There were only a very few points on Nocturama where the band could be accused of rocking out, those being "Babe I'm On Fire", "Dead Man In My Bed" and "Bring It On". (Can't remember how rocking the other tracks were, but I don't recall any of them being as uptempo as those.) Indeed, Nocturama disappointed me greatly because I'd been led to expect the band had rocked things up a bit, and, well, they hadn't. As for "Babe I'm On Fire", I don't get into it for the "intensity", I get into it because I think it's hilarious. The sheer riotous excess of the whole thing is staggering, and I love it for that.

Have you heard The Boatman's Call? What did you make of that?

These are the only two I've heard so far, James. I'm on the prowl for more, but don't want to jump in too deep too quickly. I'm sure I'll get around to hearing everything at some point . . . I'm always up for hearing more good music.

Tom,
I'm an old Cave fan, going back to the Birthday Party days. Just to get an idea of the extent of his music as a "solo" artist (in quotes b/c the Bad Seeds are an important part of his sound--no mere backing band), I might gently suggest picking up Let Love In, The Firstborn Is Dead, and the album that opens up with The Mercy Seat (can't recall the name right now). Murder Ballads takes the moroseness to a difficult depth, too, if you're so inclined. I'm not. Anymore, anyway.
Of course, every other Cave fan would choose something different and call me an idiot, so please ignore me.