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From Her to Eternity

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From Her to Eternity
Studio album by
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
ReleasedMay 1984
RecordedSeptember–October 1983 and March 1984
Studio
Genre
Length43:32
LabelMute
Producer
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology
From Her to Eternity
(1984) 		The Firstborn Is Dead
(1985)

From Her to Eternity is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in May 1984 on Mute. Produced by Flood and the band itself, the album's title is a pun on the James Jones novel, From Here to Eternity, and its subsequent 1953 film adaptation.

Background and production

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After the breakup of Nick Cave's former band The Birthday Party, Cave formed a new project with former band member Mick Harvey. Cave and Harvey were joined by a semi-fluid group of bandmates, initially including Einstürzende Neubauten member Blixa Bargeld on guitar, Hugo Race on guitar, and former Magazine member Barry Adamson on guitar, bass, and piano. After some studio work, the band's premiere public performance was held on New Year's Eve, 1983 at the Crystal Ballroom in Melbourne, under the name "Nick Cave – Man Or Myth?", followed by a tour.[3] The band then briefly called themselves "Nick Cave and the Cavemen" before adopting the "Bad Seeds" moniker, in reference to the final Birthday Party release, The Bad Seed EP.

The majority of the album was recorded at Trident Studios in London in March 1984. "Saint Huck", "Wings off Flies" and "A Box for Black Paul" were recorded at The Garden studio (owned by John Foxx) between September and October 1983. J.G. Thirlwell, an early member of the group, co-wrote "Wings Off Flies" and made uncredited instrumental contributions to the album, but departed early in the recording sessions due to creative disagreements and to work on his own solo material.[4] The band is also seen playing a live performance of the title track in the 1987 Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire. This version, recorded at Hansa Studio, Berlin in February 1987, is included on CD reissues of the album.

Cave later said, "Well, I guess we weren't kicking people in the teeth anymore. I mean, it just became different. I wanted it to be more lyrically orientated and getting Blixa Bargeld from Einstürzende Neubauten in the group made an incredible difference. He's a completely kind of atmospheric guitarist and incredibly economical and it gave me room to breathe."[5]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The Guardian[1]
NME6/10[7]
Pitchfork7.3/10[8]
Q[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Select4/5[11]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[12]
Uncut[13]

From Her to Eternity has been well received by critics. Trouser Press wrote that while "the album relies less on shock effects than any the Birthday Party ever made, the explosive parts are that much more effective."[14] Chris Long of BBC Music described it as "imperfect, visceral, exciting and, ultimately, classic."[15]

Mat Snow said it was, "one of the greatest rock albums ever made. Dynamic, subtly layered, funny and plain obsessive, From Her To Eternity is the work of a visionary unfettered by worship of the romantic rock'n'roll mythology, and which thus reaches peaks hitherto unscaled."[16]

Pitchfork ranked it 63rd on their list "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s", calling it "ghoulish to the point of ridiculousness, which is the entire point [...their] visceral hyperbole is something powerful, as though we’re hearing humankind’s palm read by a fortune teller with a cockeyed grin and a hand snatching your wallet."[17]

2009 remaster

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The album was remastered and reissued on 27 April 2009 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set, along with the three subsequent albums in the Bad Seeds catalog, namely The Firstborn Is Dead, Kicking Against the Pricks and Your Funeral... My Trial. The CD features the original 7-song vinyl LP's track listing, while "In the Ghetto", "The Moon Is in the Gutter", and "From Her to Eternity" (1987 version) are featured as bonus audio tracks on the accompanying DVD, rather than being sequenced into the album as in earlier CD pressings. The DVD also includes music videos from the time and the first installment of 'Do You Love Me Like I Love You', a 14-part documentary by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Nick Cave, unless otherwise noted

Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Avalanche"Leonard CohenCohen5:13
2."Cabin Fever!"CaveCave, Blixa Bargeld6:11
3."Well of Misery"  5:25
4."From Her to Eternity"Cave, Anita LaneCave, Bargeld, Hugo Race, Barry Adamson, Mick Harvey5:33
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
5."Saint Huck"  7:22
6."Wings Off Flies"Cave, Peter SutcliffeCave, Jim Thirlwell4:06
7."A Box for Black Paul"  9:42
Total length:43:32
1988 CD release
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Avalanche"CohenCohen5:13
2."Cabin Fever!"CaveCave, Bargeld6:11
3."Well of Misery"  5:25
4."From Her to Eternity"Cave, LaneCave, Bargeld, Race, Adamson, Harvey5:33
5."In the Ghetto"Mac DavisDavis4:06
6."The Moon Is in the Gutter"  2:36
7."Saint Huck"  7:22
8."Wings Off Flies"Cave, SutcliffeCave, Thirlwell4:06
9."A Box for Black Paul"  9:42
10."From Her to Eternity" (1987)Cave, LaneCave, Bargeld, Race, Adamson, Harvey4:35
Total length:54:49

Personnel

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All personnel credits adapted from From Her to Eternity's album notes,[18] unless otherwise noted.

Chart positions

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1984 chart performance for From Her to Eternity
Chart (1984) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 40
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[21] 1
2024 chart performance for From Her to Eternity
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 171

References

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  1. ^ a b Clarke, Betty (24 April 2009). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – The Best Of (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Concert Chronology/Gigography". From the Archives. fromthearchives.com. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  4. ^ a b Daniel Dylan Wray (2014) If This Is Heaven I'm Bailing Out: The Death Of The Birthday Party , The Quietus, accessed 5 January 2017
  5. ^ Tracee Hutchison (1992). Your Name's On The Door. Sydney: ABC Enterprises. p. 104. ISBN 0-7333-0115-0.
  6. ^ Raggett, Ned. "From Her to Eternity – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds / Nick Cave". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity". NME. 1 July 1995. p. 50.
  8. ^ Berman, Stuart (6 May 2009). "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity / The First Born Is Dead / Kicking Against the Pricks / Your Funeral... My Trial". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  9. ^ Fyfe, Andy (May 2009). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity / The Firstborn Is Dead / Kicking Against the Pricks / Your Funeral... My Trial". Q. No. 274.
  10. ^ 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. 151–152. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ^ Morris, Mark (July 1995). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity / The First Born Is Dead". Select. No. 61. p. 100.
  12. ^ Reynolds, Simon (1995). "Birthday Party". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 43–44. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  13. ^ Cavanagh, David (26 March 2009). "Album reissues: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds". Uncut. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  14. ^ Sheridan, David; O'Connor, Rob; Neate, Wilson; Reeher, Jason. "TrouserPress.com :: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  15. ^ Long, Chris (8 May 2009). "Review of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – From Her To Eternity". BBC Music. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  16. ^ Mat Snow. "Nick Cave: From Her To Eternity (Mute)". Rock's Backpages.(Subscription required.)
  17. ^ "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s - Page 7". Pitchfork.
  18. ^ From Her to Eternity (Album notes). Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Mute Records. 1984. STUMM 17.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ From Her to Eternity (Album notes). Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Mute Records. 2009. 5099923699229.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. British Phonographic Industry/Entertainment Retailers Association. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  21. ^ Lazell, Barry. "Indie Hits: "C"". Cherry Red. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  22. ^ "Ultratop.be – Nick Cave – From Her to Eternity" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
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