So why is Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Let Love In on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Nice Cave and the Bad Seeds languished on my “I really need to check them out at some point” list for a long time, until I:
- Binge watched a show called Peaky Blinders on Netflix (much more on Peaky Blinders below if you’re interested)
- Became obsessed with the theme song, which happens to be “Red Right Hand,” off of Let Love In
Via Screen Rant, “Red Right Hand” comes from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, where the titular red right hand “represents divine vengeance.” Heavy stuff for sure. And the song’s cinematic quality is built around a simple, repeating guitar riff, a church organ, thunderous drums, and an eerie slide guitar that all contribute to its exciting yet foreboding atmosphere.
“Do You Love Me?” has a dreamy, dark, and slightly goth-y feel to it, and again the church organ does a wonderful job of conjuring a highly specific, strange, and movielike feel.
“Loverman” slows down the tempo while leveraging many of the dynamics I mention above, creating a creepily wonderful vibe that’s both dark and alluring.
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Let Love In
I’m a huge fan of gangster and crime dramas, and I was super excited by and even exhilarated with some of the early episodes of Peaky Blinders – particularly its first season. The setting (post WWI in Birmingham, England), the northern England accents, the production value, and especially the notion of these charismatic, ruthless*, and partially broken veterans of The Great War turned into gangsters in their urban fiefdom was all quite compelling.
* The origin of the “peaky blinders” idea itself – razor blades as weapons hidden in these old school British caps – is dazzling and unsettling.
Unfortunately, I was less enthused over time and felt that the storytelling relied on a mostly one-note grim nihilism and lacked the levity and eccentricities that make shows like The Sopranos and The Wire spectacularly entertaining while they still tread in mainly dark dramatic terrain.
That said, Cillian Murphy as lead character Thomas Shelby was great throughout in a pretty difficult role (I’m looking forward to seeing him play the title character in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer). And I must specifically call out Tom Hardy’s performance as Alfie Solomons, a Jewish gangster with a nearly incomprehensible accent and all told one of the more bizarre and fascinating characters I’ve seen on television in recent years.
Some stats & info about Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Let Love In
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Alternative Singer Songwriter, Alternative Pop, Post-Punk
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Let Love In released? 1994
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #528 out of 1,000
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Let Love In on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Let Love In that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
On a gathering storm comes a tall handsome man in a dusty black coat and a red right hand.
What’s the most interesting thing about Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Let Love In that most people don’t know?
Let Love In was recorded in several different studios across the world, including London, Rio de Janeiro, and Sydney. Additionally, the use of gospel-inspired backing vocals on several tracks, such as “I Let Love In” and “Do You Love Me?” adds a spiritual and transcendent quality to the music.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.