Eleven studio albums into Nick Cave's career, and it seems that the long wait for his first duff album must continue. No More Shall We Part contains a greater wealth of musical invention and lyrical intelligence in its 68 minutes than most acts manage in an entire career of trying. Cave is not merely in a different league from most of his peers; he's scarcely even playing the same game. No More Shall We Part sees a renewed emphasis on the virtuosity of Cave's long-time backing band, The Bad Seeds--Cave's last album, 1997's superb The Boatman's Call, was a relatively sparse affair. They decorate the sprawling ballads on No More Shall We Part with their usual aplomb, helped on several tracks--notably the gorgeous "Hallelujah"--by the crystalline harmonies of veteran folk singers Kate and Anna McGarrigle. The sound, overall, is best imagined as what Cave and The Bad Seeds were trying to accomplish on Henry's Dream. Cave's lyrical preoccupations have remained more or less constant--God, love and the loss thereof, death (all the greats). As ever, Cave deals with these with greater agility and imagination than anyone else--with the possible exceptions of his obvious eternal idols Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash--and, as ever, is frequently funnier than generally given credit for. --Andrew Mueller