The Boatman's Call
by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
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 375 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,452.
(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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Listen to The Boatman's Call on YouTube
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).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Boatman's Call rankings
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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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 702 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 hours ago |  Purplepash | 4,796 | 75/100 | |
| 47 hours ago | Jakor | 5,224 | 68/100 | |
| 02/25/2026 22:11 | DaveH68 | 1,363 | 76/100 | |
| 02/16/2026 23:41 | traistboar | 1,631 | 79/100 | |
| 02/12/2026 21:09 | Robert_fripp | 112 | 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 81.0/100, a mean average of 80.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.6.
The Boatman's Call favourites
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The Boatman's Call comments
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all time favorite - love this album
Not for me, too slow and boring. Into My Arms is a good track though.
There are better Nick Cave albums than this but it does have its moments however which stand out as some of his greatest. The two big songs on here are probably my favourite Cave has ever made. Both In My Arms and People Ain't No Good just work so well in the style he was going for on this album and the choruses just get stuck in your head. I find myself singing these songs days after finishing the record. He is definitely going for a more ballad sort of style on here and for me it doesn't work as well as his other styles. It feels too slow at times and in my opinion there is a few skippable tracks on here. With that being said I still enjoy the atmosphere of the music and Cave's lyrics and vocal are as strong as ever. Overall, this isn't a personal highlight of his career for me but it is one that I enjoy revisiting when I do and has some outstanding moments.
Album Rating: 87.92
(1,055/12)
1.Into My Arms. 94
2.Lime Tree Arbour. 91
3.People Ain't No Good. 95
4.Brompton Oratory. 81
5.There Is A Kingdom. 96
6.(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For? 78
7.Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere? 96
8.West Country Girl. 74
9.Black Hair. 86
10.Idiot Prayer. 99
11.Far From Me. 88
12.Green Eyes. 77
More piano and ballad based than a lot of his other albums. But I've never heard a Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album I didn't like. He's a true legend of the gothic croon. 'There is a Kingdom' & 'Idiot Prayer' being my track picks
VictorVale 05/20/2021 19:11 | #269946
Sombrio, mas bem palatável. Gothic pop...
Just hearing this in 2020 - almost hymn like songs. Not heard any other albums from him but based on this I will follow up on his albums
Just so beautiful. Not a dud song. Not even any songs below perfection.
Boltzmann 03/15/2020 10:49 | #248753
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Love laid bare. Cave makes his own blood on the tracks or maybe blood in the water would be more apt.
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