Tender Prey

Tender Prey is the fifth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 19 September 1988 on Mute Records. Produced by Flood, the album was recorded during several sessions over the course of four months in West Berlin—where the band were based at the time of its release—and London and dedicated to Fernando Ramos da Silva.

Tender Prey
Studio album by
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released19 September 1988 (1988-09-19)
RecordedAugust–November 1987
StudioVielklang Studios and Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany; Trident Studios and Strongroom Studios in London, United Kingdom
Genre
Length54:34
LabelMute
ProducerFlood, Tony Cohen, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology
Your Funeral... My Trial
(1986)		 Tender Prey
(1988)		 The Good Son
(1990)
Singles from Tender Prey
  1. "The Mercy Seat"
    Released: 23 May 1988
  2. "Deanna"
    Released: 5 September 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Drowned in Sound9/10[5]
Paste8.2/10[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[8]
Uncut[9]

Details

The album opens with frontman Nick Cave's signature song, "The Mercy Seat," which has been subsequently played at almost all of the band's live performances since 1988, and was later covered by one of Cave's influences, Johnny Cash, on American III: Solitary Man (2000). "The Mercy Seat" was released as a single in May 1988 prior to the album's release and "Deanna" was released in September. On the CD version, the video mix of "The Mercy Seat" is also included as the last track.

Upon its release, Tender Prey received positive reviews and charted in the United Kingdom and Greece. However, the album failed to chart in either the band's native Australia or the United States Billboard charts. The album was remastered and reissued on 29 March 2010 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set and in October 2010. It was also listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums, alongside The Boatman's Call (1997), in the Top 30.[10]

Cave later said, "It was a nightmare, that record. It is reflective of a group - particularly myself - who was just writing songs and there was no larger idea behind it. Sometimes some of the group was there, sometimes they weren't. I hear bad production and I hear bad performances as well."[11] Cave later admitted that the album, "was made at a difficult time in my life when things were spiralling out of control in a lot of areas."[12]

In 2012, the album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia.[13]

Track listing
  1. "The Mercy Seat" – 7:17
  2. "Up Jumped the Devil" – 5:16
    • Nick Cave – Vocals
    • Blixa Bargeld – Guitar, Backing Vocals
    • Mick Harvey – Bass, Xylophone, Backing Vocals
    • Kid Congo Powers – Guitar
    • Roland Wolf – Piano
    • Thomas Wydler – Drums
  3. "Deanna" – 3:45
    • Nick Cave – Vocals, Hammond
    • Blixa Bargeld – Guitar
    • Mick Harvey – Drums, Bass, Acoustic Guitar
    • Kid Congo Powers – Guitar
  4. "Watching Alice" – 4:01
    • Nick Cave – Vocals, Piano, Harmonica
    • Mick Harvey – Bass
    • Thomas Wydler – Drums
    • Hugo Race – Guitar
  5. "Mercy" – 6:22
    • Nick Cave – Vocals, Vibes, Harmonica
    • Blixa Bargeld – Slide Guitar, Backing Vocals
    • Mick Harvey – Bass, Backing Vocals
    • Kid Congo Powers – Guitar, Backing Vocals
    • Roland Wolf – Piano
    • Thomas Wydler – Drums
    • Hugo Race – Backing Vocals
  6. "City of Refuge" – 4:48
    • Nick Cave – Vocals, Hammond, Harmonica
    • Blixa Bargeld – Guitar
    • Mick Harvey – Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion
    • Kid Congo Powers – Guitar
    • Roland Wolf – Organ
    • Thomas Wydler – Drums
    • Backing Vocals – The Bad Seeds & Friends
  7. "Slowly Goes the Night" – 5:23
    • Nick Cave – Vocals, Hammond
    • Blixa Bargeld – Guitar
    • Mick Harvey – Bass, Xylophone, Backing Vocals
    • Roland Wolf – Piano, Organ
    • Thomas Wydler – Drums
    • Ian Davis – Backing Vocals
  8. "Sunday's Slave" – 3:40
    • Nick Cave – Vocals, Piano
    • Blixa Bargeld – Guitar
    • Mick Harvey – Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Bass
  9. "Sugar Sugar Sugar" – 5:01
    • Nick Cave – Vocals
    • Mick Harvey – Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Percussion
    • Kid Congo Powers – Guitar
    • Roland Wolf – Piano
    • Thomas Wydler – Drums
  10. "New Morning" – 3:46
    • Nick Cave – Vocals, Piano, Harmonica, Tambourine
    • Blixa Bargeld – Guitar, Backing Vocals
    • Mick Harvey – Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Bass, Organ, Backing Vocals
  11. "The Mercy Seat" (video mix) – 5:05 (CD only)

Note: Early issues of the CD version of the album had a track indexing issue in which "Sunday's Slave" and "Sugar Sugar Sugar" were indexed as the same track.

Personnel

Writing

Personnel
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
  • Nick Cave – Vocals, Hammond organ(1,3,6,7), Harmonica (4–6), Piano (4,8,10), Tambourine (10), Vibes (5)
  • Mick Harvey – Bass (2–10), Backing Vocals (1,2,5–7,10), Acoustic Guitar (3,6,8–10), Drums (3,8,10), Percussion (6,9), Xylophone (2,7), Guitar (1), Bass Loops (1), Piano (1), Organ (10)
  • Blixa Bargeld – Guitar (2,3,6–8,10), Backing Vocals (2,5,6,10), Slide Guitar (1,5)
  • Roland Wolf – Piano (2,5,7,9), Organ (6,7), Guitar (1), Backing Vocals (6)
  • Kid Congo Powers – Guitar (2,3,5,6,9), Backing Vocals (5,6)
  • Thomas Wydler – Drums (1,2,4–7,9), Backing Vocals (6)

Guests
  • Hugo Race – Backing Vocals, Guitar
  • Gini Ball – Strings
  • Audrey Riley – Strings
  • Chris Tombling – Strings
  • Ian Davis – Backing vocals

Chart positions
Chart (1988) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[14] 67
UK Independent Albums Chart[15] 2

References
  1. Deming, Mark. "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  2. Lopez, Samantha (8 October 2019). "10 Goth-Rock Albums Every Music Fan Should Own". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  3. Freeman, John (30 September 2013). "An Eye For An Eye: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Tender Prey Revisited". The Quietus. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  4. Raggett, Ned. "Tender Prey – Nick Cave / Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  5. Nicholls, Chris (9 April 2010). "Album Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Tender Prey (remastered)". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  6. Vrabel, Jeff (1 June 2010). "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Tender Prey, The Good Son, Henry's Dream Reviews". Paste. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  7. Sisario, Ben (2004). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 151–52. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  9. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey". Uncut: 104. 2010. Tender Prey is the bridge between the glorious chaos of early Bad Seeds and the slightly revered Nick Cave of later...
  10. O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Victoria: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
  11. Tracee Hutchison (1992). Your Name's On The Door. Sydney: ABC Enterprises. p. 183. ISBN 0-7333-0115-0.
  12. Dwyer, Michael (July 1998). "Album by Album with Nick Cave". Rolling Stone Australia. No. 550. Sydney, NSW: Tilmond Pty Ltd. p. 41.
  13. "From AC/DC to Indigenous languages, ten new titles added to the National Registry of Recorded Sound". Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  14. "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | Artist". Official Charts Company. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  15. Lazell, Barry. "Indie Hits: "C"". Cherry Red. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
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