As the 1980s drew to a close Cave was deeply addicted to heroin and writing some of his darkest songs yet. Recording for the album began at Sarm West Studios in London, United Kingdom in mid-1996, with "The Garden Duet", one of the album's outtakes, being the first song recorded. Into My Arms is a love song so perfect you wonder why any other composition of its kind bothers to go up against a ballad that all others should rightfully refer to as ‘Sir’. Into My Arms" is of course a classic and a song I was aware of (and loved) before listening to the whole album. As Cave stated, this was ‘the sort of record I’ve been wanting to make for years […] a record which is slow from beginning to end… Very sparse, very raw and beautiful.

Stripped down and grown up--though still ghoulish and grave--Cave the storyteller has turned into something of a vampire Bruce Springsteen.

Moving away from full-band arrangements and character-based narratives, the album's music and lyrics move towards the more intimate sound of Cave's solo voice accompanied by piano or a few other instruments.

Each album has been re-mastered (overseen by Mick Harvey, former Bad Seed and founder member), and all album artwork reflects the original release from the cover to the printed inner sleeves. Behind the scenes, several issues had aligned in Cave’s life; a traumatic break-up, a second stint in rehab for a still persistent heroin addiction, and, most famously, a passionate but swiftly extinguished love-affair. Celebrated as the band's most starkly moving work, key tracks include the single 'Into My Arms' and 'People Ain't No Good', featured in the soundtrack to Shrek 2. The album’s dwelling on the fragility of love also collided with Cave’s similarly complicated relationship with religion. People Ain't No Good" is an especial work of genius - without meaning to give too much away, the last verse in particular is both devastating and (almost) funny in its bleakness.A more cinematic focus would dictate the majority of their 90s output, moving through 92’s Henry’s Dream(which featured some of Cave’s most assured and sprawling lyrical compositions) and 94’s Let Love In, both of which bought The Bad Seeds a wealth of new focus from the critical mainstream. or singer PJ Harvey, with whom he had a brief relationship around that time (as referenced in "West Country Girl", "Black Hair" and "Green Eyes"). The video proved an evocative forecast of their troubled but passionate affair, which disintegrated after just a few months together. The album is entirely piano-based, alternately somber and romantic in mood, making it a marked departure from the bulk of the band's post-punk catalogue up to that point. surround sound version, b-sides, promo videos and an installment of 'Do You Love Me Like I Love You', a specially commissioned film by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.