Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 29
  2. Negative: 0 out of 29
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. Dec 5, 2012
    90
    The world Cale has created here is conflicted and weird, but it's also fascinating.
  2. Mojo
    Dec 5, 2012
    80
    The result is as good as anything Cale's delivered in years. [Nov 2012, p.91]
  3. Q Magazine
    Dec 5, 2012
    80
    His first album in seven years is vigorously diverse. [Nov 2012, p.90]
  4. Uncut
    Dec 5, 2012
    80
    It all sounds closer to 1990s David Bowie studio funk than the man who once went commando with the likes of Sabotage/Live and Music For A New Society. [Nov 2012, p.71]
  5. Dec 5, 2012
    80
    It's hard to pretend this is entirely cutting-edge stuff, but the 70-year-old shows no sign of softening, his production rich without bowing to commercialism, his compositions full of unexpected twists and aggression.
  6. Dec 5, 2012
    80
    Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood achieves a balance between uncompromising, avant-garde sound experimentation and pure melodic beauty that is among the most seamless and convincing you will hear all year.
  7. Dec 5, 2012
    80
    It's an album that combines the 70-year-old's experience with the glee of a small child.
  8. "I Wanna Talk 2 U", [is] just one highlight of an album which manages to be sonically inventive, dense and complex and melodically accessible.
  9. 80
    Nookie Wood finds him in rude creative health; a gruff, Pan-like affirmation of continuing musical restlessness.
  10. Dec 5, 2012
    80
    What Cale has done here is not only intriguing in its own right, it also manages to beat artists half the maker's age and younger at their own game and also has more to say.
  11. Dec 5, 2012
    80
    New Adventures in Nookie Wood is brimming with ideas, and the album's chopped-up, heavy aesthetic knits them together in a way that means that not one ever feels misdirected.
  12. The Wire
    Dec 5, 2012
    80
    Cale is producing involving, forward-moving music that still capable of catching you unawares. [Oct 2012, p.58]
  13. Dec 5, 2012
    79
    Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood sounds like Echo & the Bunnymen or Simple Minds turned loose with an army of 808s and AutoTuners, and when left unwarped by gauzy effects, Cale's vocal delivery is alternately as morose as Joy Division's and as sneering as Nick Cave's.
  14. Dec 5, 2012
    78
    It's an immediate, utterly engrossing collection of hook-laden, distinctly modern rock songs, as vibrant as anything being turned out by the hipster kids.
  15. Dec 5, 2012
    75
    The freshness of Shifty Adventures owes to his love of surprise and subversion.
  16. Dec 5, 2012
    75
    With his new album, Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood, Cale is once again juggling gut-punches and brain-freezes.
  17. Dec 5, 2012
    70
    An enjoyable offering from a genuine treasure.
  18. Dec 5, 2012
    70
    The steady pace of mid-tempo tracks might deter some listeners; although there are tinges of mischief, a sudden shift in pace would certainty elevate the listen.
  19. Dec 5, 2012
    70
    John Cale's latest is a visceral, thrilling ride, capable of soundtracking any seedy disco on the outskirts of Nookie Wood.

There are no user reviews yet.