| Nick the Knife | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Nick Lowe | ||||
| Released | 12 February 1982[1] | |||
| Recorded | Eden,Acton,London | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 34:11 | |||
| Label | F-Beat (UK),Columbia (US) | |||
| Producer | Nick Lowe | |||
| Nick Lowe chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Nick the Knife | ||||
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Nick the Knife is the third solo album byNick Lowe, released in 1982 and his first since the 1981 breakup of his bandRockpile.
The record still has several ties toRockpile with Lowe's former bandmatesBilly Bremner andTerry Williams both playing on the album. The album includes Lowe's slower remake of the Rockpile song "Heart"; the original version can be found on the band's albumSeconds of Pleasure, sung by Bremner.
Nick the Knife reached #50 on theBillboard 200, and #99 on the UK album charts. No singles from the album made the US or UK charts, although in Canada "Stick It Where The Sun Don't Shine" hit the top 40.
Nick the Knife is notable for being one of only two Lowe solo albums with no cover versions, including only songs written or co-written by Lowe, the other album being his 1990Party of One.
A 1990 CD of the album was issued onDemon Records with the catalog number FIEND CD 183.
The album was reissued byYep Roc Records in 2017.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Robert Christgau | B+[3] |
| Rolling Stone | [4] |
Writing inThe Boston Phoenix, Joyce Millman felt that "Lowe sounds uncharacteristically somber here, as if he'd just lost his best friend. Which he has — this is his first album without long-time palDave Edmunds. ... Whereas Lowe once sang his love songs from the safety of the pack, onNick the Knife he sets himself apart from the other men and addresses the woman as a partner — and not merely a sexual one."[5]
All tracks composed by Nick Lowe except where noted.
Bonus tracks from 2017 YepRoc reissue:
Three songs from the album were released as singles:
Live versions recorded by Nick Lowe and His Noise To Go, February 10, 1982 at theAgora Ballroom,Cleveland, Ohio
In 2015, Justin Remer ofElastic No-No Band recordedcovers of all 12 tracks onNick the Knife with his side project Duck the Piano Wire and released it as the albumDuck the Knife: A Homemade Remake of Nick Lowe's "Nick the Knife."[citation needed]
