.....It's All True

What other reviewers have written is all true. "Basher" hits all the high spots of Nick's most "commercial" period, from late 70's to the late 80's. That is if ANY part of Nicks carreer can be called "commercial". Others have pointed out that 14 tracks come from his first two solo albums, which are definately his strongest, but if you only have the cash to get one Nick Lowe CD, "Basher" is it.
Something to consider: Nick had already been "Bashing" it out in the pubs for over 10 years, produced Elvis Costello, produced the Damned, and as in-house producer/engineer at Stiff Records, been one of a handful of people that catapulted the D.I.Y. ethos of punk into the mainstream of the listening public.... All of this BEFORE the release of his first solo effort. Also make note of Nick's "supergroup" resume, both Rockpile, AND Little Village
Nick is not the songwriter Elvis Costello, or Bob Dylan is, but he is a journeyman at his craft. He can groove a bassline, put a hook to it, and weave some catchy words in, and before you know it, you are singing along, even if it is more "campy" than "classic" (A La current popsters Fountains of Wayne). Nick was not above borrowing from others' (a riff here, a hook there), but did so out in the open, and was up front about it. Many of his songs were written with tongue firmly in cheek, with a kind of British wit, that I have to do a double-take on, to check if he is joking or not. Truly an underappreciated artist of the punk/new wave era. Go buy this record.

Pure pop than rockabilly...you decide

Basher has 25 Nick Lowe tunes from 8 different recordings. 14 of them are from Lowe's first two albums. This should probably tell you something about Lowe's career arc. The further he moved from the power pop of his early career to the rockabilly of his later work; the less focused his work became. But for a good overview of Lowe's work through the late 80's, Basher does the job. Lowe doesn't waste time, literally most of his songs clock in at about 3 minutes! There is a lot of good stuff here, "Cruel to be Kind," the sick humor "Marie Provost" (A true story sad to say) and many other gems. Basher is worthy intro to Lowe's work, but as this Greatest hits package shows, it is on his first two works, Jesus of Cool (Pure Pop for Now People in the U.S.) and Labor of Lust that Lowe's humor and style had their greatest impact.

Where's Breakaway?

I just can't believe that on this great CD they left off the song Breakaway. I have the cassette of this album and Breakaway is on that! Isn't a CD supposed to hold more info? Come on, re-release this CD with Breakaway on it. Please! Otherwise, this is a terrific album. If you have to make room for Breakaway, leave off Big Kick, Plain Scrap. It's easily the lousiest song here. Still, great stuff but only 4 stars for leaving one of my favorite songs off.