In January, an aspiring young New Zealand comedian posed a humorous question on Twitter trying to ascertain the identity of a certain celebrity he encountered. Of course, that striking visage is none other than alt-rock icon Nick Cave--but if you're looking to learn more about him, a new compilation will cover your needs.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds this week announced Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds 1984-2014, a new, multi-format compilation designed to introduce the new fan to the group's generous catalogue from 1984 to 2013. In a wry statement announcing the set, Cave said:

There are some people out there who just don't know where to start with The Bad Seeds. Others know the catalogue better than I do! This release is designed to be a way into three decades of music making. That's a lot of songs. The songs we have chosen are the ones that have stuck around, for whatever reason. Some songs are those that demand to be played live. Others are lesser songs that are personal favourites of ours. Others are just too big and have too much history to leave out. And there are those that didn't make it, poor things. They are the ones you must discover by yourselves.

Lovely Creatures will be available in several formats:

• A 2CD and 3LP set features 21 tracks from the group's discography in non-chronological order
• A deluxe set includes 45 chronologically arranged tracks (including a handful of non-album B-sides) on three CDs, plus a DVD featuring more than three dozen live performances and interviews. A limited super deluxe variant includes those discs in a hardcover book package featuring new original essays and rare and unseen images from the archives of past and present members of the group

Cave and longtime collaborator Mick Harvey, a member of The Bad Seeds from its inception in 1983 through 2009, compiled the track lists with input from current members of the band. Lovely Creatures was in fact first planned for a 2015 release, explaining its omission of tracks from the group's last album, 2016's The Skeleton Tree. (Cave's afterword from the deluxe set offers more detail.)

Lovely Creatures is available May 5. Pre-order links and full track lists are below.

Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds 1984-2014 (Mute, 2017)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD)
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

Disc 1

1. Loverman
2. Tupelo
3. Deanna
4. From Her to Eternity
5. The Weeping Song
6. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
7. People Ain't No Good
8. Higgs Boson Blues
9. Straight to You
10. Where the Wild Roses Grow

Disc 2

1. Into My Arms
2. Love Letter
3. Red Right Hand
4. The Mercy Seat
5. O Children
6. The Ship Song
7. Stranger Than Kindness
8. Jubilee Street
9. Nature Boy
10. We No Who U R
11. Stagger Lee

Disc 1, Track 1 and Disc 2, Track 3 from Let Love In (Mute, 1994)
Disc 1, Track 2 from The Firstborn is Dead (Mute, 1985)
Disc 1, Track 3 and Disc 2, Track 4 from Tender Prey (Mute, 1988)
Disc 1, Track 4 from From Her to Eternity (Mute, 1984)
Disc 1, Track 5 and Disc 2, Track 6 from The Good Son (Mute, 1990)
Disc 1, Track 6 from Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Mute, 2008)
Disc 1, Track 7 and Disc 2, Track 1 from The Boatman's Call (Mute, 1997)
Disc 1, Track 8 and Disc 2, Tracks 8 and 10 from Push the Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd, 2013)
Disc 1, Track 9 from Henry's Dream (Mute, 1992)
Disc 1, Track 10 and Disc 2, Track 11 from Murder Ballads (Mute, 1996)
Disc 2, Track 2 from No More Shall We Part (Mute, 2001)
Disc 2, Tracks 5 and 9 from Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (Mute, 2004)
Disc 2, Track 7 from Your Funeral...My Trial (Mute, 1986)

Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds 1984-2014 - Deluxe Edition (Mute, 2017)

3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD)
Super Deluxe: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

* indicates track exclusive to deluxe edition

Disc 1: 1984-1993

1. From Her to Eternity
2. In the Ghetto *
3. Tupelo
4. I'm Gonna Kill That Woman *
5. The Carny *
6. Sad Waters *
7. Stranger Than Kindness
8. Scum *
9. The Mercy Seat
10. Deanna
11. Up Jumped the Devil *
12. The Weeping Song
13. The Ship Song
14. Papa Won't Leave You, Henry *
15. Straight to You *

Disc 2: 1994-2003

1. Do You Love Me? *
2. Nobody's Baby Now *
3. Loverman
4. Red Right Hand
5. Stagger Lee
6. Where the Wild Roses Grow
7. Into My Arms
8. People Ain't No Good
9. Brompton Oratory *
10. (Are You) The One That I've Been Watiting For? *
11. Come Into My Sleep *
12. Love Letter
13. God is in the House *
14. He Wants You *
15. Shoot Me Down *

Disc 3: 2004-2013

1. Hiding All Away *
2. There She Goes, My Beautiful World *
3. Nature Boy
4. Breathless *
5. Babe, You Turn Me On *
6. O Children
7. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
8. Night of the Lotus Eaters *
9. We Call Upon the Author *
10. Jesus of the Moon *
11. More News from Nowhere *
12. We No Who U R
13. Jubilee Street
14. Higgs Boson Blues
15. Push the Sky Away *

DVD

1. Interview (Kippevel, Netherlands, 2008)
2. Night of the Lotus Eaters (Docks de Suds, Marseilles, France, 2008)
3. Red Right Hand (Glastonbury Festival, 1988)
4. The Weeping Song (Boxed Set, Glasgow STV Studios, 2001)
5. Interview (New York City, 2013)
6. Higgs Boson Blues (La Fabrique Studios, France, 2012)
7. Interview (Stranger in a Strange Land documentary, Berlin, 1987)
8. From Her to Eternity (Perkins Palace, Pasadena, CA - 1984)
9. Love Letter (ABC Studios Australia, 2001)
10. Interview (Bish's Biz, Australia, 2013)
11. Do You Love Me? (Boxed Set, Glasgow STV Studios, 2001)
12. Interview (Boxed Set, Glasgow STV Studios, 2001)
13. Into My Arms (INmusic Festival, Zagreb, Croatia, 2008)
14. We Call Upon the Author (B1 Maximum Club, Moscow, 2008)
15. Interview (Ein Abend in Wien, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1991)
16. The Mercy Seat (Bizarre Festival, Germany, 1996)
17. Interview (Columbus, Ohio, 1984)
18. God is in the House (Later...with Jools Holland, 2001)
19. Interview (Bish's Biz, Australia, 2013)
20. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Globe Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden, 2008)
21. Brompton Oratory (MTV Live N Loud, 1997)
22. I'm Gonna Kill That Woman (Posthof, Linz, Austria, 1986)
23. Jubilee Street (The Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, 2013)
24. The Ship Song (Live At Paradiso, Amsterdam, 1992)
25. Interview (Lollapalooza, 1994)
26. Loverman (Bizarre Festival, Germany, 1996)
27. Interview (Australia, 1988)
28. In the Ghetto (Exit, Chicago, 1984)
29. Hiding All Away (The Abattoir Blues Tour DVD, Brixton Academy, London, 2004)
30. Interview (Australia, 1992)
31. Where the Wild Roses Grow (MTV Most Wanted, London, 1995)
32. Deanna (St. Luke's, London, 2008)
33. O Children (Le Trianon, Paris, 2013)
34. Interview (Festival Crazy Rock, Chile, 1996)
35. Stagger Lee (The White Room, London, 1996)
36. Interview (Austin City Limits, 2014)
37. Interview (Australia, 1995)
38. Push the Sky Away (The Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, 2013)
39. There She Goes, My Beautiful World (The Abattoir Blues Tour DVD, Brixton Academy, London, 2004)

Disc 1, Track 1 from From Her to Eternity (Mute, 1984)
Disc 1, Track 2 from Mute non-LP single later included on From Her to Eternity
Disc 1, Track 3 from The Firstborn is Dead (Mute, 1985)
Disc 1, Track 4 from Kicking Against the Pricks (Mute, 1986)
Disc 1, Tracks 5-8 from Your Funeral...My Trial (Mute, 1986)
Disc 1, Tracks 9-11 from Tender Prey (Mute, 1988)
Disc 1, Tracks 12-13 from The Good Son (Mute, 1990)
Disc 1, Tracks 14-15 from Henry's Dream (Mute, 1992)
Disc 2, Tracks 1-4 from Let Love In (Mute, 1994)
Disc 2, Tracks 5-6 from Murder Ballads (Mute, 1996)
Disc 2, Tracks 7-10 from The Boatman's Call (Mute, 1997)
Disc 2, Track 11 from "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?" single (Mute, 1997)
Disc 2, Tracks 12-13 from No More Shall We Part (Mute, 2001)
Disc 2, Track 14 from Nocturama (Mute, 2003)
Disc 2, Track 15 from "Bring It On" single (Mute, 2003)
Disc 3, Tracks 1-6 from Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (Mute, 2004)
Disc 3, Tracks 7-11 from Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Mute, 2008)
Disc 3, Tracks 12-15 from Push the Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd, 2013)