The Impossible Bird

The Impossible Bird is an album by British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe. Produced by Lowe and Neil Brockbank, it was released in the United Kingdom in 1994 on Demon Records and elsewhere by Upstart Records.[2]

The Impossible Bird
Studio album by Nick Lowe
Released	29 November 1994
Studio	The Turk's Head Function Room (Winchester Hall), St. Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex The Old Cinema (Broadvale Centre), Brentford, Middlesex The Bonaparte Rooms, St. Margaret's, Twickenham, Middlesex
Genre	Country rock[1]
Length	40:12
Label	Demon Upstart
Producer	Nick Lowe Neil Brockbank
Nick Lowe chronology
Party of One (1990) The Impossible Bird (1994) Dig My Mood (1998)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Chicago Tribune	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B[5]
The Guardian	[6]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[7]
Q	[8]

In a contemporary review of The Impossible Bird, Rolling Stone critic Paul Evans said that the album showed Lowe "in excellent form" with songs that "demonstrate a prodigious productivity and an emotional realism that ranges from heartbreak... to a well-earned bittersweet humor".[9] People called it a "high point" for Lowe,[10] while Los Angeles Times critic Mike Boehm wrote: "The only real impossibility on this album lies in trying to resist the gently seductive pop charms of the crafty old bird who made it."[11] Less receptive was Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, who merely gave the album a "neither" rating.[12]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nick Lowe, unless otherwise noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Soulful Wind"		3:01
2.	"The Beast in Me"		2:27
3.	"True Love Travels on a Gravel Road"	Dallas Frazier A.L. Owens	3:35
4.	"Trail of Tears"	Roger Cook Allen Reynolds	3:25
5.	"Shelley My Love"		3:12
6.	"Where's My Everything?"		2:40
7.	"12-Step Program (To Quit You Babe)"		3:11
8.	"Lover Don't Go"		4:03
9.	"Drive-Thru Man"		2:42
10.	"Withered on the Vine"		3:22
11.	"I Live on a Battlefield"	Lowe Paul Carrack	3:23
12.	"14 Days"		2:58
13.	"I'll Be There"	Ray Price Rusty Gabbard	2:13

Personnel

• Nick Lowe – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
• Gary Grainger – guitar
• Bill Kirchen – trombone, electric guitar
• Paul Riley – bass guitar
• Bobby Irwin – drums
• Geraint Watkins – organ, electric guitar

Notes

1. Bruno, Franklin (February 1995). "Nick Lowe: The Impossible Bird". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 18. p. 38. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
2. "Nick Lowe, The Impossible Bird". Retrieved 3 December 2016.
3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Impossible Bird – Nick Lowe". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
4. Caro, Mark (15 December 1994). "Nick Lowe: The Impossible Bird (Upstart)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
5. Cannon, Bob (2 December 1994). "The Impossible Bird". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
6. Sullivan, Caroline (18 November 1994). "Nick Lowe: The Impossible Bird (Demon)". The Guardian.
7. DeLuca, Dan (4 December 1994). "Nick Lowe: The Impossible Bird (Upstart)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
8. "Nick Lowe: The Impossible Bird". Q. No. 100. January 1995. p. 257.
9. Evans, Paul (29 December 1994). "Nick Lowe: The Impossible Bird". Rolling Stone. p. 190. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
10. "Picks and Pans Review: The Impossible Bird". People. 23 January 1995. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
11. Boehm, Mike (8 December 1994). "Nick Lowe 'The Impossible Bird' Upstart". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
12. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Nick Lowe: The Impossible Bird". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved 28 May 2020.