NICK Cave doesn't have hits singles - only Where The Wild Roses Grow with chart bait Kylie has made the Top 20 in 21 years of The Bad Seeds - but there is gold inside this gothic-black box set.
Flip over the A-sides, and this alternative history of Australia's dark prince is a blackly humorous joyride, albeit a very long journey across 56 tracks in chronological order, with guitarist Mick Harvey as the route planner.
Like the Lyke Wake Walk, it is best taken steadily, with breaks, to enjoy the panoramic glories of B-side ballads, freebie fleixidiscs, French promos, jazz improvisations, radio sessions, covers of Leadbelly's Black Betty and Neil Young's Helpless and lubricious collaborations with Shane MacGowan. An Aladdin's Cave indeed.
Updated: 09:07 Thursday, April 28, 2005
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