Henry’s Dream

HENRY'S DREAM is perhaps the most fully realised of all Cave's albums. On it, he achieves the perfect balance between his lush, poetic sensibilities and his feral, unfettered rock & roll id. Most of the guitar work is acoustic, but there's no lack of momentum as the band drives harder than ever. Cave's grisly Cohenesque lyric talents are at their peak here. Each song is like a short horror story, or a rock equivalent of Rod Serling's NIGHT GALLERY.

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HENRY'S DREAM is perhaps the most fully realised of all Cave's albums. On it, he achieves the perfect balance between his lush, poetic sensibilities and his feral, unfettered rock & roll id. Most of the guitar work is acoustic, but there's no lack of momentum as the band drives harder than ever. Cave's grisly Cohenesque lyric talents are at their peak here. Each song is like a short horror story, or a rock equivalent of Rod Serling's NIGHT GALLERY.
The unrelentingly gruesome imagery of tunes like "Papa Won't Leave You Henry" is hammered home even further by the pounding arrangements. Even when things settle down, as on the folkie ballad "Loom of the Land", there's a barely veiled undercurrent of danger in the air. HENRY'S DREAM is full of some of Cave's finest songcraft, making a case for him as the gloomy bard of '90s alt-rock.

Q (1/93, p.70)
- Included in Q's list of the 50 Best Albums Of 1992.

Q (5/92, p.73)
- 3 Stars - Good - "...has a rockier edge than his last outing...much here is driven along by giddy piano or acoustic guitar as Cave relates tales of degradation and woe..."

Entertainment Weekly (5/8/92, p.56)
- Rating: B+

Rolling Stone (8/6/92, p.57)
- 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "...[the Bad Seeds] put forth their best playing yet...At times Cave veers into melodrama, but his songs of suffering and sin are still convincing...HENRY'S DREAM stands as provocative--albeit harrowing--music..."

Option (9-10/92, p.94)
- "...a lush, melodic sonic playground...quite beautiful..."

Uncut (3/03, p.96)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...This is The Seeds being Bad and loving every minute..."