The Good Son (album)

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox album

| name = The Good Son

| type = Album

| artist = Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

| cover = thegoodson.jpg

| alt =

| released = 17 April 1990

| recorded = by Victor Van Vugt at São Paulo, October 1989, mixed by Flood, Gareth Jones at Berlin, November–December 1989

| venue =

| studio = Cardan Studios (São Paulo, Brazil)

| genre = * Dark cabaret{{Cite web|url=https://www.treblezine.com/nick-cave-bad-seeds-let-love-in-25-years-elegance-menace/|title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Let Love in is a nimble balance between menace and elegance|date=18 April 2019}}

• blues

| length = {{Duration|m=45|s=12}}

| label = Mute

| producer = The Bad Seeds

| prev_title = Tender Prey

| prev_year = 1988

| next_title = Henry's Dream

| next_year = 1992

| misc = {{Singles

| name = The Good Son

| type = studio

| single1 = The Ship Song

| single1date = 12 March 1990

| single2 = The Weeping Song

| single2date = 17 September 1990

}}}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-good-son-mw0000200415 |title=The Good Son – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds / Nick Cave |website=AllMusic |access-date=24 January 2011 |last=Raggett |first=Ned}}

| rev2 = Drowned in Sound

| rev2Score = 9/10{{cite web |url=https://drownedinsound.com/releases/15279/reviews/4139649 |title=Album Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Good Son (remastered) |website=Drowned in Sound |date=9 April 2010 |access-date=10 November 2015 |last=Bliss |first=Abi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129055708/https://drownedinsound.com/releases/15279/reviews/4139649 |archive-date=29 November 2022 |url-status=live}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3Score = B{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1990/05/04/good-son-2/ |title=The Good Son |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |issn=1049-0434 |date=4 May 1990 |access-date=26 February 2013 |last=Sandow |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Sandow |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519132708/https://ew.com/article/1990/05/04/good-son-2/ |archive-date=19 May 2017 |url-status=dead}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-03-ca-731-story.html |title=Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 'The Good Son,' Enigma/Mute |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |date=3 June 1990 |access-date=10 November 2015 |last=McKenna |first=Kristine |author-link=Kristine McKenna}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5Score = 8/10{{cite magazine |title=Sons N'Roses |magazine=NME |issn=0028-6362 |date=14 April 1990 |last=Williams |first=Simon |page=33}}

| rev6 = Paste

| rev6Score = 7.8/10{{cite web |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/nick-cave-the-bad-seeds/nick-cave-the-bad-seeds-tender-prey-the-good-son-h/ |title=Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Tender Prey, The Good Son, Henry's Dream Reviews |website=Paste |date=1 June 2010 |access-date=10 July 2015 |last=Vrabel |first=Jeff}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: The Good Son |magazine=Q |issn=0955-4955 |issue=44 |date=May 1990 |last=Davies |first=Paul}}

| rev8 = Record Mirror

| rev8Score = 4/5{{cite magazine |title=Nick Cave: The Good Son |magazine=Record Mirror |issn=0144-5804 |date=14 April 1990 |last=Hodson |first=Russ |page=15}}

| rev9 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev9Score = {{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]}}

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey / The Good Son / Henry's Dream |magazine=Uncut |issn=1368-0722 |issue=156 |date=May 2010 |last=Quantick |first=David |author-link=David Quantick |page=104}}

}}

The Good Son is the sixth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 17 April 1990 by Mute Records.

After two dark and harrowing studio albums with Your Funeral... My Trial (1986) and Tender Prey (1988), The Good Son was a substantial departure with a lighter and generally more uplifting sound. The change of mood was greatly inspired by lead vocalist Nick Cave falling in love with Brazilian journalist Viviane Carneiro, and an apparently salutary spell in rehab which purged much of the despair and squalor reflected in the previous two studio albums. Cave later said, "I guess The Good Son is some kind of reflection of the way I felt early on in Brazil. I was quite happy there. I was in love and the first year or two was good. The problem I found was ... in order to survive you have to adopt their attitudes towards everything, which are kind of blinkered."{{cite magazine | title = Album by Album with Nick Cave | last = Dwyer | first = Michael |magazine= Rolling Stone Australia | issue =550|page =41| publisher = Tilmond Pty Ltd | date = July 1998| location = Sydney, New South Wales}}