Tender Prey
by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds bestography
Tender Prey is ranked 10th best out of 30 albums by Nick Cave on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Nick Cave is Skeleton Tree which is ranked number 369 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,476.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Tender Prey on YouTube
Tender Prey track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Tender Prey rankings
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 | BraddlesHendo | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 27/100 | 73 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Best 1988 Le choix des critiques | 3/10 | - |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 15/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  HoldenM | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ranked | 3/16 | - |
| 2026 | joathome | Top 47 Music Albums of 1988 | 9/47 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 100 Music Albums of 1988 | 20/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  Hayden | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 75/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Greatest Goth Albums (1 - 100) by Ultimate Record Collection | 7/100 | - |
| 2026 |  Patman360 | Top 83 Music Albums of 1988 | 49/83 | 2 |
| 2026 | OFarrio | Top 21 Music Albums of 1988 | 2/21 | 5 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 310 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,466 | |||
Tender Prey collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 130 members
Tender Prey 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 341 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/19/2026 05:33 | martintho | 4,733 | 75/100 |
| ! | 09/03/2026 13:41 | xhitmanx | 1,604 | 75/100 |
| ! | 07/02/2026 16:20 | HoldenM | 1,896 | 84/100 |
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 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.6/100, a mean average of 78.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.6.
Tender Prey favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 46 members
Tender Prey forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 09/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5435): By flamingyesdept BestEverAlbums 08/22/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5412): By BraddlesHendo
Repo 05/24/2025 00:46 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)Tender Prey comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Yet another great Nick Cave album, and really the last of the more darker earlier records. After this, Cave wouldn't exactly turn into Elton John, but his music would become more accessible, although still not exactly commercial. The tender prey kicks off with, the mercy seat, another classic Cave moment, but the album never lets up. Deanna, is a kind of twisted soul number, city of refuge, another strong cut, and, up jumped the devil, is excellent. Slowly goes the night, is lighter, but like the whole record, it still retains it's dark undertow. Great stuff. (Edited)
demetrios 02/16/2012 05:20 | #36983 | TOP COMMENT
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This albums is a turning point for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It is the time that they are moving from the rawness of their post-punk influence to a more controlled, theatrical tone. The 1990s will see a much more melodic band, but for now, we are waving goodbye to the Cave we used to know ever since the birthday party. And of course the Mercy Seat is an brilliant masterpiece both musically and lyrically...
The first Nick Cave album I bought. Remember was a indie record shop in some creepy basement in Melbourne. This is a masterpiece album,believe Nick Cave was badly strung out on heroin, album cover says it all. A very dark trip this album. I'm sure Cave had some demons of his own to deal with, but help inspire a great record, love all his albums . (Edited)
Decurso TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/13/2014 15:40 | #119399 | TOP COMMENT
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If not Cave's best, certainly his most rockin'. Strong themes of religion and manipulation recur throughout. Up Jumped the Devil and Sunday's Slave are the darkest tracks, Watching Alice is beautiful in a sad, creepy kind of way and Deanna is my personal favourite strictly because the upbeat, rocking music is a stark contrast to the morbid lyrical content. (Edited)
badseed 04/13/2015 03:31 | #139408 | TOP COMMENT
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The last of Cave's post-punk era, with by far their strongest songwriting yet. Side one is far superior to side two, but that's saying more about the strengths of the former than the weaknesses of the latter.
Favorite tracks: "The Mercy Seat", "Deanna", "Up Jumped the Devil", "City of Refuge" (Edited)
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