Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

This grand package is a must-have for fans that missed Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds bringing their latest collection of stunning songs to life with an artful stage show. The two CDs are picture perfect, collecting songs performed from all across Europe during 2004. Cave taps into a whole other energy when he’s before an audience, and the Bad Seeds respond in kind on an intense "O Children” and a harrowing "Red Right Hand.” A concert DVD from November 2004 at the Brixton Academy in London is rendered beautifully. Expert lighting ripples through the hall as the Bad Seeds wallop "Hiding All Away” and "Get Ready for Love,” while a bevy of back-up singers punctuate "Easy Money” and "God is in the House” with breathless beauty. For his part, the charismatic Cave swaggers across the stage with reckless abandon during "Messiah Ward” and, by the end of a raucous "Stagger Lee,” his body is pouring sweat. A second DVD captures the Bad Seeds in June 2003 at the Hammersmith Apollo for a show supporting Nocturama. The show still looks quite stunning but is comprised of subdued numbers such as "Wonderful Life” and "Watching Alice,” and, however lovely, it wilts next to the aforementioned powerhouse set. The real treats of the second disc include two insightful short films, one a documentary on the Abbattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus sessions and the other a "behind the scenes” perspective of the odd "Bring it On” video shoot provided by guitarist Mick Harvey. This overwhelming collection is an unquestionably essential document for fans of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.