The Good Son (studio album) by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

The Good Son by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Year: 1990
Overall rank: 858th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 386 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1990 (12th)
Award Top albums of the 1990s (162nd)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (858th)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds bestography

The Good Son is ranked 7th best out of 28 albums by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is The Boatman's Call which is ranked number 388 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,618.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album bestography « Higher ranked (826th) This album (858th) Lower ranked (921st) »
Murder BalladsThe Good SonNo More Shall We Part

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The Good Son track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Rating/Comments
1.
Rating: 81 (81 votes)Comments: 0
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2.
Rating: 84 (92 votes)Comments: 0
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3.
Rating: 81 (73 votes)Comments: 0
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Rating: 86 (120 votes)Comments: 0
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6.
Rating: 80 (74 votes)Comments: 2
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7.
Rating: 82 (71 votes)Comments: 0
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9.
Rating: 83 (71 votes)Comments: 1
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

The Good Son rankings

The Good Son collection

The Good Son ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 386 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 386 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
65/100
 Report rating
3 days ago MW19704U  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 6,93259/100
 
85/100
 Report rating
3 days ago cicadelic  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 5,00973/100
 
70/100
 Report rating
03/13/2024 20:13 sszwalbenest  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,62476/100
 
35/100
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02/28/2024 23:25 Proto  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 62442/100
 
70/100
 Report rating
02/18/2024 03:01 stevengnz  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,80574/100

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 79.0/100, a mean average of 78.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.

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The Good Son comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 15 comments |
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Rating:  
70/100
From 09/25/2022 09:42
One of the less engaging Nick Cave albums in my opinion and I always found my attention never really being able to stay on the record. Despite this, there is still a high amount of quality on this album as there always is with Nick Cave. The song writing is fantastic and he is so good at making us think a little deeper and connect to his words. The vocal performance is very good as well with it really shining on the better songs such as The Ship Song, The Weeping Song and Lament. Where the album struggle is in the instrumentation which feels a bit repetitive and quite bland. It lacks experimentation and is mediocre for the majority of the run time. The sound really suffers due to this and it makes for a dull and lifeless experience. Overall, some great moments on here that are let down by the musical side of the record and its inability to remain consistent.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/14/2021 22:11
Belo e arrepiante ao mesmo tempo!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/24/2018 06:15
1st album by NC & TBS where I went, wow, that's something special. Still holds up today.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/04/2017 03:27
pretty good music, though it can be a little inconsistent
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/27/2017 18:03
Not a skippable song! Beautiful
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 05/11/2016 00:40
The Good Son is a very underrated album that has great songwriting as well as having a strong powerful atmosphere created through deep personal lyrics and great instrumentation
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/08/2016 16:09
This was the most accessible Nick Cave album to date when it was released in 1990. It's still a dark record, but the music is now approaching a beauty you certainly wouldn't have expected a few years before. Opener, foi na cruz, is lovely, as is, the weeping song. The most beautiful track though is the brilliant, the ship song, one of Cave's greatest ballads. There's no weak songs here, and, Lucy, is a great closing track. It's amazing how Nick Cave can effortlessly move from one extreme to another, from, the tender prey, to this. A true genius, one of the greatest songwriters ever.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/13/2015 03:35
Perhaps the most calculated album, track by track, that they ever did.

Favorite tracks: "The Ship Song", "The Weeping Song"
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/24/2014 14:37
As much a spiritual as a listening experience: its theme derived from the parable of the prodigal son, only this is about the good son, the one that stayed behind - as opposed to the prodigal one...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 04/24/2014 22:01
At the funeral, no one mourned him besides the unrecognizable stranger standing in the shadows.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (4 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1990
1. Violator by Depeche Mode
2. Heaven Or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins
3. Nowhere by Ride
4. Rust In Peace by Megadeth
5. Bossanova by Pixies
6. Goo by Sonic Youth
7. Ritual De Lo Habitual by Jane's Addiction
8. Repeater by Fugazi
9. The La's by The La's
10. Fear Of A Black Planet by Public Enemy
11. Canción Animal by Soda Stereo
12. The Good Son by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
13. Reading, Writing And Arithmetic by The Sundays
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15. Soundtrack From Twin Peaks by Angelo Badalamenti
16. Flood by They Might Be Giants
17. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got by Sinéad O'Connor
18. Painkiller by Judas Priest
19. Shake Your Money Maker by The Black Crowes
20. Facelift by Alice In Chains
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