Why is it that certain British pop artists have been criminally
\nignored in the States? I’ve complained so much about XTC not being
\nbigger over here (and will be talking about them again really
\nsoon). Now, I’m upset that Nick Lowe didn’t become a megastar.<\/p>\n
Oh, it’s not that he hadn’t earned attention in this country.
\nHis work with Rockpile, featuring Dave Edmunds, was pretty well
\nknown, even if they weren’t huge stars. But it was his 1979 album
\nLabour Of Lust<\/i>, an album which could have easily been called
\na Rockpile album (they were the backing band), that gave Lowe his
\nbiggest success, and his only top 40 hits with “Cruel To Be Kind”.
\nIt also is, to put it mildly, a
\n
\ngoddamn great record<\/i>
\n<\/b> .<\/p>\n
“Cruel To Be Kind” is the ultimate description of a pop song
\nthat one could want: a decent melody, intelligent lyrics, and a
\nchorus that is infectious. Lowe’s happy-go-lucky attitude seems to
\nooze from his vocals, and this song is one I constantly find myself
\ngoing back to without getting tired of it. Sadly, this would be the
\nonly time that Lowe would see the charts from this high of a
\nposition.<\/p>\n
But mixed in with all the humor (or is that “humour”?) of some
\nsongs (“American Squirm,” “Born Fighter”) is a seriousness that
\nLowe doesn’t just brush off. “Crackin’ Up” reaffirms the more glum
\nfeeling with the repetition of the lyric, “I don’t think that’s
\nfunny no more.” And the gentle take Lowe gives to “You Make Me” is
\na pleasant surprise on this album, one that might just throw you
\nfor a loop after the bubbly pop bounciness of “American Squirm” and
\nright before another pop wonder, “Skin Deep”.<\/p>\n
But the musicianship on
\nLabour Of Lust<\/i> is also a wonder. Lowe’s bass work is
\nsurprisingly complex, as can be heard on the choruses of “Born
\nFighter”. Edmunds proves that he could be one of the ’70s and ’80s
\nmost underrated guitarists. Just check out the solo on “Cruel To Be
\nKind” for proof of this.<\/p>\n
Sure, one or two songs don’t hold up as well, but Lowe and
\ncompany, for the most part, have crafted an album that should have
\nbeen a smash hit. Unfortunately, fate would not be as kind. Lowe
\nwent on to work with Rockpile until their implosion in 1981, and
\nwouldn’t follow up
\nLabour Of Lust<\/i> until 1982’s
\nNick The Knife<\/i>. But why didn’t this album just burn up the
\ncharts? Only two things I can think of for this: disco and punk.
\nDamn shame… had this album been released just two years later, it
\ncould have capitalized on the birth of MTV. (As it was, the video
\nfor “Cruel To Be Kind” still got airplay, though I’ll admit it’s
\nbeen years since I saw it, and wouldn’t mind seeing it again.)<\/p>\n
If you really want to know what a pop album sounds like, put
\naway the Milli Vanilli sludge, hie yourself to Best Buy, and grab
\nLabour Of Lust<\/i>. (The record, last time I checked, is now
\navailable on Demon Records.) It’s a quick listen, but a mandatory
\none which will open your eyes to a whole new world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7464],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-39125","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-nick-lowe","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39125"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}