I happen to agree with you Mr. Barleycorn (on quite a few things). Your input here isn't at all mindless, but it is a bit savage. Morrissey's Norway comments were beyond the pale and a painful career low: at least he had the good sense to apologize.
I discovered Nick Cave at the same time that I discovered The Smiths (in the early '80s): Morrissey and Nick were two of the sharpest knives in the Post-Punk drawer. Yes, the quality of Nick Cave's musical output has been fairly high over the last 30 years and he's had the good sense (and mental fortitude) to collaborate with talented, sophisticated, top-notch musicians. It has always been my feeling that Nick Cave is much higher-functioning than Morrissey in that regard; I never doubted that Nick would have a long life as a creative force. Morrissey, on the other hand, always seemed a bit hapless, his people skills not being up to the job of organizing and managing a band of equal players. Yes, Morrissey should take a page from Nick Cave's book and find creative, sophisticated musicians to collaborate with. His current band cooks live, but they won't push him or take him anywhere new.
An interesting note: I saw Nick Cave live the other night - the show was just fantastic. Nick prowled the stage like his old self; he looked great and he sounded even better. He's still got a sharp, clever tongue and (unlike Morrissey) he was able to dispatch a heckler in the middle of a song with some wicked, improvised lyrics. The new material sounded impressive and the current incarnation of the Bad Seeds (sans Nick Harvey ad Blixa Bargeld, sadly) were a musical force to be reckoned with. The crowd was on its feet the whole time, and afterwards there were tears in the wide-eyes of kids who weren't even born when Nick first began singing his ballads of murder and despair. I came away thinking "the old boy's still got it!"
Then I decided to check out what people were saying online. What did I discover? Bitter "original" fans who said that the show was awful, that Nick has sold out, that he's lost it because he's married to a model and his kids have a nanny. That he's just in it for the cash. His old fans know for a fact that Nick hasn't done anything of interest in the last decade, that he's a shadow of his former self, and that he's a sad, washed-up old has-been who should just leave the stage with what little dignity he has left. In short, Nick Cave's online fanbase is almost as bitter and disappointed as Morrissey's. Almost.
