[.ca] Convincer

From Amazon.co.uk:
The Convincer is a welcome return from Nick Lowe. Perhaps best known for his late-70s work with Brinsley Schwarz such as "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" and as one of the more raffish denizens of the pub-rock scene, Nick Lowe is a long-established purveyor and distiller of an adult blend of country, R & B and MOR. Though The Convincer features covers of Johnny Rivers' "Poor Side of Town" and the ballad "Only a Fool Breaks His Own Heart", this is all self-penned, continuing in the vein of 1998's Dig My Mood. On the opener "Homewrecker", with its broody and distant roll of slide guitar, Lowe comes on like a cuckolded Elvis. "Cupid Must Be Angry", meanwhile, melds epic MOR with raggedly glorious country and western. "Lately I've Let Things Slide" is also excellent, a vivid study of a man gone to seed, searching his laundry basket for the cleanest shirt and typical of The Convincer--lonesome melancholia tempered by a sly and knowingly intelligent lyrical sensibility. --David Stubbs

low-key charming stuff:
This is Nick the well-dressed, elegant charmer -- Nick the knife is long gone. No remakes of "So It Goes" or "Marie Provost" here; he sticks close to the torchy, country- and soul-derived crooning of *Impossible Bird* and *Dig My Mood.* This is an album of mellow pleasures, for better or worse. Its fairly soundalike, and a few of the songs seem slight, but the band and Lowe are in great spirits. Strangely, this record picks up considerably on the second side -- special highlights for me include Johnny Rivers' "Poor Side of Town," "Bygones Won't Go," "Lately I've Let Things Slide" and of course, the damn-near-perfect love song "Let's Stay in and Make Love."

Wonderful album - Lowe has aged mighty gracefully:
For those of you remember Lowe, the 80s rocker, The Convincer is quite a change. Lowe remains a talented singer-songwriter, but his new stuff is more grown up, yet there is still an edge there. Lowe further shows of us terrific range with number of diverse offerings from soulful ballads such as Indian Queens to more up tempo poppy sounding songs like She's Got Soul. Great album.

Why does this "complete the trilogy"?:
This is, first of all, just a great album. If you had a choice, I might recommend "Dig My Mood" first, because that album reaches incredible heights that aren't quite hit with this one, but I have no complaints--this is wonderful songwriting, and the performances by Lowe and his band are of such sublime subtlety. Getting old sounds great here, if it means you can be relaxed and precise, spontaneous and controlled, all at once. I keep wondering, though, what the hell everybody means by saying this album "completes the trilogy"? Did Lowe ever announce he was doing a trilogy? Did he map out these three albums (with "Impossible Bird" being first, then "...Mood" then this) in advance? Is he finished now, and is planning to move to a new genre? Is he retiring? From what I can tell of his compositional method, he writes and records his albums a song at a time. If his muse gives him another song in this style, is he going to say, "Oh well, I'm done with all that with the completion of my trilogy, so I guess I'll just send this song along to Solomon Burke or someone else." Well, I hope not. Bring on the four-peat! This is a great, classic musical model that Lowe can do for the next 25 years as far as I'm concerned.

One Of The Best Records Of All Time:
This CD is so full of soul, class, style that it would be futile to describe it further. This cd will be called a "classic" in 10 years....

No "Pure Pop" here, just Pure soul!:
If you only know Nick Lowe for his eighties "pure pop" you are missing an amazingly well-crafted masterpiece closer to the singer-songwriter styles of Jackson Browne than 80s hitmakers. This album is a delight from start to finish. Some may find "Faithless Lover" a bit to close to Johnny Cash's style, but will love the rest of the disc. If you love well-written, soulful songs that MEAN something and actually make you feel something, GET THIS DISC!

• Homewrecker
• Only A Fool Breaks His Own Heart
• Lately I've Let Things Slide
• She's Got Soul
• Cupid Must Be Angry
• Indian Queens
• Poor Side of Town
• I'm A Mess
• Between Dark And Dawn
• Bygones (Won't Go)
• Has She Got A Friend?
• Let's Stay In And Make Love