Pros: A collection of 25 Nick Lowe tunes. Includes the #12 smash "Cruel To Be Kind."
Cons: A mixed bag of styles that may not appeal to some.
The Bottom Line: Several great tunes highlight the disc. Features seven tracks from his classic "Labour Of Love" LP, including "Cruel To Be Kind," his # 12 hit from 1979.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe by Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe, singer, songwriter and producer, turned 53 on March 24, 2002. Though most people know him for his Top 20 hit from 1979, "Cruel To Be Kind," his music includes many other gems just as good.
A veteran of Brinsley Schwarz, a fine British band that received glowing critical reviews but never had any chart impact, Lowe's initial fame was as a record producer after exiting that band in 1975.
Production work:
He co-founded Stiff Records in 1976, putting out his first solo single "So It Goes"/"Heart Of The City" as the label's first release. It was a double-sided radio hit in Britain with no impact in the U. S.
Stiff Records, as a label, enjoyed more success when Lowe produced Elvis Costello's debut album, "My Aim Is True," in 1977. He produced Costello's next four albums as well.
Over the years, he has produced Dave Edmunds (his sometime partner in the band Rockpile), The Damned, The Pretenders, Carlene Carter (his wife; Johnny Cash's daughter), Paul Carrack, John Hiatt, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and other acts.
Solo career:
His solo career has included brief band work as a member of Rockpile (their single "Teacher Teacher" hit # 51 in 1981) and Little Village (a band that also included John Hiatt, Ry Cooder and Jim Keltner).
His composition "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding" was featured in the Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston film, "The Bodyguard." It was covered by Curtis Stigers for the film. He also wrote a tune called "The Beast In Me" for Johnny Cash, his father-in-law. Neither song appears in this collection.
What this album does include are 25 tracks that cover Lowe's career from 1976 through 1989.
"Labour Of Lust":
Included are seven tracks from Lowe's greatest success, the 1979 album "Labour Of Lust," including his # 12 Billboard hit "Cruel To Be Kind."
"Cruel To Be Kind" opens with an explosive drum roll ala The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and glides into one of the finest pop tunes of the late '70s (with a vocal and guitar riff that remind one of the late George Harrison). Lowe's lyrics are great here:
"Oh I can't take another heartache / though you say oh my friend / I'm at my wit's end / you say your love is bonafide / but that don't coincide / with the things that you do / and when I ask you to be nice / you say you've got to be cruel to be kind / in the right measure / cruel to be kind / that's the very design / cruel to be kind / means that I love you / baby, you've got to be cruel to be kind..."
"Without Love":
On "Without Love," Lowe shows his rockabilly roots in a sweet, uptempo country tune with some lovely slide guitar. Great lyrics here, as well:
"Without love / I am half-human / without love / I'm all machine / without love / there's nothing doing / I will die / without love / without love / I am an island / all by myself / in a heartbreak sea / without love / there's no denying / I am dying / without love..."
Lowe rock's out on "Switch Board Susan," a song in which the writer falls in love with the telephone operator. It features some searing lead guitar and a rocksteady backbeat. The lyrics can be taken several ways, which is Lowe's intention:
"Switch board Susan / won't you give me a line / I need a doctor / give me 9-9-9 / first time I picked the telephone / I fell in love / with your ringing tone / I'm a long distance romancer / I keep on trying / until I get an answer / give me, give me one more chance / ... / switch board susan / let me off the hook..."
Rockpile:
The album include's Rockpile's "When I Write The Book" in which Lowe does an analysis of being in love:
"...love was young and foolish / like a little child at play / but oh how love has changed / I never dreamed how easily / but now I'm just a shadow / of the boy I used to be / and when I write the book / about my love / it will be about a man who was torn in half..."
For Nick Lowe, the '50s never died and on "Raging Eyes" you would swear he has brought Buddy Holly ("Peggy Sue", "Maybe Baby") back from the dead. Full of galloping guitar in the spirit of The Crickets, the tune speeds along its musical highway.
Writing with his wife Carlene Carter, he wrote the Motown-ish "Time Wounds All Heels" (his title again designed to confuse you about the song's content). It features a lush string arrangement and reminds one of The Temptations in sound. The tune is about a girl who is a "heel" to her lover and the guy who is plotting his revenge against her ("I just bide my time," he sings):
"...well, you've been getting away with murder / time wounds all heels..."
"I Knew The Bride":
Lowe had an MTV-propelled hit with "I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'N' Roll)" produced by Huey Lewis (of Huey Lewis & The News fame). A graying Lowe sings a Tex-Mex foot stomper about a guy who remembers a bride when she was a bit wilder than she is now:
"...now on the arm of her daddy / she's walking down the aisle / I see her catch my eye / and give me a secret smile / maybe it's too old fashioned / but we were once close friends / but the way she looks today / she never could have then / ... / I knew the bride when she used to rock 'n' roll..."
Lowe's first British hit, "So It Goes," though written by Lowe, could pass for Thin Lizzy ("The Boys Are Back In Town"). Lowe sounds like the late Phil Lynott, lead singer of Thin Lizzy, on this track, complete with guitar-work and backing vocals that capture the Thin Lizzy sound perfectly. If imitation is the purest form of flattery, then Lowe must be a very complimentary guy.
Some other standouts are the acoustic "American Squirm," the New Wave sound of "Cracking Up" (about a guy who is insane and keeps saying, "I don't think it's funny no more") and the rocking "Born Fighter."
This should appeal to folks who like a variety of styles in their music, including rockabilly, country, pop and rock.
Today:
Lowe remains active. He released a new album in 2001, "The Convincer," which received strong reviews in "Entertainment Weekly" and "The Washington Post." He appeared on the "Conan O'Brien Show" last October to promote the album.
The CD:
Features an 8-page booklet with six pages of full-page photos (two of these pages are a single photo) and has two pages that list the songs. There is no biography on the artist and no personnel list for the songs.
The tracks:
25 in all on a single CD: "So It Goes," "Heart Of The City," "(I Love The Sound Of) Breaking Glass," ""Little Hitler," "No Reason," "36 Inches High," "Marie Provost," "American Squirm," "Cracking Up" and "Big Kick, Plain Scrap."
Also, "Born Fighter," "Switch Board Susan," "Without Love," "Cruel To Be Kind," "When I Write The Book," "Heart," "Raging Eyes," "Time Wounds All Heels" and "Maureen."
Also, "Half A Boy & Half A Man," "7 Nights To Rock," "She Don't Love Nobody," "The Rose Of England," "I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'N' Roll" and "Lovers Jamboree."
On the web:
Official site: http://www.nicklowe.com/
Official Dave Edmunds site (the singer of the # 4 hit from 1970, "I Hear You Knockin'", and Lowe's frequent musical partner; Dave had aortic heart valve replacement surgery following the 2000 Ringo Starr All-Star Band tour he was a part of --- at the site he says he has fully recovered): http://www.daveedmunds.com/
Unofficial site about the band Rockpile (featuring Lowe and Dave Edmunds): http://members.tripod.com/rant58/id280.htm
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