- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Ultimately, Grinderman is just a way for Cave to release more music.
-
There’s a rawness to this record that most new bands – sorry, most bands made up of new musicians – would do well to soak up.
-
'Grinderman' is an almost defiantly edgy record.
-
Grinderman may be intended as a somewhat goofy reassertion of punk vigor and virility, but the disc is no laughing matter.
-
There isn't a bad song on this album.
-
This being Cave, classy lyrical dexterity is never far away. But here the fire and brimstone preacher is a little less po-faced than much of his back catalogue, allowing humour (still black as coal) to gain the upper hand.
-
This is not a bunch of old blokes looking to recapture their youth; rather, Grinderman sounds like a freshly hewn and rudely vigorous chunk of leftfield rock.
-
A riot of black humor, sex mania and mean-eyed, chaotic rock.
-
While the sound of pure snarl and glee is what melts the speaker cabinets the most, the overdriven menace of most these songs doesn't undermine their worth as songs.
-
[A] witty, wild and impressive return to his past.
-
Once our boy Nick begins his bellicose bellowing, there's no mistaking Grinderman's amped-up scorch for anything but another of Cave's darkly humorous creations of magnificent malevolence. Long may he howl and snort.
-
This is mostly a brutal-sounding, and often brutally funny, record full of odd surprises.
-
Grinderman might actually be Cave’s sappy hopeless romantic testament. That he accomplishes it without orchestral arrangements and mopey strings is truly impressive.
-
It’s mostly top-flight crudity, though admittedly the album’s intensity wanes over its second half.
-
It sounds terrific, in a turbulent fashion. [9 Apr 2007]
-
Grinderman is as refreshing, bracing and absurd as the Birthday Party were when they blew onto the scene with their Old Testament zeal.
-
The album is loud, visceral, and messily human, and should be regarded as an essential chapter in Cave's considerable discography.
-
A thorough reminder of what's majestic, funny, bizarre, and poetic about Cave.
-
Under The RadarGrinderman is easily the sexiest thing he’s done in the past decade. [#17, p.85]
-
UrbAn album more raw than an infected, 10-day-old open head wound. [Apr 2007, p.102]
-
Alternative Press11 tracks that scorch the earth lesser bands traipse on. [May 2007, p.150]
-
MojoThere's a sense of going too far, of antic hilarity tipping into something more revealing. [Apr 2007, p.104]
-
UncutThe Grinderman hat seems to have tilted the basic Bad Seeds stance brilliantly on its side, bringing out a new humour and a grumpy-old-rocker gravitas. [Apr 2007, p.102]
-
SpinThe result is one of Cave's hardest-rocking records, but also one of his funniest. [Apr 2007, p.86]
-
Q MagazineYou sense that once this entertaining diversion is done, it will be back to the real business. [Apr 2007, p.112]
-
Paste MagazineWhile Grinderman's rough-and-tumble democracy makes for an exciting, illicit affair, it's only that: a gorgeous bit of rough trade to scratch that seven-year itch. [May 2007, p.62]
-
Grinderman is in no way a conventional comedy album, but an accomplished cocksman like Nick Cave howling the "No Pussy Blues" is pretty damn funny anytime.
-
Entertainment WeeklyThis is some of the singer's rawest music since he fronted the Birthday Party. [13 Apr 2007, p.72]
-
Arguably [Cave's] most convincing collection of boisterousness and drama since 1994’s Let Love In.
-
Cave comes on strong and rejuvenated.
-
BillboardIt may not pick up many new fans or even appeal to those beyond Cave's core audience, but these guys sound like they're having too much fun to care. [14 Apr 2007]
-
PopMatters
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 42 out of 47
-
Mixed: 2 out of 47
-
Negative: 3 out of 47
-
Aug 27, 2010
-
AlexChMay 16, 2007Best album of this year!
-
Nov 13, 2020I'm a huge fan of Nick Cave and for me this is probably his best album he's ever been involved in, love it, love it, love it