My Aim is True
This Year's Model
Armed Forces
Get Happy!
Trust
Almost Blue
Imperial Bedroom
Punch the Clock
Goodbye Cruel World
King of America
Blood and Chocolate
Mighty Like a Rose
Brutal Youth
Kojak Variety
All This Useless Beauty
Painted From Memory
When I Was Cruel
North
The Delivery Man
Costello comes back from a mini hiatus with this album, his first for his new label of Warner Brothers. Seen by many as the sell out record, and there is a good case for that argument. It has a glossy 80s sheen not seen since 1984's Goodbye Cruel World, and a huge hit single. Not only that but Costello managed to get a ton of famous hired hands to help him out (Roger McGuinn, Paul McCartney et al) which could show a sign of creative slowing down. While many of these arguments have their merits, the album is not just a toss off. In fact Costello must have had an idea of the �commercial sell out� as the cover depicts his head hanging from a wall like a prized animal. Good to see British humor was good and alive. Too bad awesome musical skills weren�t at the time.
Booming fake drums bring in �This Town...� of the melodic highlights of the album that will stick in the listeners head. This is the track with former Byrd McGuinn on it. �Let Him Dangle� is about a controversial murder case and lacks in anything that would make it special. Slowing down the pace is �Deep Dark Truthful Mirror� which has nice horn arrangements but pretty dumb lyrics in the verses. Live on the other hand the song is a bit better, but there�s not much to work with. �Veronica� was the major hit and it is easy to see why. An insanely catchy melody crafted with help from an ex Beatle and funny bittersweet lyrics about the slipping memory of the elderly. �God�s Comic� has more clever lyrics dealing with well God, and its shuffling jazzy beat is a nice contrast to the rest of the album. The xylophone use is sweet as well. Costello goes funk on the merely ok �Chewing Gum.� Well at least as funk as a limey can get. We get some good old 80s social protest in �Tramp the Dirt Down,� another in the line of anti Thatcher songs Costello wrote. The tune is accented with Irish musical stylings as its insanely mean lyrics talk about wanting to tramp the dirt down....on HER GRAVE!!!!! *BUM BUM BAHH!!* It�s bitter yet slightly effecting as well. �Stalin Malone� is a catchy brass instrumental by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (who also added most of the horns on the album) that in its earlier stages had Costello reciting some poetry over the musical backing. I guess its better in the form it ended up being.
�Satellite� is a very nice ballad about the connections of the world, including some sleazy but about porn? This song also has a guest backing vocal appearance by someone famous but I forgot who and am too lazy to look up. �Pads Paws and Claws� sucks, blows, and uh sucks. The Costello/McCartney collaborations didn�t produce all gold after all. Maybe just a nice rust colored metal. �Baby Plays Around� was written with help from his wife of the time Cat O� Riordan. Or it was written about her, which would explain why I said wife at the time. �Miss Macbeth� is another bland tune in the descent of this album into mediocrity. With a song title like that one would think that Costello would create something cool with it. Well prepare to be disappointed. �Any King�s Shilling� is six minutes of more Irish influenced music. Supposedly about Costello�s grandfather when going off to WWI. Honestly I don�t care. This song has no right to be six minutes long. SIX MINUTES! WHY IS THIS ALBUM AN HOUR LONG! �Coal Train Robbery� is not the song to break out of this funk. When will this album end. I�m done by �Satellite� for crying out loud. Lastly �Last Boat Leaving� is an apt title for the final song on the album as I�ve been ready for that last boat. At least this tune has some redeeming emotional resonance to go with it. Nice way to end the pain.
Final Comment: Cut out all the songs between �Satellite� and �Last Boat Leaving� and you would have a...well a mediocre album, but hey its 1989 what more do you want!
Score: **
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