Kicking Against The Pricks
by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Kicking Against The Pricks by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Year: 1986
Release date: 1986-08-18
Overall rank: 4,683rd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 155 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1986 (66th)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (675th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,683rd)

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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds bestography

Kicking Against The Pricks is ranked 18th best out of 30 albums by Nick Cave on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Nick Cave is Skeleton Tree which is ranked number 382 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,340.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album bestography « Higher ranked (4,584th)
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone At Alexandra Palace
This album (4,683rd)
Kicking Against The Pricks
Lower ranked (4,683rd) »
Kicking Against The Pricks

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Kicking Against The Pricks rankings

Kicking Against The Pricks rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,683rd | 1980s rank: 675th | 1986 rank: 66th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 1 hour ago).

Kicking Against The Pricks collection

Kicking Against The Pricks ratings

Average Rating: 
73/100 (from 155 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 155 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 !
06/26/2026 19:46 HoldenM  Ratings distribution  1,83284/100
 
20/100
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05/07/2026 02:28 Strangel  Ratings distribution  99974/100
 
75/100
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02/15/2026 10:36 eclab  Ratings distribution  1,56184/100
 
65/100
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02/05/2026 15:35 JamesMowbray  Ratings distribution  5,56969/100
 
60/100
 !
12/07/2025 19:06 willtoshower  Ratings distribution  1,54372/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.0/100, a mean average of 72.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.6.


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Kicking Against The Pricks favourites

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Kicking Against The Pricks comments

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Rating:  
90/100
From 06/26/2026 19:48 | #315079
Imagine taking a dozen songs, many of which are legendary, and then having the gall to shape them in your own image. In virtually no other scenario does this work as well for anyone else (Peter Gabriel's Scratch My Back comes close, though) and where many of the tracks rival their originals. Perhaps this is not the most essential NCatBS listen, but it's a damn good one.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
Without prior knowledge, I would have had no clue this entire record is covers. It's as seamless and intriguingly dynamic as anything the group released in the 80's. The tracks are varied but the overall flow and sonic storyline is not. I like this quite a bit.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
I know they are all covers, but in this album they did It in such a way that makes It unique, kind of like the way Cash does his covers, really impressionable.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
Kicking against the pricks, is one of those rare covers albums, where instead of sounding like an indulgent karaoke record, here, it actually sounds like an LP. Opener, muddy water, is possibly the best song here, just like he does on most of the tracks, Cave really makes it his own. By the time I get to Phoenix, is great too, up there with Isaac Hayes' epic version. Hey Joe, though, is not up to the Hendrix take, but as before, Cave still makes it his own. Long black veil, is dark and brooding, while, I'm gonna kill that woman, sounds like vintage Cave. The hammer song, is another special moment. All in all, an enjoyable and atmospheric album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
Nothing spectacular, but a fun cover album.

Favorite tracks: "I'm Gonna Kill That Woman", "Muddy Water"
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds manage to make their own interpretation of each song they cover. In this process, they re-invent the original, with often fantastic results
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/31/2013 13:19 | #63468
Pretty good for an album full of covers.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

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