Nick Lowe - Rose Of England (1985) [VINYL] - US - 24-bit/96kHz plus CD-compatible format

Another fine outing from Nick! Enjoy the new era-worm.

Another fine outing from Nick! The US version looks to have swapped lead tracks from the UK. Old mate Huey Lewis steps up to produce the "I Knew The Bride" remake. Why Huey? Well, his band backed Elvis Costello on EC's debut, believe it or not. How's that for a fun fact?


Allmusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
"Following through on the roots-rock leanings of Cowboy Outfit, Nick Lowe delivered the delightful The Rose of England. While some of the material is still rather lightweight – "Lucky Dog" and "Bo Bo Skediddle" are defiant and thoroughly entertaining throwaways – much of the record is clever and charming, delivered with laidback confidence from the Cowboy Outfit. "Darlin' Angel Eyes" and "The Rose of England" are minor classics in the Lowe canon, while his cover of John Hiatt's "She Don't Love Nobody" and the revival of the rockabilly standard "7 Nights to Rock" keep the album moving. Still, it's his stark take on Elvis Costello's lovely "Indoor Fireworks" that gives the album an anchor, and it's a performance so affecting that it makes the neutered reworking of "I Knew the Bride" completely forgivable."


Cristgau likes it but only from a certain angle:
"For five years Lowe has marked time without ever quite losing the beat, and his most mild-mannered album of the decade is also his most consistent. I admit I missed the trademark sarcasm at first–until I realized that the most remarkable cut was a straightforward band-composed instrumental best described as mild-mannered Duane Eddy. Then I decided that the wimpy "I Knew the Bride" remake was deliberate–old beau Nick in the throes of fond regret–and went on from there. Will anybody notice this stirringly minor achievement? Probably not. Will I remember it myself a year from now? I wouldn't stake my job on it. B+"


All songs by Nick Lowe unless otherwise noted.
"I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock & Roll)" – 4:26
"She Don't Love Nobody" (John Hiatt) – 3:23
"7 Nights to Rock" (Henry Glover, Louis Innis) – 2:44
"Long Walk Back" (Lowe, Belmont, Carrack, Irwin) – 3:54
"The Rose of England" – 3:26
"Lucky Dog" – 3:08

"Darlin' Angel Eyes" – 2:45
"Indoor Fireworks" (Elvis Costello) – 3:28
"(Hope to God) I'm Right" – 2:41
"I Can Be the One You Love" – 4:02
"Everyone" (Leslie Ball, Gary Rue) – 3:05
"Bo Bo Ska Diddle Daddle" (Webb Pierce, Wayne Walker) – 3:03

It's a crack band:
Nick Lowe – vocals, bass, guitar
Martin Belmont – guitar
Paul Carrack – organ, bass, piano, backing vocals
Bobby Irwin – drums, backing vocals

Guest Musicians
Andrew Bodnar – bass on "Long Walk Back"
Nick Pentelow - tenor saxophone on "Long Walk Back"
Huey Lewis – harmonica, backing vocals on "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'N' Roll)"
Mario Cipollina – bass on "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'N' Roll)"
Johnny Colla – guitar, saxophone, backing vocals on "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'N' Roll)"
Bill Gibson – drums, backing vocals on "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'N' Roll)"
Chris Hayes – guitar, backing vocals on "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'N' Roll)"
Sean Hopper – keyboards, backing vocals on "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'N' Roll)"
Chris "Boothill" Thompson – banjo on "(Hope to God) I'm Right"



LP > Rega P1 with Ortofon Super 30 > TC-750LC > E-Mu 0202 > Adobe Audition 3 (AA) @ 96kHz 32bit float > Manual click removal in AA > Click Repair set @ 20 > Equalizer (from the ClickRepair guy) used to combine into mono) > AA used to split tracks, fade in/out, and for manual click removal > RX Advanced to resample > RX Advanced to dither MBIT+ > TLH to FLAC and sector align (16bit, pad) > MP3 Tagger to edit tags.

"16bit" = 16bit at 44.1kHz
"24bit" = 24bit at 96kHz

No music was harmed in the making of this vinyl rip.