- Record Label: Warner Brothers
- Release Date: Apr 10, 2001
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Cave's latest finds the singer in perhaps the finest voice of his career, armed with a set of melodic ballads and mid-tempo rockers which exemplify his dedicated, traditionalist's approach to the songwriter's craft.
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No More Shall We Part is a beautiful, elegant record, capably fulfilling the promise of The Boatman's Call, but it exacts a harrowing toll from the listener. This is not a record to which you can listen lightly; if used as background music it will gradually darken your mood, like poison seeping slowly into a well.
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Melody rarely comes easily, but this is a flamboyantly musical record that creates the perfect backdrop for Cave's theological, metaphysical musings.
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Possibly a step forward from The Boatman's Call, but far from being a return to form.
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Incredibly, No More Shall We Part is as urgent and vital as Cave has ever been.... Raging and delicate, complex as faith and simple as a goodnight kiss, it is an incredible summation of a singular career.
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Entertainment WeeklyCave's songs once conjured eternity. Now they just feel like one. [13 Apr 2001, p.76]
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BlenderNo More suffers from a relentless sense of goth gloom that's as claustrophobic as a church confessional. [Jun/Jul 2001, p.107]
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Simply the finest effort yet from the Bad Seeds; one which leaves the listener in awe, full of complex emotions and pondering the fact that they've just been in the presence of great art...
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Alternative PressOccasionally he resembles a Pakistani Bryan Ferry. Is this a good thing? It is if you like Pakistani Bryan Ferrys. [#155, p.70]
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Cave has transformed his mournful voice into a thing of wonder...
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The WireA highlty nuanced album which is at once razor sharp, and rich in new openings and possibilities. [#206, p.60]
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The biggest surprise here is Cave's singing. Forsaking the bluesy moans and wails of older works like The First Born Is Dead and Kicking Against the Pricks, he pushes his voice in new directions...
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What makes 'No More...' Cave's best album since 'Henry's Dream' (which it most clearly resembles), is a return to melodrama (or rather the juxtaposition of melodrama with the album's ballads) where Cave crafts a deliciously potent mix of the visionary, the bizarre and the everyday...
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While he's an adept moodist (but not a great singer), most often, the tunes are more artifice than art and he fails to make his misery convincing.
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MagnetA total triumph. [#50, p.82]
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In terms of sheer weight alone, the album can almost be a bit crushing. With 12 songs that run nearly 70 minutes of time, Cave takes his time getting there, but you really don't mind.
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Goddamn if he doesn't sing like a cranky Neil Diamond here...
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Another welcome sign of the bright light at the end of Cave's dark tunnel is the involvement of folk sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle, who not only counterbalance Cave's rich, dramatic baritone, but also demonstrate his continued desire to work with artists outside his usual circle of fiends. Cave has built his coffin and now he has to lie in it, but these tiny stylistic shifts bode well for his future.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 48 out of 55
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Mixed: 4 out of 55
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Negative: 3 out of 55
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Aug 27, 2010
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madslMar 10, 2007
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PeteFSep 23, 2006