4x****
The opening title track**** doesn't have the best start, as a bizarre Halloween singalong, but Cave's manic-preacher narrative is swaggering and hypnotic. "Today's Lesson" and the "we're gonna have a real good time" hook don't have the same impact, nor does the goth-y "Moonland" or "Albert Goes West". The rapid-fire narrative of "We Call Upon The Author"****, is supported by a Doors meets Velvet Underground jam that propels toward spaghetti-western tinged "Hold On To Yourself"****. The noisy "Lie Down Here (& Be My Girl"****, resembling solo Iggy, ends a very strong triple-play. "Midnight Man" definitely has a mood, though borrowed from Grinderman, and rallies from the percolating noise with "everybody's coming around to my place", but the mellower, jazzy "Jesus Of The Moon" and "More News From Nowhere" bookend it so that the album seems to drift away peacefully.
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