Henry's Dream (1992)

Henry's Dream is the seventh studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 27 April 1992 by Mute Records.

It was the first album to feature long-standing members Martyn P. Casey (bass guitar) and Conway Savage (piano, organ, backing vocals), both Australian. Savage also performs a duet with Cave in the chorus of 'When I First Came to Town'. The album title is a reference to The Dream Songs (1969), a long poem by John Berryman.

Production

Nick Cave himself was unhappy with the production by David Briggs. Briggs preferred a "live-in-the-studio" method he had used with Neil Young. This led to Cave and Mick Harvey re-mixing the album, and ultimately to the Live Seeds (1993) recordings, as Cave wanted the songs "done justice". Cave later said, "He was a fucking nightmare, that guy. I know he's dead now and all, but, fuck, man. I put a lot of energy into the writing of that record, and then for each day to see it drift away… it was a horrible, horrible experience." Tony Cohen, who was engineer for the remix, said, "Briggs pushed them to play better, take after take. The performance was everything. But when it came to the mix, Briggs left all the faders in one spot."

Songs

The lyrics of "Christina the Astonishing" are based on the life of Christina Mirabilis, a 12th-century Christian holy woman, primarily known for her legendary resurrection during her funeral mass, and numerous other miracles attributed to her during her life.

"When I First Came to Town" is based partly on Karen Dalton's recording of the traditional song "Katie Cruel". Dalton's version was later issued on Original Seeds Vol. 1.

Of "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry," Cave said in 2005, "I like that song a lot. That was another one written in Brazil. It's this sprawling, lyrical thing. We were playing that [in 2000] as a very slow ballad on a different chordal structure altogether, which then became 'Darker with the Day' [from the 2001 studio album No More Shall We Part]. It had a different melody, but very slow and it made for a haunting thing. That song was composed over a long period of time and something that I would sing to my little son, Luke. It was kind of a nasty fucked-up lullaby."

Cave later claimed the album's songs were heavily influenced by street beggars he saw in Brazil, where he lived for several years while married to journalist Viviane Carneiro. "They'd get their acoustic guitars with one or two strings and bang away and make a racket that had no sense whatsoever. It was very violent and seemed to come straight out of the heart. Very unmusical."

Release

Henry's Dream was released on 29 April 1992 in the United Kingdom and on 12 May in the United States. The album was released on CD, 12" vinyl and cassette. Although released on Mute Records, international distribution was handled by a number of associated labels. Indisc issued the album in Belgium, Liberation Records in Australia, Alfa Records in Japan, Virgin Records in France and Greece, and Elektra Records in the United States. Australian pressings were available in a box set including with a three-track promo cassette and initial French pressings came with a promo CD including "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry," "Straight to You," "Brother, My Cup Is Empty" and "Loom of the Land." Limited editions of other pressings came with an enclosed poster and T-shirt. A second pressing of the album was issued on 13 February 1996 throughout Europe and the United States. On 29 March 2010, Henry's Dream was reissued as a collector's edition CD/DVD set, including the remastered album, a 5.1 surround sound mix, bonus tracks, a short film about the album, the single's music videos, and exclusive liner notes.

The album's two singles—"Straight to You" and "I Had a Dream, Joe"—were released on 30 March and 31 August, respectively. The singles were a moderate commercial success. Both singles charted in Australia, at number 96 and 75, respectively, and "Straight to You" charted at number 68 in the UK Singles Chart and at number 7 in the Indie Chart in April 1992. "I Had a Dream, Joe" also reached number 10 in the Indie Chart upon its release.

Tour

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds promoted the album with an initial tour across Europe, North America, Japan and Australia in 1992. The tour consisted of five legs and fifty-five concerts, and began in Norwich, England on 26 April 1992 and concluded in Brisbane, Australia on 12 December. In 1993, the band continued touring, adding a further two legs and twenty-three concerts in Australia, Europe and Israel, beginning on 24 January 1993 in Melbourne and concluding on 10 June in Düsseldorf, Germany. During the tour, the band performed at several music festivals, including Pukkelpop, the Reading Festival, Livid, Big Day Out and Via-Rock.