From Her to Eternity

After the break-up of Nick Cave's former band the Birthday Party, Cave formed a new project with former band member Mick Harvey. Cave and Harvey were joined by a semi-fluid group of bandmates, initially including Einstürzende Neubauten member Blixa Bargeld on guitar, Hugo Race on guitar, and former Magazine member Barry Adamson on guitar, bass, and piano. After some studio work, the band's premiere public performance was held on New Year's Eve, 1983 at the Crystal Ballroom in Melbourne, under the name "Nick Cave – Man or Myth?", followed by a tour.{{cite web |work=From the Archives |title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Concert Chronology/Gigography |url=http://www.fromthearchives.com/nc/chronology.html |publisher=fromthearchives.com |access-date=18 June 2010}} The band then briefly called themselves "Nick Cave and the Cavemen" before adopting the "Bad Seeds" moniker, in reference to the final Birthday Party release, The Bad Seed extended play (EP).

The majority of the album was recorded at Trident Studios in London in March 1984. "Saint Huck", "Wings off Flies" and "A Box for Black Paul" were recorded at The Garden studio (owned by John Foxx of Ultravox) between September and October 1983. JG Thirlwell, an early member of the group, co-wrote "Wings Off Flies" and made uncredited instrumental contributions to the album, but departed early in the recording sessions due to creative disagreements and to work on his own solo material.Daniel Dylan Wray (2014) [http://thequietus.com/articles/16018-the-birthday-party-interview-nick-cave-and-the-bad-seeds If This Is Heaven I'm Bailing Out: The Death Of The Birthday Party ], The Quietus, accessed 5 January 2017 The band is also seen playing a live performance of the title track in the 1987 Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire. This version, recorded at Hansa Studio, Berlin in February 1987, is included on CD reissues of the album.

Cave later said, "Well, I guess we weren't kicking people in the teeth anymore. I mean, it just became different. I wanted it to be more lyrically orientated and getting Blixa Bargeld from Einstürzende Neubauten in the group made an incredible difference. He's a completely kind of atmospheric guitarist and incredibly economical and it gave me room to breathe."{{cite book | author= Tracee Hutchison | author-link= Tracee Hutchison |title=Your Name's On The Door|page=104|year=1992|publisher=ABC Enterprises |location=Sydney |isbn=0-7333-0115-0}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/from-her-to-eternity-mw0000316643 |title=From Her to Eternity – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds / Nick Cave |website=AllMusic |access-date=24 January 2011 |last=Raggett |first=Ned}}

| rev2 = The Guardian

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/24/nick-cave-bad-seeds-review |title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 April 2009 |access-date=24 January 2011 |last=Clarke |first=Betty}}

| rev3 = NME

| rev3score = 6/10{{cite magazine |title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity |magazine=NME |date=1 July 1995 |page=50}}

| rev4 = Pitchfork

| rev4score = 7.3/10{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12949-from-her-to-eternity-the-first-born-is-dead-kicking-against-the-pricks-your-funeral-my-trial/ |title=Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity / The First Born Is Dead / Kicking Against the Pricks / Your Funeral... My Trial |website=Pitchfork |date=6 May 2009 |access-date=24 January 2011 |last=Berman |first=Stuart}}

| rev5 = Q

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity / The Firstborn Is Dead / Kicking Against the Pricks / Your Funeral... My Trial |magazine=Q |issue=274 |date=May 2009 |last=Fyfe |first=Andy}}

| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev6score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds |last=Sisario |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Sisario |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/151 151–152]}}

| rev7 = Select

| rev7score = 4/5{{cite magazine |title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: From Her to Eternity / The First Born Is Dead |magazine=Select |issue=61 |date=July 1995 |last=Morris |first=Mark |page=100}}

| rev8 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev8score = 8/10{{cite book |chapter=Birthday Party |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=43–44}}

| rev9 = Uncut

| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/nick_cave/reviews/12968 |title=Album reissues: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds |website=Uncut |date=26 March 2009 |access-date=11 March 2017 |last=Cavanagh |first=David |author-link=David Cavanagh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205134103/http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/nick_cave/reviews/12968 |archive-date=5 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}

}}

From Her to Eternity has been well received by critics. Trouser Press wrote that while "the album relies less on shock effects than any the Birthday Party ever made, the explosive parts are that much more effective."{{cite web |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=nick_cave_and_the_bad_seeds |title=TrouserPress.com :: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds |last1=Sheridan |first1=David |last2=O'Connor |first2=Rob |last3=Neate |first3=Wilson |last4=Reeher |first4=Jason |website=TrouserPress.com |access-date=31 July 2016}} Chris Long of BBC Music described it as "imperfect, visceral, exciting and, ultimately, classic."{{cite web |last=Long |first=Chris |title=Review of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – From Her To Eternity |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/8rvr |date=8 May 2009 |publisher=BBC Music |access-date=18 June 2010}}

Mat Snow said it was, "one of the greatest rock albums ever made. Dynamic, subtly layered, funny and plain obsessive, From Her To Eternity is the work of a visionary unfettered by worship of the romantic rock'n'roll mythology, and which thus reaches peaks hitherto unscaled."{{cite web| work= Rock's Backpages | title=Nick Cave: From Her To Eternity (Mute)|author=Mat Snow | url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/nick-cave-ifrom-her-to-eternityi-mute}}{{subscription required|s}}

Pitchfork ranked it 63rd on their list "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s", calling it "ghoulish to the point of ridiculousness, which is the entire point [...their] visceral hyperbole is something powerful, as though we’re hearing humankind’s palm read by a fortune teller with a cockeyed grin and a hand snatching your wallet."{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1980s/?page=7|title=The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s - Page 7|website=Pitchfork}}

The album was remastered and reissued on 27 April 2009 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set, along with the three subsequent studio albums in the Bad Seeds catalog, namely The Firstborn Is Dead (1985), Kicking Against the Pricks and Your Funeral... My Trial (both 1986). The CD features the original 7-song vinyl LP's track listing, while "In the Ghetto", "The Moon Is in the Gutter", and "From Her to Eternity" (1987 version) are featured as bonus audio tracks on the accompanying DVD, rather than being sequenced into the album as in earlier CD pressings. The DVD also includes music videos from the time and the first installment of 'Do You Love Me Like I Love You', a 14-part documentary by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| all_writing = Nick Cave, unless otherwise noted

| title1 = Avalanche

| lyrics1 = Leonard Cohen

| music1 = Cohen

| length1 = 5:13

| title2 = Cabin Fever!

| lyrics2 = Cave

| music2 = {{hlist|Cave|Blixa Bargeld}}

| length2 = 6:11

| title3 = Well of Misery

| length3 = 5:25

| title4 = From Her to Eternity

| lyrics4 = {{hlist|Cave|Anita Lane}}

| music4 = {{hlist|Cave|Bargeld|Hugo Race|Barry Adamson|Mick Harvey}}

| length4 = 5:33

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| total_length = 43:32

| title5 = Saint Huck

| length5 = 7:22

| title6 = Wings Off Flies

| lyrics6 = {{hlist|Cave|Peter Sutcliffe}}

| music6 = {{hlist|Cave|Jim Thirlwell}}

| length6 = 4:06

| title7 = A Box for Black Paul

| length7 = 9:42

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 1988 CD release

| total_length = 54:49

| title1 = Avalanche

| lyrics1 = Cohen

| music1 = Cohen

| length1 = 5:13

| title2 = Cabin Fever!

| lyrics2 = Cave

| music2 = {{hlist|Cave|Bargeld}}

| length2 = 6:11

| title3 = Well of Misery

| length3 = 5:25

| title4 = From Her to Eternity

| lyrics4 = {{hlist|Cave|Lane}}

| music4 = {{hlist|Cave|Bargeld|Race|Adamson|Harvey}}

| length4 = 5:33

| title5 = In the Ghetto

| lyrics5 = Mac Davis

| music5 = Davis

| length5 = 4:06

| title6 = The Moon Is in the Gutter

| length6 = 2:36

| title7 = Saint Huck

| length7 = 7:22

| title8 = Wings Off Flies

| lyrics8 = {{hlist|Cave|Sutcliffe}}

| music8 = {{hlist|Cave|Thirlwell}}

| length8 = 4:06

| title9 = A Box for Black Paul

| length9 = 9:42

| title10 = From Her to Eternity

| note10 = 1987

| lyrics10 = {{hlist|Cave|Lane}}

| music10 = {{hlist|Cave|Bargeld|Race|Adamson|Harvey}}

| length10 = 4:35

}}

All personnel credits adapted from From Her to Eternity{{'}}s album notes,{{cite AV media notes|title=From Her to Eternity|others=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds|year=1984|type=Album notes|publisher=Mute Records|id=STUMM 17}} unless otherwise noted.

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

• Nick Cave – lead vocals; Hammond organ
• Barry Adamson – bass; backing vocals
• Blixa Bargeld – guitar; slide guitar; backing vocals
• Mick Harvey – drums; piano; guitar; vibraphone; organ; backing vocals
• Anita Lane (credited as band member, but does not perform on the album)
• Hugo Race – guitar; backing vocals
• J.G. Thirlwell (uncredited, instruments played unknown)

Technical personnel

• Flood – engineering
• Tim Tom – LP mastering

Design personnel

• Marina Strocchi  – front cover photography
• Jessamy Calkin – back cover photography

{{col-2}}

2009 Collector's Edition Remaster personnel{{cite AV media notes|title=From Her to Eternity|others=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds|year=2009|type=Album notes|publisher=Mute Records|id=5099923699229}}

• Mick Harvey – executive production; 5.1 surround sound mixing
• David Rowntree – executive production
• Rachel Willis – executive production
• Shaun Connon – executive production
• Kevin Van Bergen – master-tape transfer
• Kevin Paul – 5.1 surround sound mixing
• Simon Heyworth – remastering
• Amy Hanson – sleeve notes
• Anne Carruthers – co-ordination
• MJ Salisbury – co-ordination

{{col-end}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{URL|1=http://www.nickcave.com/music/nickcaveandthebadseeds/from-her-to-eternity|2=From Her to Eternity}} at Nick Cave{{'}}s official website
• {{Discogs master|17098}}
• {{MusicBrainz release group|mbid=3d86cdea-11df-3b99-ab00-bb6193bd2103}}

{{Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:From Her To Eternity}}

Category:1984 debut albums

Category:Mute Records albums

Category:Nick Cave albums

Category:Albums recorded at Trident Studios