Nocturama (album)

Last updated

Nocturama
Nocturama.jpg
Studio album by
Released3 February 2003
RecordedMarch 2002
StudioSingSing Melbourne
Genre Alternative rock
Length57:35
Label Mute, Anti-
Producer Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Nick Launay
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology
No More Shall We Part
(2001)
Nocturama
(2003)
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
(2004)
Singles from Nocturama
  1. "Bring It On"
    Released: 24 February 2003
  2. "He Wants You" / "Babe, I'm on Fire"
    Released: 2 June 2003
  3. "Rock of Gibraltar"
    Released: 1 September 2003
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 73/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Alternative Press 5/5 [3]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
NME 8/10 [7]
Pitchfork 7.0/10 [8]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]

Nocturama is the twelfth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on February 3, 2003 on Mute and ANTI-. Produced by Nick Launay, the album is the last with founding member Blixa Bargeld.

Contents

Recording

Nocturama was recorded in one week during an Australian tour in March 2002, and reunited Nick Cave and guitarist Mick Harvey with producer Nick Launay, who had worked with their previous band The Birthday Party twenty-one years earlier.

Reflecting on the recording experience, Launay noted: "I'll never forget the first day recording Nocturama. Blixa swept into SingSing Studio in that hat. Mick Harvey introduces me and Blixa goes, 'Oh, ja, the engineer.' Mick says, 'No, Blixa – the producer.' Blixa says, 'Well, we'll see about that, won't we?' From a distance they look like the most chaotic band. From an engineering point of view, it's just fucking mental – like recording a live gig but you're capturing this thing for ever. As soon as Nick walks in and sits at the piano, you're recording. The intensity is unlike any other band." [12]

Reviews

The album received positive reviews, varying between highly positive (5/5 from Alternative Press [3] and "CD of the week" in the Evening Standard [13] ) to moderately positive (3/5 from Q , [9] Rolling Stone , [10] and Uncut [11] ). Many of the reviewers pointed out the quality of the final track, "Babe, I'm on Fire", which in the words of John Aizlewood (writing for Evening Standard) is a "rip-roaring, tongue-twisting, 15-minute keyboard-led stomp, reminiscent of Dylan at his most coruscating. It's innovative eyebrow-raising and supremely disciplined--like Cave himself." [13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nick Cave.

No.TitleLength
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
Total length:57:35

Singles

Personnel

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Guest musicians

Sales

Sales for Nocturama
RegionSales
France20,000 [14]
Germany55,000 [14]
Italy20,000 [14]
Europe200,000 [14]

References

  1. "Reviews for Nocturama by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds". Metacritic . Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  2. Sendra, Tim. "Nocturama – Nick Cave / Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds". AllMusic . Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Nocturama". Alternative Press (176): 88. March 2003.
  4. Berger, Arion (February 2003). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Nocturama". Blender (13): 91. Archived from the original on 11 December 2004. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  5. Petridis, Alexis (24 January 2003). "Nick Cave: Nocturama". The Guardian . Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  6. Nichols, Natalie (16 February 2003). "Magnificently mordant moods". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  7. Beaumont, Mark (18 February 2003). "Cave, Nick & The Bad Seeds : Nocturama". NME . Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  8. Carr, Eric (12 February 2003). "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Nocturama". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Nocturama". Q (199): 94. February 2003.
  10. 1 2 Hoard, Christian (20 February 2003). "Nick Cave: Nocturama". Rolling Stone (916). Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Nocturama". Uncut (70): 96. March 2003.
  12. Male, Andrew (April 2020). "Nick Cave's 50 Greatest Songs: 'Something Monstrous Was Taking Shape'". Mojo .
  13. 1 2 Aizlewood, John (30 January 2003). "CD Of The Week: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Nocturama". Evening Standard . p. 113. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Chris Barrett (22 March 2003). "Nick Cave retains staying power" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 21, no. 13. p. 12. Retrieved 25 November 2021.