punk band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The album was recorded live from 1992 to 1993, at various concerts throughout Europe and Australia, at the touring stage promoting their previous studio album, Henry's Dream. Nick Cave wanted to give the songs a raw feeling as originally intended before production problems occurred. Live Seeds includes a not previously studio-recorded track, "Plain Gold Ring", which is a cover of a song performed by Nina Simone.
"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.
Live at Massey Hall 1971 is a live album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young. Released in 2007, the album features a solo acoustic performance by Young at Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 19 January 1971 during his Journey Through the Past Solo Tour. It is the second release in Young's Archives Performance Series.
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! is the fourteenth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The album was recorded in June and July 2007 at The State of the Ark Studios in Richmond, London and mixed by Nick Launay at British Grove Studios in Chiswick, and was released on 3 March 2008.
Dirty Three are an Australian instrumental rock band, consisting of Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White (drums), which formed in 1992. Their 1996 album Horse Stories was voted by Rolling Stone as one of the top three albums of the year. Two of their albums have peaked into the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Ocean Songs (1998) and Toward the Low Sun (2012). During their career they have spent much of their time overseas when not performing together. Turner is based in Melbourne, White lives in New York, and Ellis in Paris. Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described them as providing a "rumbling, dynamic sound incorporated open-ended, improvisational, electric rock ... minus the jazz-rock histrionics". In October 2010, Ocean Songs was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.
Push the Sky Away is the fifteenth studio album by the Australian band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 18 February 2013 on the band's own label Bad Seed Ltd. Recorded at La Fabrique in southern France, with producer Nick Launay, it is the band's first album not to feature founding member Mick Harvey, who departed from the band in January 2009. The release also marked the return of founding member Barry Adamson, making his first album appearance since Your Funeral... My Trial (1986), and was the last to feature keyboardist and pianist Conway Savage, prior to his death in 2018.
Live from KCRW is the fourth live album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 29 November 2013 on Bad Seed Ltd. The album features a live radio session recorded for KCRW on 18 April 2013 at Apogee Studio in Los Angeles, California, United States. The session, which featured a stripped-down line-up performing songs from the band's back catalogue and their most recent release, Push the Sky Away (2013), was recorded by Bob Clearmountain.
Skeleton Tree is the sixteenth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 9 September 2016 on Bad Seed Ltd. A follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed album Push the Sky Away (2013), Skeleton Tree was recorded over 18 months at Retreat Recording Studios in Brighton, La Frette Studios in La Frette-sur-Seine and Air Studios in London. It was produced by Nick Cave, Warren Ellis and Nick Launay. During the sessions, Cave's 15-year-old son, Arthur, died from an accidental fall. Most of the album had been written at the time of Cave's son's death, but several lyrics were amended by Cave during subsequent recording sessions and feature themes of death, loss, and personal grief.
Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is a compilation album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 5 May 2017.
Distant Sky: Live in Copenhagen is an extended play by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 28 September 2018 on Bad Seed Ltd. Containing four tracks from a performance at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2017, the EP was preceded by a concert film of the same name directed by David Barnard. Critical response to Distant Sky: Live in Copenhagen was unanimously positive and the EP charted worldwide, reaching number one on the United Kingdom's Vinyl Albums chart.
Ghosteen is the seventeenth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 4 October 2019 on Ghosteen Ltd and on 8 November 2019 on Bad Seed Ltd, both the band's own imprints. Ghosteen is a double album—the band's first since Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)—and the final part of a trilogy of albums that includes Push the Sky Away (2013) and Skeleton Tree (2016).
Carnage is a 2021 studio album by Australian musicians Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Longtime collaborators in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman, Carnage is their first full-length studio album as a duo, apart from their extensive work in film music. It was recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown and released digitally on 25 February 2021 via Goliath Records, with a CD and vinyl release on 28 May 2021, but was pushed back to 18 June 2021.
B-Sides & Rarities Part II is a compilation album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 22 October 2021. It is the sequel to the band's 2005 compilation B-Sides & Rarities and features 13 years of the band's B-sides and previously unreleased tracks spanning the years 2006–2019.
This is the discography of Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave. In addition to his career as lead singer of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, he has released 1 studio album, 11 soundtrack albums, 1 extended play, 2 short soundtracks, 3 singles, 3 live albums, and 1 compilation album. Since 2005, the majority of his work has been written & recorded in collaboration with Bad Seeds member and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis.