Original Seeds Vol 2 was created in order to present to the listening public a collection of songs that inspired Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Its counterpart, Original Seeds Vol 1 has been re-issued (it was originally released in 1998) to coincide with the release of Vol 2.

Researched and produced by Melbourne musician Kim Beissel, the compilations consist of a wide variety of tracks that are connected by means of their ability to have touched and inspired Nick Cave.

Volume 2 is as diverse as it is captivating. Opening with Did You Hear About Jerry? by Harry Belafonte, it journeys through tracks by various artists including Tom Waits (Way Down In the Hole), Bob Dylan (Sara), Nina Simone (Plain Gold Ring), The Stooges (Loose) and Lou Reed (Perfect Day). Elvis even gets a look-in with his 1969 hit In the Ghetto. There are enough music styles on here to please almost everyone.  

Incredibly informative and interesting, the jacket liner notes run for 13 pages, with each song being examined and its influence on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is relayed. Take the following excerpt from the paragraph on Loose (The Stooges):

“Since early days with The Boys Next Door, Nick and his band-mates have acknowledged their love for Iggy with various performances of Loose, Funhouse, Little Doll, China Girl and even a Stooges-esque version of Louie Louie. They were also fans of 70s punk band Radio Birdman who were the most prominent in a long line of Australian acts inspired by the ‘Detroit sound’ of The Stooges and MC5. Rowland S Howard later recorded The Stooges Open Up & Bleed (1987) and Iggy’s The Passenger (2001).”

It’s hard to imagine this compilation not appealing to most, if not all, Cave fans. Indeed, you don’t even have to be a Bad Seeds fan at all to enjoy it – although given the purpose and title of this album I daresay that those who aren’t won’t exactly be running it to the counter. However, the point is that there is enough diversity on here to warrant repeated listens, despite your opinion of the band itself.

There is an air of melancholy that rears its head at times, reaching its zenith with Plain Gold Ring and, as with the Trainspotting soundtrack, the inclusion of Perfect Day ensures that the listener is dragged through the bowels of suffering and desolation. However, the bursts of energy throughout this album (The Stooges, Alice Cooper, Leadbelly’s Black Betty) ensure, for the most part, that the atmosphere remains variable.