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 London and West Berlin (where the band were based at the time of its release) and dedicated to Fernando Ramos da Silva.

Tender Prey
Studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released	19 September 1988 (1988-09-19)
Recorded	August–November 1987
Studio	Vielklang Studios and Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany; Trident Studios and Strongroom Studios in London, United Kingdom
Genre	Post-punk[1] gothic rock[2] garage punk[3] gothic country[3] blues[3]
Length	54:34
Label	Mute
Producer	Flood 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
"The Mercy Seat" Released: 23 May 1988 "Deanna" Released: 5 September 1988

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Drowned in Sound	9/10[5]
NME	8/10[6]
Paste	8.2/10[7]
Q	[8]
Record Mirror	4/5[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	7/10[11]
Uncut	[12]

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. "Deanna" is loosely based on The Edwin Hawkins' Singers version of the hymn "Oh Happy Day". Subsequently, Cave issued an acoustic version of a medley of both songs. Hawkins' version was later issued on Original Seeds Vol. 1. "City of Refuge" is noted in the credit listing as being inspired by a Blind Willie Johnson song "I'm Gonna Run to the City of Refuge". This was later issued on Original Seeds Vol. 1.

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.^[13]

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."^[14] 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."^[15]

In 2012, the album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia.^[16]

Track listing

No.	Title	Music	Words	Length
1.	"The Mercy Seat"	Cave, Mick Harvey	Cave	7:17
2.	"Up Jumped the Devil"	Cave, Harvey, Roland Wolf, Blixa Bargeld, Kid Congo Powers, Thomas Wydler	Cave	5:16
3.	"Deanna"			3:45
4.	"Watching Alice"			4:01
5.	"Mercy"	Cave, Harvey	Cave	6:22
6.	"City of Refuge"			4:48
7.	"Slowly Goes the Night"			5:23
8.	"Sunday's Slave"			3:40
9.	"Sugar Sugar Sugar"	Cave, Harvey	Cave	5:01
10.	"New Morning"			3:46
Total length:				54:34

All tracks are written by Nick Cave, except where noted.

CD bonus track

No.	Title	Music	Words	Length
11.	"The Mercy Seat" (video mix)	Cave, Harvey	Cave	5:05

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

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

• Nick Cave – vocals, Hammond organ (1, 3, 6, 7), harmonica (4–6), piano (4, 8, 10), tambourine (10), vibraphone (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 – guitar (4), backing vocals (5)
• Gini Ball – strings (1)
• Audrey Riley – strings (1)
• Chris Tombling – strings (1)
• Ian Davis – backing vocals (7)

Chart positions

Chart (1988)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart[17]	67
UK Independent Albums Chart[18]	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 & the Bad Seeds / Nick Cave". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
5. Nicholls, Chris (9 April 2010). "Album Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Tender Prey (remastered)". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
6. O'Hagan, Sean (24 September 1988). "Let Us Prey". NME. p. 39. ISSN 0028-6362.
7. Vrabel, Jeff (1 June 2010). "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Tender Prey, The Good Son, Henry's Dream Reviews". Paste. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
8. Snow, Mat (November 1988). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey". Q. No. 26. ISSN 0955-4955.
9. Nicholson, Tim (24 September 1988). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey". Record Mirror. pp. 40–41. ISSN 0144-5804.
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. 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.
12. Quantick, David (May 2010). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey / The Good Son / Henry's Dream". Uncut. No. 156. p. 104. ISSN 1368-0722.
13. O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Victoria: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
14. Tracee Hutchison (1992). Your Name's On The Door. Sydney: ABC Enterprises. p. 183. ISBN 0-7333-0115-0.
15. Dwyer, Michael (July 1998). "Album by Album with Nick Cave". Rolling Stone Australia. No. 550. Sydney, NSW: Tilmond Pty Ltd. p. 41.
16. "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.
17. "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | Artist". Official Charts Company. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
18. Lazell, Barry. "Indie Hits: "C"". Cherry Red. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2014.