It’s a vital record, one that’s Nick Cave through and through, and whether he’s exploring his garage roots or his spooky, narrative tendencies it’s at all points a triumph.
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is ultimately a rock record more than it is an ideas record, but on both counts the Seeds bring it like a band half their age.
On Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, Cave weaves yet another tapestry of characters.
What it all comes down to is that Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is a Bad Seeds record that ups the ante once again.
To call Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! Nick Cave’s best album yet is a matter of opinion certain to raise some protests. But for someone who has always wanted to dive into the man’s songbook headfirst but has never known where to start, it can be said that this latest work is the perfect place to begin your journey into a most enjoyable and provocative catalog and work backwards chronologically from there.
Nick Cave is a master storyteller, and DIG!!! LAZARUS DIG!!! continues his tradition of remarkable and provocative songwriting. It is a decadent, meaty opus worthy of slow digestion that emphasises the transient thrills and inevitable dissatisfaction inherent in life.
On Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, rock, country, blues, and post-punk rhythms meld with Cave’s lyrics on sex, death, God, and America to create what could be one of his most perfect albums yet.
The Bad Seeds sound even edgier and more sophisticated on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, providing a fitting pulpit for their bandleader's ravings.
Dig, Lazarus, Dig! is a welcome return to form from a deservedly enduring musician.
Yes, Dig bears little concept or nuance, but it more than makes up for it in raw, oozing passion.
The 50-year-old's songwriting blue streak continues on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, a triumphant album that merits all three exclaimation marks.
This album does ... avoid the clichés that follow so closely behind a collection of catchy songs in very much the same way contemporary rock and roller Josh Homme’s outfit Queens of the Stone Age have always managed to.
It's not every goth-punk fiend who can celebrate his fiftieth birthday with an album as loud, filthy and brilliant as Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Just when The Bad Seeds seemed content to settle into middle-age as a cabaret gospel showband – albeit an extraordinary one – they’ve bared their teeth again.
While Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is a pretty good album and as characteristically lip-smacking as Cave is capable, it’s only engaging in the details which, unfortunately, are hard to hear because Cave’s screaming something about vulvas over top.
It’s not surprising ... that a number of the tunes on Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! sound familiar.
Moments of brooding desolation still lurk in the twilight gloom of Jesus of The Moon and Hold On To Yourself's leering lament but, ultimately, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! is too polished and preened to stagger down Cave's own self-made path of rugged righteousness.
For all its foreboding themes, Dig, Lazarus Dig!!! is melodically accessible and a very neutrally pop album.
"Oh yeah, what a good old-fashioned rockin' and, rollin' and, roll-lickin' and, rock...lickin' and, i-it's kind of a comedown after how great the last album was but still, rocks... album." ~MicTheSnare, 2019
Saying a decently strong 7/10 is a comedown isn't saying a whole lot about the album however as Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is still a really good album from the Bad Seeds that truly rocks out. It's sort of a return to their post-punk roots with a cleaner and more polished rock sound, ... read more
Although, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! will never be near the top of my favorite Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' albums, with the whole recording playing it quite safe but ultimately brings there post-punk side out more again for a lovelystraight forward and enjoyable rock album which doesn't have the depths has much has their best records.
Track Review
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! 8.5/10.
Today's Lesson 7.5/10.
Moonland 8/10
Night of the Lotus Eaters 6.5/10
Albert Goes West 6.5/10
We Call Upon the Author ... read more
A really energised Nick Cave album, still with a lot of macabre content but in more of a cartoonish way really. This analogy is maybe a bit of a stretch but if a more serious moments in album like Murder Ballads are a Scorsese film then this album is like a Tarantino film, more surreal and self-indulgent (in a good way) and with a disconnect between the music and the lyrics that makes it a pretty fun ride and gives it its own identity in the band’s discography. Occasionally it ... read more
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! - 9/10
Today’s Lesson - 7/10
Moonland - 10/10
Night of the Lotus Eaters - 9/10
Albert Goes Wets - 7/10
We Call Upon the Author - 8/10
Hold On to Yourself - 8/10
Lie Down Here (& Be My Girl) - 8/10
Jesus of the Moon - 9/10
Midnight Man 8/10
More News from Nowhere - 7/10
1 | Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! 4:11 | 84 |
2 | Today's Lesson 4:41 | 82 |
3 | Moonland 3:53 | 81 |
4 | Night of the Lotus Eaters 4:53 | 77 |
5 | Albert Goes West 3:32 | 77 |
6 | We Call Upon the Author 5:11 | 83 |
7 | Hold on to Yourself 5:50 | 82 |
8 | Lie Down Here (& Be My Girl) 4:57 | 77 |
9 | Jesus of the Moon 3:22 | 83 |
10 | Midnight Man 5:06 | 82 |
11 | More News from Nowhere 7:58 | 84 |
#4 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#5 | / | MOJO |
#9 | / | musicOMH |
#10 | / | Q Magazine |
#13 | / | No Ripcord |
#15 | / | Paste |
#16 | / | The Guardian |
#18 | / | Spin |
#22 | / | Treble |
#23 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |