The Boatman's Call
by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds bestography
The Boatman's Call is ranked 2nd best out of 30 albums by Nick Cave on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Nick Cave is Skeleton Tree which is ranked number 363 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,522.
(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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The Boatman's Call track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
#
Track
Rating/Comments
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Boatman's Call rankings
The Boatman's Call rankings summary
Overall rank: 439th | 1990s rank: 75th | 1997 rank: 10th Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 93 Music Albums of 1997 | 74/93 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Pastiche | Top 26 Music Albums of 1997 | 11/26 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 90 Music Albums of 1997 | 12/90 | 4 |
| 2026 | leniad | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 98/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | Moondance | Top 100 Music Albums of 1997 | 13/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | Siromynian | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 92/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | mrmcrook | Top 43 Music Albums of 1997 | 4/43 | 5 |
| 2026 |  JMGL95 | Top 38 Music Albums of 1997 | 7/38 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Dankel | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 73/100 | 6 |
| 2026 | Jakor | Top 50 Music Albums of 1997 | 46/50 | 1 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 590 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 3,820 | |||
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!
The Boatman's Call collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 310 members
The Boatman's Call ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 711 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/14/2026 08:43 | Timooosterink | 946 | 72/100 |
| ! | 10/05/2026 13:25 | jwalsh97 | 749 | 81/100 |
| ! | 10/03/2026 01:56 | bkogz | 938 | 85/100 |
Rating metrics:
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 is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.1/100, a mean average of 80.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.6.
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The Boatman's Call favourites
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The Boatman's Call forum mentions
This album has been referenced 136 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From 
BestEverAlbums 10/30/2026 20:00 in Album of the day (#7597): The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
BestEverAlbums 10/30/2026 20:00 in Album of the day (#7597): The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds“Today's album of the day The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ( | ) Year: 1997. Country: Nick Cave discography rank: 2nd (out of Tracks: 1. 2. Lime Tree Arbour 3. 4. Brompton Oratory 5. There Is A Kingdom 6. 7. Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere? 8. West Country Girl 9. Black Hair 10. Idiot…”
(6 mentions across Album of the Day topics)View latest topic →
From 
pedro1976 10/16/2026 08:01 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
pedro1976 10/16/2026 08:01 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)“Soundtrack for today's roadtrip”
View topic (25 mentions) →From BestEverAlbums 10/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5465): By elton229
BestEverAlbums 10/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5465): By elton229“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by elton229 () 1. by (1998) 2. by (1969) 3. by (1973) 4. by (1976) 6. by (2022) 7. (1977) 8. (1966) 9. by (1969) 10. by (1989) 11. by (2015) 12. by (1975) 13. by (1968) 14. by (1987) 15. by (2010) 16. by (1999) 17. by (1967) 18. by by (1986)…”
(4 mentions across Chart of the Day topics)View latest topic →
View all forum mentions
The Boatman's Call comments
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From
stangetzaway 02/17/2016 21:42 | #160034 | TOP COMMENT
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I remember when Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds toured this album. Theyopened with Into My Arms and Cave had a terrible time with the first line "I don' t believe in an interventionist god" it took him 4 or 5 gos to get through it and ages to complete the song. Had seen him live a number of times but never struggle like this. Eventually the gig went well. Anyway this was the night Michael Hutchence did away with himself in the hotel room with Nick being the godfather of his child. Sad but true.
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From
Strangel TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/15/2016 02:50 | #171325 | TOP COMMENT
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Strangel TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/15/2016 02:50 | #171325 | TOP COMMENT
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Cave's mastery of song-writing comes to the fore on Boatman's Call where he manages to write dark and brooding songs you can actually make love to. It is as if the dark lord is seducing you with the hidden beauty waiting to be extracted from the morose.
This album leaves behind much of the story-telling he is renowned for and instead touches on deep personal existential musings using a visceral poetry that caresses confusing yet beautiful emotions from the listener.
He seems to be telling us that beauty truly eminates from the darkness and not from the light of which most of us presume. Few artists have the genius to make us realise this incredible insight.
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From
garycottier TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/12/2016 15:02 | #165804 | TOP COMMENT
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The Boatman's call, is the most beautiful Nick Cave album. Its really a solo record, although it is credited to the Bad Seeds. It's also one of Cave's best and my personal favourite of his, alongside, abbotoir blues. It's his heartbreak LP, his, blood on the tracks, his, tunnel of love. Opener, into my arms, is stunning, a beautiful track. Lime tree arbour, is a favourite of mine. Other highlights are, (are you)the one that i've been waiting for, people ain't no good, and, there is a kingdom. It's a stunning record from start to finish, although the latter songs aren't as good as the earlier ones. Still, another superb album. Nick Cave at his jaw dropping best.
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From
Onater 06/25/2017 23:40 | #193216 | TOP COMMENT
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Onater 06/25/2017 23:40 | #193216 | TOP COMMENT
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No way in hell is this Nick Cave's best album, not even top 5. That says less about the quality of the album and more about how amazing his entire discography is, though.
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From
astelioeswills 07/15/2012 20:25 | #46480 | TOP COMMENT
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astelioeswills 07/15/2012 20:25 | #46480 | TOP COMMENT
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being a die-hard nick cave fan, it is hard for me to imagine what this album would sound like to someone who does not know his other work. Still, it is my favorite. One of only a few pop albums that i would include in my desert island list.
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