The music industry is funny. The fact that an album as fantastic Nick Lowe's Labour of Lust could be out of print for over 20 years is absolutely astonishing. Lowe is one of the most important figures in late 70's British punk and pub rock as both a performer (solo and with the fantastic Rockpile, who play on Labour of Lust) and a producer (Elvis Costello, The Damned) and this is one of his two almost perfect solo albums. Labour of Lust isn't the spastic jukebox perfection of pop stylings that 1978's Jesus of Cool is but it is nearly as good in a more streamlined way.
Opening with one of the finest guitar pop songs ever recorded ("Cruel to be Kind"), the album never strays too far from the "amphetamine fueled Chuck Berry" rock of Rockpile but it's hardly tied to any specific genre either. The styles rang from new wave ("Big Kick, Plain Scrape") to raging rock ("Born Fighter" which features a harmonica solo from Sir Huey Lewis), acoustic balladry ("You Make Me," "Endless Grey Ribbon") and country rock ("Without Love") and all are all done with skill, joy and a true sense of fun. "American Squirm," Skin Deep," "Dose of You" and Love so Fine" are all rockers in the vein of "Cruel to be Kind" and highly enjoyable album tracks. In fact there is nothing resembling a lesser track to be found anywhere on Labour of Lust and that combination of consistency and quality is what makes the album a classic.
After such a long wait for it to be reissued, it would be easy to ignore Labour of Lust but that would be a giant mistake. It's one of the better albums to come out of England in the late 70's (and there are so many phenomenal albums that fit that classification that this is no small praise) and is the second in a string of 3 classic albums Lowe would be involved in as a performer -- between Jesus of Cool and Rockpile's Second's of Pleasure. Any fan of guitar pop, pub rock or just a great music should get their hands on this ASAP.
Rating: 5
No comments:
Post a Comment