Non Solo Prog: Let Love In by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 1994 album.
“Let Love In” marks a turning point in the band’s career. This eighth studio album represents the perfect balance between the early punk rage and the baroque, singer-songwriter maturity that Cave was developing. Nick, who wanted to break free from the image of the dark “cursed poet,” tackles on this record themes such as love, faith and death with a new perspective.
Recorded between Australia and Europe and produced by Tony Cohen together with the Bad Seeds themselves, “Let Love In” has a dense, magnetic sound, polished down to the smallest detail yet at the same time visceral and immediate. Among the most representative tracks are masterpieces like “Lover Man”, “Jangling Jack”, the title track “I Let Love In” (it’s said to have been written in just fifteen minutes) and the apocalyptic “Red Right Hand”, which would later become one of Cave’s most famous songs.
This is the lineup:
Nick Cave (Vocals, keyboards)
Mick Harvey (Guitar, bass, drums, organ, backing vocals) – Cave’s loyal companion, co-founder of both The Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds.
Blixa Bargeld (Guitar, backing vocals)
Martyn P. Casey (Bass).
Thomas Wydler (Drums, percussion)
Conway Savage (Piano, backing vocals)
Compared to the previous records, there were no studio changes: the official lineup was the same as on “Henry’s Dream” (1992). The band had reached incredible stability.
The album is full of major collaborations from the Australian and European rock and folk scene. The most significant name appearing here for the first time is Warren Ellis:
Warren Ellis (Violin). This recording marks the beginning of the artistic partnership with Cave, so much so that Ellis would become an official member of the Bad Seeds in 1997.
Rowland S. Howard and Tex Perkins (Backing vocals) – The former guitarist of The Birthday Party and the frontman of Beasts of Bourbon, respectively, lend their voices on “Do You Love Me?”.
David McComb (Backing vocals) – The late leader of The Triffids sings backing vocals on “Lay Me Low”.
Robin Casinader (Violin) – Multi-instrumentalist of The Wreckery, plays violin alongside Ellis.
Spencer P. Jones (Backing vocals) – Beasts of Bourbon guitarist, appears on “Ain’t Gonna Rain Anymore”.
Katharine Blake (Backing vocals) – Singer of Miranda Sex Garden, features on “Do You Love Me? (Part 2)”.
Let Love In focuses on a central, powerful theme: love seen as a destructive, obsessive and ruthless force. Nick Cave, unlike the more common romantic view, dismantles the feeling of love by examining several key aspects.
The title itself, “Let Love In” (Let love in), sounds almost like a. For Cave, opening your heart to love doesn’t bring serenity, but means welcoming a devastating force that devours the individual from within, destroying all control.
The album opens and closes with “Do You Love Me?” and “Do You Love Me? (Part 2)”, creating a circular structure that traps you in a hypnotic loop. The simplest question of love becomes a desperate, threatening and tormented plea.
The lyrical and sonic imagery is dark and gothic, populated by sinister figures like the manipulating demon of “Red Right Hand”. Love is constantly linked to psychological violence.
Finally, as often happens in Cave’s writing, the search for the other intertwines with the search for God. Romantic desire takes on the traits of a religious ritual or a divine punishment, where the lover is at once executioner and savior.
The musical style of this album represents one of the highest points of Nick Cave’s career, a perfect balance between post-punk fury and a refined gothic theatricality. The sound is cinematic gothic rock, with post-punk influences, ghostly blues and songwriter ballads.
Compared to the previous records, the arrangements are more layered and polished: distorted, screeching guitars blend with the rich piano and organ beds of Conway Savage and Mick Harvey. The result is a dense, nocturnal atmosphere charged with dramatic tension, able to shift in an instant from confessional whispers to explosions of pure sonic violence.
Some tracks in particular define the structure and importance of this album. “Do You Love Me?” opens the record with dramatic, throbbing rock, driven by an obsessive bass line, immediately plunging the listener into the work’s claustrophobic, passionate atmosphere. “Loverman” is a visceral piece that simulates a panic attack or a demonic possession, marked by extreme dynamics: whispered, sinister verses that explode into a shouted, unsettling and distorted chorus. It’s also famous for Metallica’s cover. The title track, “I Let Love In”, is a majestic, elegant ballad, classic in flavor yet steeped in despair, representing the perfect balance between melody and lyrical darkness.
The album’s masterpiece track, one of the milestones of Nick Cave’s career, is without doubt “Red Right Hand”. Built on a memorable, sinister bass riff, it’s enriched by the ghostly tolls of a tubular bell and the distant notes of a Hammond organ. The rhythm is slow, almost hypnotic. The title, taken from John Milton’s poem “Paradise Lost”, refers to God’s vengeful hand. Cave describes a mysterious, manipulative, semi-divine character (perhaps the devil himself, or a personification of fate) who prowls the edges of a desolate city.
Outside the album, the track had an extraordinary life, becoming a classic of global pop culture and the main theme for many TV series.
More than thirty years after its release, “Let Love In” is one of the three best Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds albums ever, along with “The Boatman’s Call” and “Push the Sky Away”.
The record represents a moment of perfect balance for the band, who were in an unrepeatable state of grace.
An album with no superfluous tracks, where every song carries enormous specific weight. A visceral, theatrical, sensual and frightening record, an absolute masterpiece of alternative rock that redefined the way to tell love obsession in music.
Essential album.
My Version
Label: Mute – LPSEEDS8, BMG – LPSEEDS8
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, 180g
Country: Europe
Released: 16 Feb 2015
Tracklist
Do You Love Me? (5:59) – Nick Cave, Martyn P. Casey
Nobody's Baby Now (3:52) – Nick Cave
Loverman (6:21) – Nick Cave
Jangling Jack (2:47) – Nick Cave
Red Right Hand (6:10) – Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler
I Let Love In (4:14) – Nick Cave
Thirsty Dog (3:48) – Nick Cave
Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore (3:46) – Nick Cave
Lay Me Low (5:08) – Nick Cave
Do You Love Me? (Part 2) (6:12) – Nick Cave, Martyn P. Casey
Lineup
Nick Cave – Lead vocals, piano, Hammond organ, oscillator, keyboards
Mick Harvey – Lead and rhythm guitar, bass, drums, organ, glockenspiel, backing vocals
Blixa Bargeld – Lead guitar, screams, backing vocals
Martyn P. Casey – Bass
Thomas Wydler – Drums, percussion, tambourine, triangle
Conway Savage – Piano, backing vocals
With
Warren Ellis – Violin
Robin Casinader – Violin
Tex Perkins – Backing vocals (in Do You Love Me?)
Rowland S. Howard – Backing vocals (in Do You Love Me?)
David McComb – Backing vocals (in Lay Me Low)
Spencer P. Jones – Backing vocals (in Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore)
Katharine Blake – Backing vocals (in Do You Love Me? (Part 2))
