Consumer Guide Album

Nick Lowe: Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe [Columbia, 1989]
Fourteen tracks recap the two great albums of 1978 and 1979, when he declared himself pure pop and spelled out the sound of breaking glass--roadie with arm torn off, actress eaten by dog. The remaining thirteen cull from the six good albums of the subsequent decade, when the fringe professional proclaimed a "Lovers Jamboree." The rowdy songs know whereof they kick, "Stick It Where the Sun Don't Shine" wounds all heels, and every decent half-boy/half-man has a couple of good love songs in him--"Heart" pure pop, "Raging Eyes" true romance. A−