The Impossible Bird

Nick Lowe

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 29, 1994)
• Original Release Date: November 29, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Upstart / Umgd
• ASIN: B000003NOZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #34,919 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
As a member of both Rockpile and Brinsley Schwarz, as a producer for Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, the Damned, and the Pretenders, and as a solo artist with his own Top 20 hit, Nick Lowe seemed to have his finger in every pub-rock pie there was. Unlike so many of their punk pals, the pub-rockers had a sense of craft and tradition which enabled them to outlive the moment, and that's why Lowe is still making strong, fascinating records nearly 20 years after the heady days of 1976-'78. Lowe's 1994 The Impossible Bird is a low-key, easy-going album which has a lot more to do with 1956 country music than with 1978 punk. Nonetheless the 13 songs--10 Lowe originals and three country chestnuts--are marked by the sort of no-frills arrangements and unpretentious passion that made pub-rock so special in the first place. When Lowe sings a ballad such as "The Beast in Me," "Withered on the Vine," and "Lover Don't Go," the arrangements are so minimalist--just a hint of guitar and drums behind the organ--that the song lives or dies by the vocal. Fortunately, Lowe pulls off the difficult trick of sounding lonely and desperate without sounding self-pitying. Whether it's a tongue-in-cheek rocker such as "12-Step Program (To Quit You Babe)" or one of the many ballads, Lowe and his musicians have stripped away every extraneous element that might get between the listener and the song. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC OF CRAFTED GEMS!, April 2, 2001

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This album is incredibly articulate and inventive, offering 13 melodic gems without a single filler track.

Hooks abound, but this is not just simple pop or country, as every song is infused with great emotional and musical substance to lure the listener back again and again.

My favorites include Lowe's own compositions The Beast In Me, Where's My Everything?, Lover Don't Go, Withered On The Vine and 14 Days, but the covers of True Love Travels On A Gravel Road, Trail Of Tears and I'll Be There are superb too.

If you like poetic lyrics set to beautiful melodies, you'll love this album. I do not even miss the absence of punk-influenced rockers at all, although I still love his first album "Pure Pop For Now People."

This is my absolute best musical discovery of 2001, thus far. It's rare to find such quality and talent on a single album.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And now I almost like C&W ..., November 27, 2000

By	Rainer Krack (Bangkok, Thailand) - See all my reviews

I'd been a Nick Lowe fan ever since his Brinsley Schwarz days. Lowe's songwriting ability was clearly discernible way back then. I bought The Impossible Bird on faith, without having heard a single track before. And boy, no disappointment! Lowe combines woeful, deep lyrics with cleverly crafted, often bouncy melodies which make him sound like Paul McCartney's musical soul mate. Only Lowe's lyrics seem much more personal. The trauma the man must have gone through becomes depressingly clear, yet somehow his spirit and good humour seem to carry him through. This is an album, which people who had had a painful break-up/divorce etc. can easily relate to, and that's probably a large chunk of the world's population. With his excellent sense for melody, Old Nick even sounds great when he goes into Country. Geez, I despise C&W, but the way he delivers it, taking out most of the corniness that usually sticks to the genre, almost makes me a believer in C&W. Well, almost. Anyhow, The Impossible Bird has become one of my all-time favorites, and on the strength of it I bought his follow-up album, again, without ever having heard a single note from it before. But that's another story for another day ...

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nick's changed but he's still the best, June 8, 2001

By A Customer

How many people would wonder, "who is this?" if they were lucky enough to have it grace their ears. Or would they instead ask you if you had any of that cool, pretentious Moby to put on instead.

Is anyone else flabbergasted that the sections for albums of this quality say, see all six reviews while garbage music has lines such as see all 625 reviews?