Prayers on Fire | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 6 April 1981 | |||
Recorded | December 1980 – January 1981 | |||
Studio | A.A.V. Studio 2 and Richmond Recorders, Melbourne, Australia | |||
Genre | Post-punk | |||
Length | 36:06 | |||
Label | Missing Link | |||
Producer | Tony Cohen, the Birthday Party | |||
The Birthday Party chronology | ||||
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Prayers on Fire is the debut studio album by Australian rock group the Birthday Party, released on 6 April 1981 on the Missing Link label in Australia, later licensed to the 4AD label. This was the band's first full-length release on an international record label and the first after changing the group's name from the Boys Next Door to the Birthday Party. It was recorded at Armstrong's Audio Visual Studios in Melbourne and Richmond Recorders in the nearby suburb of Richmond, between December 1980 and January 1981.
In February 1980 Melbourne-based new wave group, the Boys Next Door, changed their name to the Birthday Party. [1] They consisted of the same lineup of Phill Calvert on drums, Nick Cave on vocals, Mick Harvey on guitar and organ, Rowland S. Howard on guitar and Tracy Pew on bass guitar. [1] They relocated to London and signed with the 4AD label which issued the extended play, The Friend Catcher in the United Kingdom. In July, their Australian label, Missing Link Records, released "Mr Clarinet" from the EP as a single. [1] In November, Missing Link released the album, The Birthday Party / The Boys Next Door, which combined previously unreleased material with tracks that has been issued under the Boys Next Door name. [1]
Also in November 1980, the Birthday Party returned to Australia and toured. [1] According to Australian music historian, Ian McFarlane, "It was during this time that the band cemented its reputation as a peerless live act, with its omnipresent influence settling over the Melbourne scene". [1] On 6 April 1981 they issued the album and followed in June with its lead single, "Nick the Stripper". [1] The group returned to London. [1]
Members of Melbourne post-punk band Equal Local contributed the brass section to "Nick the Stripper" – tenor saxophonist Mick Hauser was mis-credited as "Mick Hunter". Equal Local had formed in 1980 by Dean Richards on guitar, Philip Jackson on synthesisers, trumpet and rhythm generator, Melissa Webb on synthesiser and piano, Bryce Perrin on acoustic bass, and Hauser. [2] Richards and Jackson were bandmates from the post-punk group Whirlywirld and contemporaries of the Boys Next Door. [2] Equal Local disbanded in early 1982. [2]
In Melbourne, in December 1980 and January 1981, they joined engineer and producer, Tony Cohen, in Armstrong's Audio Visual Studios (A.A.V. Studio 2) and Richmond Recorders, to record their tracks. [1] Music journalist, Toby Creswell, noted that the band "struggled with creating their own identity some of them also began indulging an appetite for alcohol and heroin". [3] Cave was embarrassed by "Zoo Music Girl" but noted "we were digging for something and we kind of just found it with some songs" and cited "King Ink" as an example of "a certain kind of sound that we wanted to work with on records after that". [3] Eight of the eleven tracks on Prayers on Fire were written or co-written by Cave, "[it] was a kind of reaction to the major disappointments we felt when we went to England... [we] began to see a vision and I don't think we were positively influenced ... we didn't want to be like the English New Wave pop groups of the time". [3] Pew observed "[it] stinks, quite honestly ... The engineer slept through the entire session for a start". [3]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
About.com | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Austin Chronicle | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Great Rock Discography | 8/10[ citation needed ] |
MusicHound Rock | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ondarock | 8/10 [7] |
Record Mirror | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [10] |
About.com's Anthony Carew felt Prayers on Fire was able to "capture the qualities of their infamous live-shows on record ... the evocatively-produced set dared dress key cuts in blaring brass; giving a sense of perverted-cabaret to their mordant racket, turning Cave from nihilist, self-destructive savant to theatrical, flamboyant showman". [4] AllMusic's Greg Maurer found "a fascination with the dark, (self-)destructive side of religion is more than evident in his later work... While there might not be any of the explicit Biblical imagery on [the album] that Cave would later ejaculate, the title ... is apt". [5] Ian McFarlane stated it showed the band was "irrevocably and unashamedly changing for the better, being more aggressive than anything they had ever recorded". [1] SoundStageDirect described it as "a creepy carnival of tribal rhythms, wonky discordance and garbled surrealism". [11] Music critic Ed St John summarised, "this is an expression which ebbs out beyond the confines of proficiently played music ... [it] is akin to watching a film of Jackson Pollock painting or listening to Dylan Thomas in full alcoholic flight". [3]
The track "Ho-Ho" is featured in the 2004 German film, Head-On .
Publication/Source | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
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Neil Strauss | US | The 100 Most Influential Alternative Albums | 1993 | - [12] |
Sounds | UK | The Top 80 Albums from the '80s | 1989 | 43[ citation needed ] |
The Guardian | UK | 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die | 2007 | - [13] |
Uncut | UK | The 100 Greatest Debut Albums | 2006 | 93 [14] |
The Ultimate Record Collection - The 1980's | 2018 | - [15] | ||
Rockdelux | Spain | The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s | 1990 | 57 [16] |
Rolling Stone Australia | Australia | The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s | 1990 | 33[ citation needed ] |
Triple J | Australia | Hottest 100 Australian Albums | 2015 | 66 [17] |
Paste | US | The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums | 2016 | 37 [18] |
PopMatters | US | The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums Ever | 2017 | 41 [19] |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music by | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Zoo-Music Girl" | Nick Cave | Rowland S. Howard | 2:38 |
2. | "Cry" | Cave | Cave | 2:42 |
3. | "Capers" | Genevieve McGuckin | Howard | 2:39 |
4. | "Nick the Stripper" | Cave | Cave | 3:52 |
5. | "Ho-Ho" | Howard | McGuckin | 3:07 |
6. | "Figure of Fun" | Cave | Cave, Howard | 2:48 |
7. | "King Ink" | Cave | Cave, Howard | 4:41 |
8. | "A Dead Song" | Anita Lane | Cave | 2:13 |
9. | "Yard" | Cave | Cave | 5:04 |
10. | "Dull Day" | Howard | Howard | 3:04 |
11. | "Just You and Me" | Cave | Mick Harvey | 2:03 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music by | Length |
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12. | "Blundertown" | Howard | Howard | 3:10 |
13. | "Kathy's Kisses" | Cave | Cave | 4:05 |
Chart (1981) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [21] | 96 |
UK Independent Albums (Record Business) [22] | 4 |
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."
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.
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).
Tuff Monks were a short-lived band consisting of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Rowland S. Howard with Robert Forster, Lindy Morrison and Grant McLennan. Their only release was the 1982 7" 45 rpm single "After the Fireworks", on the Australian label, Au Go Go Records. The lead track was co-written by Cave, Forster and McLennan.
The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band. They were formed in late 1980 by Dave Graney on lead vocals, Clare Moore on drums and Steve Miller on guitar, all from punk group the Sputniks. They added bass guitarist Chris Walsh in early 1981, and in April 1983 added guitarist Mick Turner. They issued their sole studio album, Thirsty's Calling, in April 1984. Turner left in January 1985 and the group disbanded in 1987.
Michael John Harvey is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Phillip Calvert is an Australian rock drummer and producer best known for his playing in the post-punk band The Birthday Party with Nick Cave.
Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career.
Missing Link Records was an Australian-based independent record label established in 1977. The Missing Link label was created by Keith Glass and David Pepperell who were the owners of a Melbourne record store of the same name. The name was taken from a 1960s Australian rock band, The Missing Links. The label's initial releases were two retrospective 7-inch singles, "The Ultimate Garage Band" by The Union and "Living in the 60's" by Cam-Pact, both of which band from the 1960s that the owners had respectively performed with. Following a few more releases Pepperell departed and the label took on a new contemporary release program to reflect the punk-new wave movement of the late 1970s. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, "[it] was a cornerstone organisation on Melbourne's independent scene of the late 1970s". The label became influential through the release of both Australian and overseas material, scoring a top 20 hit single with the local release of The Flying Lizards kitchen electronic version of "Money" (1979), when it was passed over by Festival Records.
Anthony Lawrence Cohen was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he had followed Cave to London and then onto Berlin, in January 1987, to continue to work on their material. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994 Cohen won Producer of the Year for The Cruel Sea's second album, The Honeymoon Is Over. At the 1995 ceremony he won Producer of the Year and Engineer of the Year for the Cruel Sea's Three Legged Dog. Cohen had been a long-term alcohol and drug user, his health deteriorated in the 2010s and he died in 2017 at Dandenong Hospital, aged 60. In November 2017 he was posthumously inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame.
Junkyard is the third studio album by Australian post-punk group the Birthday Party. It was released on 10 July 1982 through the label 4AD in the UK and through Missing Link Records in Australia. It was the group's last full-length studio recording. It has received critical acclaim.
Tracy Franklin Pew was an Australian musician, and bassist for The Birthday Party. He was later a member of The Saints, and worked with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Australian musicians played and recorded some of the earliest punk rock, led by The Saints who released their first single in 1976. Subgenres or offshoots of punk music, such as local hardcore acts, still have a strong cult following throughout Australia.
Hee Haw is the second release and first EP by the Australian post-punk band the Boys Next Door. The Hee Haw EP was released in 1979 by the independent label, Missing Link Records.
The Birthday Party is a 1980 album credited to Australian rock band the Boys Next Door / the Birthday Party under both names as they were in transition between the names. The album was produced by The Boys Next Door, Tony Cohen, and Keith Glass; it was recorded with Cohen engineering at Richmond Recorders Studios in Melbourne from July 1979 to February 1980.
"Shivers" is a song by the Australian post-punk band the Boys Next Door, who would later become the Birthday Party. It is the tenth and final track from the band's debut studio album Door, Door, released in 1979 on Mushroom Records. It was released as the album's only single in May 1979, backed with the B-side "Dive Position".
Keith Robert Glass is an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, musical theatre actor, record label owner, producer and journalist. In April 1967 he formed a soul music group, Cam-Pact, which released four singles and an extended play, Something Easy. He left by June 1969 to appear in the Australian stage production of Hair as Berger. As a solo artist Glass released country and R&B albums, Going Over Old Ground (1989), Living Down My Past (1991), Smoke and Mirrors (1997), Southerly Buster, Australian Soul and Miss Ala.
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.
"Release the Bats" is a song by Australian post-punk band The Birthday Party. Written by Nick Cave and Mick Harvey, the song was released as a single on 31 July 1981 through 4AD record label, with the B-side "Blast Off". The recordings were produced by the band and Nick Launay. The single charted on UK Indie Chart, peaking at number 3.
Equal Local were an Australian synth-pop band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1980. The original line-up was Dean Richards on guitar, Philip Jackson on synthesisers, trumpet and rhythm generator, Melissa Webb on synthesisers and piano, Bryce Perrin on double bass, and Mick Hauser on saxophone. Richards and Jackson were ex-members of electronic post-punk group Whirlywirld.
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