Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
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Free Music Notes for Jesus of Cool
Free Music Review: A Few More Songs Please
Hit: 4 Stars
Because I had the initial issue of Jesus of Cool on CD I was looking forward to getting an updated copy with upgraded sound. The sound is a little clearer but not to the extent that it has been with other CD's when a proper remastering has been done. I guess I was expecting a little more of a boost sound-wise I always thought Lowe's early work could use it. I also do not tend to like digipaks though this one is pretty good. However, there is a little bit of difficulty accessing the CD as the packaging for the CD is similar to an LP sleeve. The main problem is the fit is kind of tight. My primary issue is that I had hoped a few more songs would have been added to this release. The downloads were nice, but since the CD is 62 minutes there is room for more tracks. For instance, we have "Rollers Show" but not its "companion" song "Bay City Rollers We Love You." "Let's Go To The Disco" and "Fool Too Long" should have also been included. Heck I even would have liked to have "American Squirm" but I figure that will wind up on 'Labour of Lust' whenever that is reissued. My review does not detract from the music which is great. This barely made a ripple in 1978 because it was lost among 'Saturday Night Fever' and the whole disco era. I'm glad to see Nick getting his due.Free Music Review: Look Back With Flanger
Hit: 4 Stars
The songs on this album mimic a retrospective compilation of mid-seventies billboard hits, while the production suggests what a sweep of the radio dial might have sounded like at the edge of the eighties if punk and disco had never happened. Lowe effortlessly references disparate genres, but brings them together through the tightly structured idiom of power pop. We get pithy songs of disaffection, the perils of the music industry, and the lessons of love, arranged with flippant irony in the familiar verse-refrain format. But the studio effects and shards of sampled sound reveal Lowe's enthusiasm for the latest recording technology. Lowe clearly understood that after CBGB, Malcolm McLaren, and Giorgio Moroder, pop music would never be the same. His recording approach subtly concedes the tidal pull of the new wave(s), but the disciplined tunesmith in him cannot help but emphasize what might have been if further refinement had precluded radical upheaval. Imagine an alternate reality in which Badfinger never surrendered their rehearsal space to an unknown group called the Sex Pistols. In that parallel world, Nick Lowe truly is the Jesus of Cool.Free Music Review: The Second Coming
Hit: 4 Stars
I never liked this album as much as Nick's 80s albums that were more light-hearted and didn't try as hard. And let's face it -- the reason that Elvis is more relevant today is that at the time he was making music about something other than making music. It feels like half the songs here are about the pop music industry and none of those have the impact of Radio Radio. That said, this re-issue does rock out and has some pure pop gems.Free Music Review: a classic revisited and enhanced
Hit: 4 Stars
The original, called Pure Pop for Now People, in the US, was one of the great underappreciated albums of the British new wave. Nick somehow found time between producing Elvis Costello and everyone else to do this fine work himself. The original CD is enhanced by lots of bonus tracks, featuring the top musicians of his scene. The songs have melody and wit.Free Music Review: 1970s avante garde rock
Hit: 4 Stars
This was one of the best albums of its era, if you missed out but love Elvis Costello, I'd say you'd like this one. Not all the rock of the Nixon-Ford years stood the test of time, but this one still makes for a good listen in the 21st Century, because, well, you know, "they call it rock!"