Nocturama

1	Wonderful Life 6:49
2	He Wants You 3:30
3	Right Out of Your Hand 5:15
4	Bring It On 5:22
5	Dead Man in My Bed 4:40
6	Still in Love 4:44
7	There Is a Town 4:58
8	Rock of Gibraltar 3:00
9	She Passed by My Window 3:20
10	Babe, I'm on Fire 14:45

Barnes & Noble

Although Nick Cave's emotional intensity hasn't exactly waned in recent years, he's tended to couch his obsessive-compulsive musings in calmer hues -- murder ballads, as he likes to call them. Nocturama is peppered with such troubadour-styled allegories, but much of the disc is given over to the utterly unhinged passion that Cave loosed throughout his days with the Birthday Party (and the better part of the Bad Seeds nascence). On "Dead Man in My Bed," his mad cackle conjures up harrowing padded-cell visions, while the draining 14-minute closer, "Babe, I'm on Fire," ramps up visions of the River Styx (and we don't mean Dennis DeYoung's band) with an intensity worthy of Dante's Inferno. His backing band -- keyed by the alternately shadowy and stark violin playing of Dirty Three man Warren Ellis (who really shines on the oblique lament "Right Out of Your Hand") -- walks a fine line between film-noir moodiness and swamp-thing creepiness, with Cave seemingly just as comfortable -- and just as compelling -- in either setting. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Everything on Nocturama sounds like something Cave has done before. "He Wants You" is a smooth love song, "Still in Love" is a gothic love song, and "Wonderful Life" has a nice, slinky beat and a memorable melody. There are also a couple of songs that revisit the old storm-and-bang days of the Birthday Party and early Bad Seeds. Add to that the racing tempos, jagged guitars, and shouted vocals of "Dead Man in My Bed" and the seemingly endless "Babe, I'm on Fire," which is a welcome blast of energy. ~ Slash Enburn, All Music Guide

Rolling Stone

Most people this pretentious or literary don't rock so hard or write tunes so good. Christian Hoard

Blender

The songs are rousing and poetic, with a deep bottom and gorgeous piano lines vying like the forces of darkness and light. Arion Berger