Skeleton Tree
by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 387 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 336 out of 387
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 387
  3. Negative: 37 out of 387
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. PodlyGimbus
    Sep 9, 2016
    10
    Heartbreaking, emotional album. It's one of his most finest creations, if not his best one so far. "Skeleton Tree" is far more deep than Boatman's Call or even No More Shall We Part. There is a lot of intimacy on this record.
    Album of the year for me.
  2. Pink_Zeppelin
    Jan 22, 2017
    10
    Usually great albums here get more appreciation from Users' ratings than Critics', but this is not the case and I really don't know why. Beautifully written, tragic, heartbreaking. Real art. One of the best albums of decade. Feel pity for those who gave rating lower than 7.
  3. ignacyklimont
    Jan 4, 2017
    10
    I think that music cannot be perfected, like science: there still some new field to be found and discovered. But what I found special is that this lack of perfection can be fulfilled by giving music soul. Only few artist can do it; and Nick Cave is one of them. In 2016 we had a lot of great albums, but in only two I found true soul: Blonde and Skeleton Tree. And though they are completelyI think that music cannot be perfected, like science: there still some new field to be found and discovered. But what I found special is that this lack of perfection can be fulfilled by giving music soul. Only few artist can do it; and Nick Cave is one of them. In 2016 we had a lot of great albums, but in only two I found true soul: Blonde and Skeleton Tree. And though they are completely different, and the way they show emotions is also so different: they are both a living masterpieces with soul. Soul that connects people with those sounds. When I first listened to this album, I was a week after though break up: we've been together for 2 years and I felt like a lost my heart. I felt like a lost someone, because in fact I did. No contact, just darkness. And in this state of mind I played Jesus Alone. To be honest: I never had so strong emotional connection with any music. Never before, never after. It was like lightning: so vibrant, yet soon so dark. Since then, I listened to it multiple times. Now, from perspective of 5 months, I can say with no doubts how perfect this album is. Despite the perfect melodies, instruments, production: the emotional impact it carries is so unique. This album is not only a classic: it is a statement. I don't know how it feels to lost a son. But after listening to this album: I know how it sounds.… Expand
  4. bronzeager
    Sep 12, 2016
    10
    Listened to this about 7-8 times since release already, and it just feels so strong. Easily in the top 5 Nick Cave albums, and he has A LOT of good albums.
  5. jesseurbancsik
    Sep 12, 2016
    10
    What a beautiful album. Nick Cave's emotion is heard in every note and it's heartbreaking, haunting and the music is atmospheric and slow. His lyrics really make you think about humanity and to take everyone in your life seriously.
  6. frienderman
    Sep 9, 2016
    8
    Unlike anything released in this entire decade so far, for it serves as a painful reminder of the inevitability of death, yet does so in a seamlessly beautiful and haunting fashion. Absolutely breathtaking.
  7. DimSum
    Sep 11, 2016
    10
    Great art, born of suffering. This will stand the test of time, as a great record, examining - in a raw, emotional, authentic style - the place the artists were in when it was recorded. It's mainly about Cave, as the lyricist and singer dealing with grief, but don't underestimate the contributions of the sensitive musicians backing him, particularly the inventive and gifted Warren Ellis.Great art, born of suffering. This will stand the test of time, as a great record, examining - in a raw, emotional, authentic style - the place the artists were in when it was recorded. It's mainly about Cave, as the lyricist and singer dealing with grief, but don't underestimate the contributions of the sensitive musicians backing him, particularly the inventive and gifted Warren Ellis. Some of the album could be a film score, with poetry drifting across it. And whilst there are some musical echoes from Push The Sky Away, there is less narrative, and none of the ballad song structure that Cave has mastered over the previous year's of his Bad Seeds career. It has a perfect companion piece in the accompanying film, One More Time With Feeling, which will probably help make quicker sense of the album's Genesis and style. Talking to friends who have only heard the album, without seeing the film at all, it doesn't seem to matter. Both are destined to be classic works of art.… Expand
  8. DavidCall360
    Sep 9, 2016
    10
    Sorrow breeds beauty. You can feel the depth of Nick Cave's sorrow seep through each and every song on this album. You can tell that the loss of His son had a deep impact on Him and that He tried to make this album as a tribute to His sons memory.
  9. runfromfire
    Sep 12, 2016
    10
    The sparsity of the arrangements is almost as painfully beautiful as the lyrics. Every song is bleakly perfect but I cannot reiterate how much I love "Rings of Saturn."
  10. molecular
    Sep 26, 2016
    10
    This is a very difficult album to listen all the way through. It is the aural equivalent of a car crash that you can't look away from. Cave's delivery and singing is quite possibly the most painful put to tape since Nick Drake's "Pink Moon". Not for the faint of heart, this is one of Nick Cave's best.
  11. RonDom87
    Sep 11, 2016
    10
    If you want beautiful pain, you found it. As dark as Disintegration, and as chilling as anything I've experienced with Joy Division, Nick Cave brought all he dealt with it and made us, nay forced us, to understand and empathize with it. A masterpiece indeed.
  12. DENIS-LESNIK
    Oct 15, 2016
    10
    "Skeleton Tree", probably the most emotional set of songs that I've heard this year. Nick Cave has recorded and released it in a different way .. Read More http://muztravel.by/news/859-skeleton-tree-i-8-pesen-nika-keyva-i-the-bad-seeds.html
    "Skeleton Tree”, вероятно, самый эмоциональный набор песен, который я слышал в этом году. Ник Кейв записал и выпустил его по-другому.    "Skeleton Tree", probably the most emotional set of songs that I've heard this year. Nick Cave has recorded and released it in a different way .. Read More http://muztravel.by/news/859-skeleton-tree-i-8-pesen-nika-keyva-i-the-bad-seeds.html
    "Skeleton Tree”, вероятно, самый эмоциональный набор песен, который я слышал в этом году. Ник Кейв записал и выпустил его по-другому.
  13. shellp
    Oct 29, 2016
    10
    My brother and I used to listen to Nick Cave relentlessly, poring over every word and being so completely absorbed by the imagery and sounds. My brother then suddenly died and I put Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in a box, hidden far away. Every song represented a moment, it hurt too much. Then, the Skeleton Tree emerged, couldn't avoid it if I tried. I feel like I've being reacquainted with anMy brother and I used to listen to Nick Cave relentlessly, poring over every word and being so completely absorbed by the imagery and sounds. My brother then suddenly died and I put Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in a box, hidden far away. Every song represented a moment, it hurt too much. Then, the Skeleton Tree emerged, couldn't avoid it if I tried. I feel like I've being reacquainted with an old friend who knows everything about me and has welcomed me back with open arms. It is hard hitting, it is raw, but he gets it. Every sound is perfection. To listen to it doesn't make me sad, it's a relief, a massive exhalation, a weight is lifted off me....someone get's it, and not just Nick, but everyone involved with the album, respectfully done. Cannot wait to see him live.… Expand
  14. martindoens
    Sep 9, 2016
    10
    It's like a Franz Kafka novel with melody. Painfully beautiful. It's sad such a devastating event had to take place for this but it did give us a true masterpiece.
  15. Lerak
    Sep 16, 2016
    10
    One of the most heartbreaking, suffered, painful album I've heard. The lyrics so intense and emotional make eveything more and more devastating. A great piece of art
  16. qrno
    Sep 11, 2016
    10
    This is probably the most emotional and heartbreaking album I've heard this year. You can feel Nick's pain on the songs. It is just gorgeous. Quoting a review from other website:

    "I want to listen to this in the dark. I don't want to see anything, I just want this to fill my ears. Fill my head. And I want to be alone." ~ austincrave235.
  17. JonLightsOn
    Sep 16, 2016
    10
    If it were up to me, it would be album of the year, alongside Blackstar then A Moon Shaped Pool and Lemonade (in that order). This is my first time discovering Nick Cave & TBS and I'm speechless. The journey this album took me from start to finish is incredible. Heart wrenching at the start yet warming toward the end. A great record to own on Vinyl where every single track stands out andIf it were up to me, it would be album of the year, alongside Blackstar then A Moon Shaped Pool and Lemonade (in that order). This is my first time discovering Nick Cave & TBS and I'm speechless. The journey this album took me from start to finish is incredible. Heart wrenching at the start yet warming toward the end. A great record to own on Vinyl where every single track stands out and is a masterpiece. What Nick Cave is trying to convey to the listener emotionally is spot on.… Expand
  18. ECostello
    Dec 4, 2016
    10
    This a work of profound raw beauty, honesty and despair. It reveals it's true greatness with repeated listenings and will be mainly appreciated by people who find comfort in being taken to a landscape of melancholy, grief and Love. The emotional songs are embedded in electronic drone sounds which add an intensity to the otherwise almost bare and lovely melodies. Yes, this is an album whichThis a work of profound raw beauty, honesty and despair. It reveals it's true greatness with repeated listenings and will be mainly appreciated by people who find comfort in being taken to a landscape of melancholy, grief and Love. The emotional songs are embedded in electronic drone sounds which add an intensity to the otherwise almost bare and lovely melodies. Yes, this is an album which has been shaped by a tragic loss, but all I can hear and take away from is an incredible amount of pure Love, which is a rare find these days in our oh so cynical world. Favorite album of the year.… Expand
  19. jorge89
    Sep 20, 2016
    10
    Top 3 AOTY in no order: 1.Radiohead: A moon shaped pool 2. Frank Ocean: Blonde 3. Nick Cave: Skeleton Tree. For me this three albums are masterpieces!
  20. chidime
    Sep 21, 2016
    8
    Good album! First time listening to this band, but I liked what I heard. This would have been a 9/10 if it didn't have so many songs/parts with talking. But really good either ways. Reminds me of both 'A Moon Shaped Pool' and 'Ray of Light'.

    BEST: Girl in Amber, I Need You, Distant Sky
  21. Oldnick
    Sep 28, 2016
    7
    This will rank very high in my list of this year's most overrated albums.
    A very moderate Nick Cave album is still not bad at all of course.
    Okay, losing your 15 year old son is truly heartbreaking, but does this make Skeleton Tree a masterpiece: no no no it does not.
  22. Ricko
    Feb 3, 2018
    9
    My favourite album of 2016 alongside Radiohead's "A Moon Shaped Pool". "Skeleton Tree" is pretty faultless. Incredibly atmospheric and crafted with matter from the depths of Cave's being. You can taste the poignancy on the record. It's a completely visceral experience made all the more intense with the death of Cave's teenage son dominating the background of the album. As a parent myself,My favourite album of 2016 alongside Radiohead's "A Moon Shaped Pool". "Skeleton Tree" is pretty faultless. Incredibly atmospheric and crafted with matter from the depths of Cave's being. You can taste the poignancy on the record. It's a completely visceral experience made all the more intense with the death of Cave's teenage son dominating the background of the album. As a parent myself, a genuine tear was shed listening to the hymnal "Distant Sky" with its lyric "They told us our dreams would outlive us They told us our gods would outlive us, But they lied". When music moves you to tears, you know the artist has truly sacrificed a piece of themselves to be left behind in the art. Opener "Jesus Alone" sets the tone of the album to bleak from the off. The sound of electricity before a storm. "Rings of Saturn" is actually radio friendly by Nick Cave standards, an up tempo love song immediately followed up by its complete opposite the brutally heartbreaking "Girl in Amber". "Magneto" is a brother of the opening track "Jesus Alone". "Skeleton Tree" is not for casual or background listening. Its themes and tempo makes it a bit of work. You'll miss too much of what makes it so great if your not focused intently on it. Dim the lights and put this on loud or on your headphones and prepare to be moved.… Expand
  23. mwinstanley7
    Feb 6, 2018
    10
    This is a sensational album. When I first heard this album I did not know about the tragedy that had occurred during it's conception.
    This is an album so emotive and moving that you will feel it. I see people saying it's depressing and that cave doesn't sing and the music is boring .... I can only assume they have a tendency for shallow dance songs or aggressive hate songs ... or are    This is a sensational album. When I first heard this album I did not know about the tragedy that had occurred during it's conception.
    This is an album so emotive and moving that you will feel it. I see people saying it's depressing and that cave doesn't sing and the music is boring .... I can only assume they have a tendency for shallow dance songs or aggressive hate songs ... or are generally afraid to show or engage in honest emotion.
    This album is so emotionally honest it almost hurts your heart. The thing is though it is gripping. The songs are not fast, but they are anything but boring.
    The first track "Jesus Alone" has a very intense feel and a plaintive lyric that is calling out to all irregardless of place in life.
    Rings of Saturn has a beautiful feel and melody with reaching poetic lyrics.
    Girl in amber is stunningly beautiful, the vocal delivery is slightly out of sync in parts but intentionally so and to great effect.
    Magneto is a very gentle track that speaks of the writers struggles with who he is and where he is at.
    Anthrocene is sensational and speaks in dynamic ways of the ever decaying world and the struggle to hold on to anything in it. There is a great use of dynamics in the music and although slow has a rhythmic counterpoint sliding in and out. I saw a live performance on youtube that was even more amazing than the studio version.
    I need you is a love song where perhaps the two in love are going through a crisis and the crisis is so deep they may fall apart due to it, but the deepest need to stay together is the overwhelming message.
    Distant sky is very ambient and starts the theme of redemption via reaching for the distant sky with your loved one. It has a lovely vocal from a lady I have not heard of before.
    Skeleton tree finishes the album with a nice gentle feel and more sounds and lyrics of comfort in the face of adversity.
    There are definitely melodies on this album. There are definitely songs. Any review that says there isn't is not worth reading. This is a very gentle, hurt album. It is not morose.
    If you are not afraid of emotion that is not happy, party, shallow ... this album is an essential listen.
    I disagree with the person who claimed this album will be forgotten in a few months. I think this album is sensational and deserves to win awards based on it's content, not it's circumstances.    … Expand
  24. All_ButTrU4
    May 12, 2022
    8
    Heartbreaking death album that whilst not being the best album of 2016(a year stacked with landmark releases) it is the most tragic one. It's a dark though never hopless analysis of the worst case of grief. Marred in the unexpected death of Nick Caves 15yr old son it's so drunk with revealing loss. Slightly surpassing or better yet matching the intensity of other death albums released thatHeartbreaking death album that whilst not being the best album of 2016(a year stacked with landmark releases) it is the most tragic one. It's a dark though never hopless analysis of the worst case of grief. Marred in the unexpected death of Nick Caves 15yr old son it's so drunk with revealing loss. Slightly surpassing or better yet matching the intensity of other death albums released that year such as "a crow looked at me " or "make it darker ". It feels grand in comparison as it seeks cosmic heights in questioning it's agony.… Expand
  25. jesus_testman
    Nov 20, 2019
    8
    Simply, quite possibly the most perfectly fragile, devastating and hopeful album of the 21st Century. Exquisite in its pain.

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Album of 2016
35
#35 Most Discussed Album of 2016
32
#32 Most Shared Album of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
95

Universal acclaim - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. Magnet
    Nov 16, 2016
    90
    No, we haven't heard this Cave before, and though magnetic, emotive and tenderly merciful, one prays for his sake that we never hear it again. [No. 137, p.51]
  2. The Wire
    Nov 8, 2016
    90
    It feels distasteful to rate so powerful, so raw an album in any aesthetic terms and yet it brilliantly, blackly, radiates life. Skeleton Tree is a work of mourning, yes; a work of reverie, yes; and also an immensely moving attempt to reach out of blackness towards life. [Nov 2016, p.65]
  3. Uncut
    Oct 25, 2016
    90
    The songs are pillowed by vaporous electronic backing that recalls the slow-moving, aquatic drift of Push The Sky Away and the sonic explorations of Cave and Ellis' Minimalist Soundtracks. [Dec 2016, p.26]
See all critic reviews »