| My Aim Is True | 1977 |
| This Year's Model | 1978 |
| Armed Forces | 1979 |
| Get Happy!! | 1980 |
| Trust | 1981 |
| Almost Blue | 1981 |
| Imperial Bedroom | 1982 |
| Punch The Clock | 1983 |
| Goodbye Cruel World | 1984 |
| King Of America | 1986 |
| Blood & Chocolate | 1986 |
| Out Of Our Idiot (compilation) | 1987 |
| Spike | 1989 |
| Mighty Like A Rose | 1991 |
| The Juliet Letters | 1993 |
| 2 1/2 Years (boxed set) | 1993 |
| Brutal Youth | 1994 |
| The Very Best Of Elvis Costello & The Attractions (compilation) | 1994 |
| Kojak Variety | 1995 |
| All This Useless Beauty | 1996 |
| Terror & Magnificence | 1997 |
| Painted From Memory (w/ Burt Bacharach) | 1998 |
| When I Was Cruel | 2002 |
Since 1977, Elvis Costello, formerly Declan McManus (it's pretty easy to see why he performed under a different name) has been one of the most bizarre and prolific artists to exist under the pop music umbrella. Stylistically, it's a bit tough to pin him down -- he started out as a self-consciously retro critic's darling, but since then has branched off into multiple genres including country, classical, folk, soul, mainstream '80s pop, traditional rock & roll, and music that simply defies categorization. Most of this music was recorded with Costello's versatile and talented backing band The Attractions and producer extraordinaire Nick Lowe, and all of his music is marked by hisdistinctively overemotive voice and in-your-face lyrical style. Critical and popular opinion of the man has been decidedly mixed over the past two decades, as his musical style and self-obsessive pretentiousness easily have the potential to grate on the nerves of some people. Nevertheless, there is almost no denying that he's produced some of the most fascinating and interesting music of the postpunk era. (Critical tip #34: Inserting the term "postpunk era" into any given paragraph ensures credibility.)
--Rich Bunnell
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
Be prepared, because I'm about to make a really obvious and banal observation: this album was the album that put the "Elvis" into "Elvis Costello." Huhuhuh. At this point Costello was really little more than a gimmick act, sporting a Buddy Holly-like look (huge glasses and all) -- even the album cover seems novelty-ish. Instead of the more famous Attractions, his backing band was a then little-known outfit named Clover, who would later go on to metamorphose into the incredibly cheesy and faceless '80s band Huey Lewis & The News. They're competent, but sound pretty much like every group of anonymous studio musicians - passable, but nothing special.
Musically, the album is incredibly retro with an accent on both '50s songwriting and production style. The most blatant examples are "Miracle Man," which is a stomping, hollow-sounding doo-wop tune, and "Mystery Dance," an almost chord-for-chord rewrite of "Jailhouse Rock." It's on the less creative numbers like these where the album really fails, but thankfully, instead of pathetically aping his musical influences, Costello most of the time manages to integrate them into a distinct and memorable style. The result is several enjoyable, classic songs. "Welcome To The Working Week," is the first in a series of wonderful, short Costello album-openers, starting out sounding like doo-wop but abruptly turning into one of the punchiest and catchiest rockers on the album. "Alison" is a dreamy, smooth ballad and also the title track ("Alison, my aim is true" -- Costello almost always names his albums after lyrics rather than song titles), while "Less Than Zero" sports an extremely memorable choral hook.
The only song which departs from the '50s formula, and one of Costello's most famous songs, is the cleverly-produced reggae number "Watching The Detectives," which benefits from its catchy rhythm and well-placed dramatic synth buildups. It's definitely the best song on the album, though it was originally a non-album single released at around the same time as the album. The remainder of the album ranges from catchy ("Pay It Back") to slight ("Sneaky Feelings"), and while the entire album is fun, it doesn't leave you with much of anything after it's finished playing. This has gone down in history as Costello's seminal work and defining album, but he's definitely recorded stronger material since.
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COMMENTS
You're spot on here Rich, I'm a big Costello fan myself but have always been confused over the fuss that is made over this album. It's short on playing time and basically short on idea's and the follow up This Years Model is a huge leap forward. Half a dozen good tracks and half a dozen ordinary tracks and all his albums up to Spike are stronger than this, with the possible exception of Goodbye Cruel World.
(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
After the critical success of My Aim Is True failed to go hand-in-hand with commercial success, Costello ditched Clover (or they ditched him? Ah, who cares) and recruited an all-new backing band in the Attractions. Definitely one of the tightest and most talented backing bands in rock history, they effectively thrust Costello out of '50s retro-nostalgia land and into blissful rock heaven. The songs are generally more quickly-paced and guitar-oriented than those on the debut, and the album as a whole actually feels like the product of a band rather than a novelty artist backed up by overly-streamlined studio musicians. Lyrically, the album is also quite a departure from a debut - here, Costello takes on a more biting and snarling tone and sings mostly about how he's pissed because he can't get any chicks. So while the majority of American youth found it hard to identify with prettyboys like Brian Wilson (don't get me wrong, I love the Beach Boys) who sang about their pithy troubles with relationships, Costello's lyrics were more universal, speaking to the disillusioned youth who didn't even have any relationships. Maybe not a revolutionary lyrical tactic, but still unbelievably awesome.
To put it in as basic terms as possible, the album rocks. From the second it kicks off with "No Action," a fast-paced, adrenaline-rushing, harmonic rocker, you know that the rest of the album is going to be a rush. It doesn't disappoint. The classic masturbation anthem "Pump It Up" shoves its shifty bassline right in your face, "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea" rushes along with one of the most bizarre and awkwardly catchy guitar licks I've ever heard, and "Lipstick Vogue" is utterly relentless. "This Year's Girl," "The Beat" and "Living In Paradise" are pop-reggae, but more guitar-based than "Watching The Detectives" was, and "Little Triggers" temporarily lowers the tempo (but not the mood!) to let Costello croon an absolutely-wonderful pseudo-torch ballad. All of these songs, along with the remainder of the album that I annoyingly didn't mention, are catchy to the extreme.
Definitely Costello's strongest release, I enjoyed this one thoroughly when I first heard it and it's only become better in my mind since then. The original American vinyl edition ended with "Radio Radio," one of rock's all-time classic bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you rockers (now included as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD). Its lyrics were considered controversial enough at the time that Costello wasn't allowed to play it on Saturday Night Live (bizarre, considering that, unlike now, the show was somewhat liberal at the time). Continuing the grand Doors tradition of screwing over the censors, he played it anyway. TAKE THAT, LORNE MICHAELS!
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
Critics who aren't writers for Rolling Stone usually consider this to be Costello's best album, and it's pretty easy to understand why. This is the point where the nerdier Elvis finally hit upon a distinct and original style, placing himself solidly at the edge of the new wave mainstream. Since there are about fifty different definitions for "new wave," I'll clarify that the one I'm using is "bizarre pop music that came after the Sex Pistols but before Cyndi Lauper with really ugly production." Another reason why critics adore this album is because here Costello stepped up as some sort of political activist, made obvious by both the album title (and the "Don't Join" slogan on the inside cover) and the fact that many of the songs bear lyrics relevant to the times (rather than being aimed at the hearts of spiteful teenagers like those on the previous album).
With all of this in mind, this album was certainly a triumph for Costello, but musically, it just isn't as consistently-enjoyable as This Year's Model. "Moods For Moderns;" and "Busy Bodies" are catchy songs, but both contain cheesy keyboards and rambling, maze-like song structures, and while they're easy to like, they're pretty hard to love. "Sunday's Best" is funny musically, but it's really little more than dopey British music hall fodder (sluggish, annoying brass and all) with no likeable hooks. "Chemistry Class" is another rather musically-nondescript number, and I'd finish this sentence with an example of another bland song, but I've run out, since the rest of the album is considerably high in quality.
The album contains a mighty triad of classics in the catchy, rolling popper "Accidents Will Happen"(with an awesome dramatic coda), the mighty and pompous British piano-pop hit "Oliver's Army," and a great cover of Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love And Understanding?," another hit single tacked onto the American edition of the album. Among the non-hits, "Goon Squad" is a great, overlooked rocker nearly relentless in its guitar attack and desperate-sounding vocals, and "Party Girl" has a superb and anthemic melody that covers up the fact that it lifts its coda almost directly from the Beatles' "Carry That Weight." "Senior Service" is more stupid bubbly new wave, but it's short and incredibly catchy so it's still really enjoyable.
Most people tend to make this album their first acquisition because the critics adore it. Overall, however, it's not really representative of Costello's best work, and while it's certainly worth picking up, he's definitely made better albums. The album does work as a sort of "litmus test" for potential Costello fans -- since it stylistically covers pretty much every one of his sides, from rocker to balladeer to weird bizarre pop dude, if you hate this album you're likely to hate everything else the guy has recorded. Keep that in mind, even though it's probably not true.
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (John Schlegel)
That's true what Rich said--this was MY first Costello acquisition! After all, I discovered this artist primarily through reading. I can't say I've ever been disappointed with Armed Forces--a fine collection of New Wave-infected pop rock. The late-'70s production of the album sounds a bit corny and dated today, but this is still one stellar set of songs. "Accidents Will Happen" and "Oliver's Army" have great, driving melodies, and "Two Little Hitlers" contains a catchy groove as well. "Goon Squad" and "Busy Bodies" are outstanding harder cuts. I also love "Senior Service," a good second number with its own idosyncratic hook. "Green Shirt" is great too, even if it does reflect that odd neo-'50s side to Costello. Personally, I don't think "Party Girl" is all that most fans crack it up to be, but I acknowledge that many of you hate "Senior Service," so whatever. Unfortunately, the "Extended Play" section on the Rykodisc reissue has nothing exceptional to offer, but Armed Forces is still a worthy purchase and a definite 8. As for "My Funny Valentine," Mr. Costello should leave the classics to the old pros.
(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
In the first of many abrupt stylistic shifts, Costello suddenly decided in 1980 to do a soul album. However, don't take "soul" in the generic sense, meaning funky basslines, horn sections and crooning frontmen. This is more like soul integrated into Costello's normal sound, which basically means that the songs are just normal Costello songs (normal is certainly a relative term, though), only shorter, faster, and more dynamic. To give you an idea of -how- short, the album packs 20(!) tracks into around 45 minutes' worth of space. That may sound like an overload, and in many ways it is, as at an average of two minutes apiece, almost none of the songs stick around long enough for you to be able to remember them. Conversely, this works towards the album in that if you don't like a song, that's no big problem because it's almost over anyway, and here's hoping that you like the next one.
Even at 45 minutes, it's an exhausting listen, particularly as it draws to a close and the songs all begin to seem more similarly-paced and dull. Most of the classics are packed into the first half of the album, such as the boppy Motown-ish opener "Love For Tender," the majestic "King Horse" and the stylistically out-of-place guitar ballad "New Amsterdam." The most popular song is the pretty good cover tune "I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down)" which opens the second half, but it's easily eclipsed by superior poppers like "Imposter"(the fastest and most manic song on the album) and slower numbers like the gentle, nursery-like "Secondary Modern" and the epic (at a whopping 3:35!) closer "Riot Act." The most basic song on the album, "Opportunity," is one of the best, mixing a superb vocal melody with a musical backing that basically just plays a steady plodding rhythm for the song's whole three minutes, with a "don't tuuuurn around" hook to die for.
It's pretty hard to describe all of the songs on here, because even though they have clearly different melodies, they all leave basically the same impression on the listener. Even slight flavorings of reggae ("B Movie") and ska ("Human Touch") don't add much diversity to the mix as Elvis plows right over them with his rocket-powered, monkey-operated soul machine. For all it's shortcomings, though, the album is an impressive work and one that you'll want around for a quick pick-me-up in the absence of Jolt or heroin. Plus, the CD edition has like fifty million bonus tracks. Or eleven, I forget which.
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
Costello's fifth album is easily the most "normal" one he released before the '90s, mainly because instead of being based on some "gimmick" ('50s rock, new wave, soul), the songs on here are just your average singer-songwriter compositions. Granted, the songs have the typical offbeatness that's present in almost every one of Elvis' recordings, but for the most part the music on here doesn't challenge the ears like some of his other recordings do. Many people take the pop-rock normality of the album as a sign of artistic stagnation, but I personally find the album to be incredibly strong and consistent, if not particularly distinctive compared to some of the other Attractions albums.
Despite the normality, the range of styles is probably the widest you'll find on any Costello album. "Lover's Walk" thumps along on a steady shifting percussion beat that every critic in the universe has compared to Bo Diddley (and with good reason), the raucous "Luxembourg" shows Elvis imitating, uh, Elvis, with a trashy rockabilly sound strangely similar to that of '90s indie-rock band the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and "Different Finger" is typical finger-snapping country music. The single was "Clubland," a near-perfect opening track where Costello and the Attractions concoct a perfect tension-building blend of playful noises and loungey, uneasy verses, with a really catchy and memorable melody topping it all off. Aural bliss, it is.
The album's peak, however, comes in the form of two absolutely stunning ballads. The first, "You'll Never Be A Man," is a piano-based number which is shiny and melodically-immaculate, displaying that Elvis' songwriting skills had developed into a truly emotionally-devastating force by this point in his career. The second, "New Lace Sleeves," is an easy contender for Costello's best-ever song, bearing soft, restrained, empty-sounding verses which perfectly counterpoint the melodic choral outburst of "...the teachers never told you anything but....WHITE LIES!" Looks stupid on text, sounds heavenly on headphones. Trust me on this one. Hey, just like the album title!
The rest of the album is pretty typical Costello, with the exception of a really catchy and uptempo duet with Glenn Tillbrook from Squeeze ("From A Whisper To A Scream," which appropriately sounds a lot like Squeeze). The music generally goes down pretty easily and doesn't challenge you too much (with the exception of "Luxembourg," usually thought of as the album's low point), and this is why some people usually citethis album as the point where Costello's career began to go downhill.
It's a transitional album between his pop-rock sound and the softer, more emotional sound he would soon adopt, but Bowie's Station To Station is also a transitional album, and it's one of his best, so why should this one be seen as a weak underdog? Buy it. It might not be the absolute pinnacle of songwriting brilliance, but it's certainly one of the dude's most enjoyable albums. After this album, Costello released an album of country cover tunes called Almost Blue which I haven't heard, but absolutely no one on earth likes it, so I'm assuming it blows to high hell just like that entire wretched genre. Yeah, I'm generalizing an entire musical style. Wanna make somethin' of it?
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
After Trust, Costello seemed to think that he was at a stylistic dead-end, since in spite of the album's micro-diversity he hadn't really attracted any new fans or critical praise. He kept the Attractions for its follow-up but ditched producer Nick Lowe and replaced him with Geoff Emerick, the engineer for several of the Beatles' best records. Though some bands somehow manage to sound the same no matter who the producer is, here the change is really noticeable -- the overall sound of the album is very quiet, brooding and delicate, with restrained vocals from the usually-emotive Costello. This shift in sound has been cited by many people as the point where Costello's ambitions overtook his actual musical ability and resulted in forgettable and dull material, but just as many consider it a brilliant work, and I'm definitely in that latter category.
The saving grace of the album is that even though the songs are all pretentious and mechanically-constructed, nearly every single one is fantastic. The opener "Beyond Belief" is probably the greatest example, a two-and-a-half minute swirling build-up with overlapping vocal patterns and a chorus that doesn't bother to show up until the very end of the song. "Shabby Doll" and "Man Out Of Time" are both wonderfully-written if overlong tense midtempo pieces of wonderfulness, the latter of which contains the only "rocking" on the album in its band-improvised intro and outro. "The Long Honeymoon" and "Almost Blue" are jazzy ballads which can pass over you the first couple of times you hear them, but eventually reveal their subtle charms. In more typical Costello territory are the radio popsters "The Loved Ones" and "You Little Fool," two infectious, bouncy tracks which are just as high in quality as everything else on the album.
It's not a complete and total masterpiece, of course -- tunes like "Kid About It" and "Boy With A Problem" leave very little impression on the listener (me, for example); the former in particular has a particularly irritating "aching" chorus which just doesn't work. And while I love them, some of the goofier songs like "Tears Before Bedtime" and "...And In Every Home" have the potential to grate, containing dopey keyboards and English flourishes like peppy string sections. It's still very, very worth any Costello fan's money, however, and it is without question the most accomplished-sounding album in his entire catalogue. Some equate "accomplished" with "boring," but that's a different opinion of the album that I personally don't agree with. So nyeah. He looks like a dork in the liner notes, though. Glasses go in front of your eyes, Elvis, don't dangle them below them like you're some tea-sipping elitist!
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (John Schlegel)
I think this album is overrated, though it is underrated by J. Alroy, who gives it only three out of five stars. It's certainly "accomplished," and the overall momentum of the LP works very well. Yet, some individual tracks are orchestral masterpieces while others succumb to generic British balladry--isn't that an unusual contradiction? Don't get me wrong; the proper album is great. But the "Extended Play" section on the CD is more like a great insomnia cure, and it takes away from the rest of the record. As for individual songs, "Beyond Belief" is a fine opener that sounds like it's introducing a concept album. The next track, "Tears Before Bedtime," is both a fun and moody ballad. "The Loved Ones" and "...And in Every Home" are also personal favorites, the latter being more tastefully augmented by horns and violens than most of the other songs. I can't dig "Almost Blue" though, mate. I don't like when Costello tries to do the crooner thing. But I can recommend this album to anyone with an open mind. I give it an 8.
Yeah, Elvis Costello is perhaps one of the hardest artists to warm up to in rock. I mean, his songwriting is delivered at break-neck speeds, his melodies are fast and rushed but many of his songs are tight, well-delivered and concise pieces of pop. Imperial Bedroom is pop at maybe it's best. Possibly the best album the 80's. It's consistent, lushly produced and incredibly melodic......... why so hard to like, though? I'm not sure. The problem with this album is the time it takes to let it sink in, and once it does, you're sick of the songs.......... that's Costello's problem, he could help us out by making his stuff more acessible. A 10, though, in my book, but it's a tough ten. This album is a labor of love. Although, this is true it can be fantastically enjoyable.
[over a month later:]
Sure, modest isn't exactly the word to describe it......... but the album itself works with brilliance. Apart from the pretentions this album is excellent-the best Costello has managed to come off with... which is hard to believe becuase of his obvious resevoirs of talent. If you want more modest Costello stick with the shining roots pop of My Aim Is True which manages to be the least Costello of his albums and, therefore, his easiest to like. My Aim Is True is much simpler than this painstakingly crafted masterpiece of Tim Pan Alley pop. The melodies are almost unbelievably good and the lyrics are, as always, well thought-out. The only drawback lies in its pretentions but aside from this Imperial Bedroom is an impressively accomplished piece of pop music by one of the most underrated songwriters and musicians of the past 40 years. 9 1/2.
(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
Perhaps feeling a bit frustrated by his lack of commercial success, for this album Elvis abandoned Emerick and hooked up with hitmakers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, most notable in America for producing "Our House" by Madness and, during the '90s, several albums by the critically-despised Bush. In other words, this is the second album in a row where the overall sound is completely different from that of the previous album - whereas Imperial Bedroom was quiet, artistic and delicate, this album is covered by a shiny, glossy sheen, with a clear mix and those loud, brassy horns that were oh-so-popular in the early '80s. The artistic gamble worked somewhat commercially, as Costello managed to score his first American Top 40 hit with "Everyday I Write The Book," a cleverly-arranged and catchy soul number with neat female backing vocals.
The remainder of the album is hook-filled in-your-face pop music, perhaps not in tune with the subtlety that Costello had established on his first six albums, but appealing in a completely different and more direct fashion. Songs like "Let Them All Talk," "The Invisible Man"and the percussion-heavy "The Greatest Thing" prance by loudly, exhaling their presence into the skies, and while they sound somewhat loud and annoying compared to Costello's earlier tunes, they're really, really catchy. For the Costello afficionado, the torch ballad "Shipbuilding" (usually thought of by fans who hate the rest of the album as the album's highlight) and the creepy, smooth-flowing "Charm School" are more in sync with his typical style, albiet covered with the same shiny production values as the other songs. Finally, "Pills And Soap" is simply bizarre and completely unlike anything else in Elvis' canon, musically consisting of Elvis quietly half-rapping anti-jingoistic lyrics over a heavy, creepy percussion beat -- it's better than it sounds, trust me.
So yeah, the album is technically a total sellout and musically is a lot more obvious-sounding than, say, Imperial Bedroom. Plus, some of the songs are similarly-poppy to those described above but melodically are simply weak, like "Love Went Mad" and "Mouth Almighty." Nevertheless, a lot of classic music to be found here. Buy it for the '80s music-lover that you know is hidden in your soul but you won't let come out for fear of being made fun of by your speed metal-loving friends.
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
Punch The Clock was a moderate success in both England and the States, so for the followup Costello kept the poppy Clive and Alan for another go-around. Unfortunately, at the time of recording Costello was in an extremely bitter and forlorn mood due to a recent divorce and conflicts with his bandmates, and the resulting album feels a bit half-finished. The producers probably noticed this and tried to dress up the recording with little '80s bells and whistles like layers of dinky synths, tacked-on drum machines and more of those crazy horns, but in the end they only serve to make most of the songs sound awkward and lame. The lone hit "The Only Flame In Town" is probably Costello's most widely-despised single, boasting an annoyingly-bouncy soft-soul arrangement and dopey harmony vocals in the chorus by cheesemeister extraordinaire Daryl Hall (from Hall & Oates -- great, just typing that band name made "M-E-T-H-O-D-O-F-L-O-V-E" run through my head, thanks, bastards) -- the song is definitely really catchy, but it's a bit hard to enjoy the whole way through.
The rest of the album falls into three categories -- solid songs made awkward by synthy production ("Love Field," "Worthless Thing"), catchy synth songs made awkward by weak songwriting ("Sour Milk-Cow Blues," "Room With No Number") and a few great songs that somehow manage to escape unscathed by either problem ("Home Truth," "The Comedians"). There isn't much more to say, since the songs aren't terribly memorable, but they're still not really that bad. Costello personally despises this album and considers it to be his worst, and indeed it's probably the weakest album he released during the release-heavy first decade of his career, but it's still decent despite some obvious flaws. Get this one last and get it cheap, but get it eventually.
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
1985 turned out to be the first year without any releases from Mr. McManus, probably because he was too busy either getting over his depression or slaughtering Daryl Hall and burning his entrails for his crimes against music and humanity. Regardless of whichever one actually happened, he returned at the beginning of 1986 with a new folk-influenced album featuring both the Attractions and members of Elvis Presley's former band. In the producer's seat for this run-around was T-Bone Burnett, who had toured with Costello during the previous year and evidently seemed like a nice enough guy to replace Clive and Alan for the next batch of tunes. Personally, I've never heard of him (maybe I probably should have), but whoever the hell he is, his gentle production style essentially kickstarted the second half of Costello's career. Costello's vocals are placed right at the front of the mix surrounded by lush acoustic guitars, and he takes advantage of this by oversinging nearly every single note, all of which for better or for worse would turn out to be trademarks of his later sound.
Songwise, I've got some good news and some bad news. I'll start with the bad news -- about a third of the songs on the album are pretty weak. In this case, pretty much everyone agrees on which third of the album is weak, and I'm not about to argue. "Glitter Gulch" and "The Big Light" are both fast-paced and incredibly hokey hick songs, the kind of stuff you'd hear playing as chase music in unfunny sitcoms from the '60s and '70s. They were apparently both fun to record in the studio, but to me, the jaded listener and wannabe music critic, they just sound stupid. For whatever reason, Costello chose to cover both J.B. Lenoir's "Eisenhower Blues" and the Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," and both are plodding and dull, the kind of covers that make people ask"....Why?!?" Finally, "Poisoned Rose" is better than any of the songs I just mentioned, but C ostello's oversinging is particularly grating on the song, and the melody isn't nearly strong enough to make up for it.
The good news is that the rest of the album is killer. It's all really folky, pensive and blatantly Dylan-influenced, but there is no way that anyone listening to the adrenaline rush of This Year's Model in 1978 could have predict the guy doing stuff as gorgeous and well-performed as the songs on here. The single "Brilliant Mistake" is only one example, a stately mid-tempo mini-anthem probably very much in the vein of some Dylan album I haven't heard yet. "Indoor Fireworks" and "Our Little Angel" are country-ish ballads, yet much better than the earlier "Different Finger" and probably anything on Almost Blue. "Little Palaces" is another strummy ballad with a medieval-sounding and memorable vocal melody which manages to carry the entire song on its own, and the bouncy rockabilly number "Lovable"sounds like it was written in about ten minutes, but it's all the better for it. Finally, "Jack Of All Parades" is an out-of-place mid-tempo rock song more in thetypical Costello vein, but it's hard to argue with a hook as great as that chiming vocal outburst about two minutes into the song.
So even though this album set into motion some trends and indulgences that would come to pollute Costello's later music and more of the songs are throwaways than I'd personally like (come on, the album has 15 full-fledged songs, was that even a necessary length back in 1986?), it's still a very decent album, and a step up from the could-have-been-great-if-it-tried Goodbye Cruel World. It's still not as great as diehard fans say, who go absolutely nuts over this one since it's "the acoustic album." As a last bit of information, for some reason this album was released under the band name "The Costello Show" and all of the songs are billed as written by "Declan McManus"(in fact, the name "Elvis Costello" is nowhere to be seen on this album), and I have absolutely no freaking idea why.
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
Right as King Of America was about to be released, out of nowhere Costello teamed back up with Nick Lowe and quickly recorded another full record with the Attractions. Hey, fine by me. It's hard to see whatdrove him into throwing out a followup record so hastily, but the resulting album turne d out to be a more traditional rock-based collection with some of the most pissed-off lyrics of Costello's career. Seriously, listen to some of this stuff -- "I hope that this hurts you more than it hurts me," "Go on and hurt me then we'll let it drop, I'm afraid I won't know where to stop" -- yeesh. If This Year's Model was the sound of a bitter young man, this is the sound of an even more bitter middle-aged man. This is kind of bizarre seeing that the albums were only released eight years apart from one another, but in a prolific career like Costello's that's like a century to anyone else.
The music is catchier and overall more consistent than on King Of America, but the album definitely isn't the more easily appealing of the duo since the more grating songs are really grating. Sort of. The opener "Uncomplicated," for example, is a monolithic stomp based entirely on one guitar chord, some ugly synths and Elvis' snarling vocals, and it kind of works at the beginning of the album but would really suck in any other context. "I Want You" is one of Costello's personal favorite compositions, and to be honest, it's a really good song, opening as a simple ballad then unexpectedly shifting into an obsessive-sounding repetitive minor-chord hate letter, but it's notable more for its pure emotional impact than its melody, which isn't really anything special. The same goes for the weary-sounding piano ballad "Battered Old Bird" -- great performance, huge emotional impact, so-so melody. Yeah, I admit that they're great songs. They're just not great-sounding songs.
The other songs on the album lift it well above average, though, and justify this album being rated above its predecessor. "I Hope You're Happy Now," a leftover from the King Of America songwriting sessions, would be a perfect summer jangle-anthem if not for the awesomely bitter lyrics, "Tokyo Storm Warning" is an overlong but entertaining bouncy stream-of-consciousness rock shuffle with an incredibly catchy chorus, and "Blue Chair" fulfills the "one typical Costello song per late-period album" requirement by chugging along on a great pop melody (with, once again, bitter relationship-based lyrics). There are a few straightforward chiming poppers too like "Next Time 'Round," "Crimes Of Paris" and the infectious throwaway "Honey Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?" all of which are extremely catchy on my personal Catchy-O-Meter.
Definitely the stronger of the two 1986 albums, this album is often hailed by fans even more than King Of America, considered to be a stunning emotional achievement and his best-ever record. Wait, there I go again. I promise that next time I won't end the review by summarizing what other fans think of this album -- I mean, it's my friggin' review, so shouldn't I be giving my opinion? Ah, the limits of objectivity... Basically, the album is good. Definitely the dude's best late-period album, but while several of the songs are wonders to behold, a few aren't. Got it?
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
Considering that the wait for this album was the longest of Costello's career thus far (two and a half years!), expectations for this album were probably incredibly high. This album marked a label shift to Warner Bros., and Costello pulls out all of the big-budget stops -- the production is incredibly intricate (and overarranged, too, in several spots) and the Attractions are left in the dirt in favor of about a million guest performers and collaborators, including Roger McGuinn, Chrissie Hynde, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and even the legendary former Beatle Paul McCartney. In light of all of this, it's really a shame that the album is such an overbearing bore -- either it's a case of "too many cooks in the kitchen" or the simple fact that rock dinosaurism had finally caught up with the Incredible Mr. Prolific. It happens to everyone, I guess. Except Andy Partridge, of course.
The most annoying part of the whole affair is that the album starts out excellently. The percussion-heavy "...This Town..." features a fragmented lead guitar part by Roger McGuinn, with an incredibly catchy chorus that manages to make a hook out of "Everybody in this town thinks you're a bastard." The jazzy capital punishment-oriented "Let Him Dangle" and the gorgeous soul number "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" (featuring a particularly excellent and emotive vocal) follow, and both are incredibly worthy additions to Costello's massive songwriting catalogue. Finally, the overproduced McCartney collaboration "Veronica" became Costello's biggest chart hit in America, and in spite of the offsetting loudly-mixed drums (one of the most distracting features of lots of '80s music in my mind -- didn't music listeners in the '80s want to hear, y'know, the actual melody of any song? Wouldn't Springsteen's "Glory Days" or "Born In The U.S.A." be much better songs if they didn't thud the listener over the head with "BOOM-THWACK, BOOM-THWACK" for their entire runs? Okay, back to the sentence), it's easily one of the catchiest and most ear-grabbing songs ever to be included on a Costello album.
The other eleven songs on this hideously overlong album just don't grab. Some are okay and have somewhat-memorable hooks ("God's Comic," "Coal-Train Robberies") or interesting lyrics ("Tramp The Dirt Down," about Margaret Thatcher) but for the most part they range from incredibly mediocre to just lame. "Chewing Gum," for one, is an incredibly forced and stupid-sounding attempt at funk, and the bouncy rockabilly number "Pads, Paws And Claws" (another McCartney collaboration) isn't very much better. All in all, this album promises a lot but just never delivers, and its presence in nearly every used bin in America (that I've seen, at least) should be a sign of the astoundingly mediocre material that lies within. Get it for cheap if you want, but proceed with care, since after track four, it's pretty much hit-or-miss.
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COMMENTS
I don't have this album, unfortunately, but 'Veronica' is a perfect pop song.
(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
If Spike was a stylistically-bizarre and awkward album, Costello's followup was just downright weird. To put it simply, the album is a mess. Lyrically, it's hard to tell whether Costello is even being bitter this time around, since nearly every lyric on the album is either ambiguous or oblique, and all of them are packed into each line as tightly as possible. Musically, he stretches himself even further than he did before, throwing together traditional rock with dramatic balladry, '50s rock, and waltz music without any sort of cohesion or continuity, or theme at all (besides maybe "Look at me! I'm being diverse!"). Finally, the album is produced by longtime Crowded House collaborator Mitchell Froom, who doesn't seem to realize that the point of production is to bring vibrancy to a flat-sounding recording, not to retain that flatness for the finished product.
Actually, the production isn't really a problem for most of the album, but it certainly mars the opener "The Other Side Of Summer," one of Costello's most well-known songs. The song itself is really catchy, a Beach Boys tribute with all sorts of cool hooks and sound effects delivered in an appropriately exuberant fashion, but it doesn't reach its full bubbly poppy capability because it's produced so flatly. The song is good, but really begging for a remaster.
Overall, however, the good songs on the album are better than the best on Spike, and since the album's shorter it's more consistently enjoyable. "Georgie And Her Rival" is a straightforward and fun pop song obviously intended as a musical followup to "Veronica," and the malicious-sounding "How To Be Dumb" storms by in the only five minutes of Costello's career that seem -shorter- than they actually are. "All Grown Up" is a well-written ballad, if a bit sappy, and the pristine "Harpies Bizarre," musically reminiscent of the more British stuff on Imperial Bedroom, is extremely infectious and one of my personal favorites on the album. The rambling "Invasion Hit Parade" is decent, too, but the ugly chorus doesn't live up to the promise shown by the ominous verses (containing an unexpected but funny reference to Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes).
The rest of the album is on about the same level as the more mediocre material on Spike, which is to say it's not very good. "Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)" is far and away the weirdest song that Costello has ever written, topping a clattering rhythm track with carnal guitar licks and more rambling lyrics - it's interesting, but not very enjoyable. Paul McCartney collaborated on a few tracks again, but they're both lame - "So Like Candy" is ordinary and dull, while the bouncy "Playboy To A Man" is just silly, and not in a good way. And the last three songs on the album leave absolutely no impression on the ears, closing the collection on a completely unsatisfying note. This album is stronger than the preceding album, and almost worthy of a 6, but it just doesn't come that close to albums like My Aim Is True and King Of America in my book. It's a decent album, I guess, but that doesn't mean I ever want to listen to it.
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
Apparently finally tired of making mediocre stylistic-pallette albums, Costello reunited with the Attractions again (though, to be fair, this time it had been seven years since they had last worked together instead of, uh, one) and tossed out a crowd-pleasing rock album. It's pretty obvious that the only reason that he released this album was in a contrived attempt to win some of his old fans back, but it isn't particularly a problem to me because this album easily contains his best music in years. It isn't among Costello's more consistent releases, mainly because like King Of America, the album is overlong and filled with a bit too much chaff, but it's still a blast hearing late-period Costello sing songs that you can actually sing along to.
The album doesn't take any chances, consisting of an even selection of catchy rockers and catchy ballads, the one exception being the catchy doo-wop tune "Clown Strike," which is a bit dumb but still really fun. Costello doesn't waste his time kicking off the album, front-loading it with its three catchiest songs, the typical Costello "pristine" rocker "Pony St.," the aching "Kinder Murder" (with an almost indescribably-awesome gritty-sounding guitar tone) and the album's bouncy, repetitive sure-fire single "13 Steps Lead Down." Several of the ballads on the album work incredibly well too, the best being "You Tripped On Every Step"(with an absolutely fantastic chorus) and the pulsing, somewhat-jangly torch ballad "This Is Hell." Finally, Costello caps off the listening experience with a couple of great messy rockers, the horn-backed "20% Amnesia"(which is like a '90s version of "Pump It Up") and the bass-heavy "My Science Fiction Twin," with another indescribably awesome chorus.
If the album has a problem, it's the front-loading I mentioned earlier. The last four songs on the album, while not -bad- and certainly better than most of the crap on the last two official albums, are mediocre compared to what came before, and unfortunately drag down the rest of the album a couple of notches. "Just About Glad," for one, isn't a bad pop song, but it sounds a bit underwritten coming after great songs like "Sulky Girl." If Costello had stopped the album at track 11 (but perhaps switching "My Science Fiction Twin" with the gorgeous "London's Brilliant Parade," which would have made a fantastic closer), it would have ranked up there with his best ever. As it is, it's merely a really good album and definitely the most enjoyable of his admittedly-patchy Warner Bros. albums.
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
This is about as close as an album can get to being a dirty rotten cheat while still technically being a legitimate studio album. This is because every single one of the twelve songs on here was, at some point, written by The Talented Mr. McManus, but a good portion of it consists of material that he'd originally donated to other artists like Aimee Mann, Johnny Cash and June Tabor. I originally didn't buy it because I thought that it was another toss-off release on the level of his covers album Kojak Variety, which is allegedly the worst album ever released by anyone ever. Actually, come to think of it, I still haven't bought it, because buying albums isn't cool -- only people who steal music through Audiogalaxy get any chicks. Especially when it's Elvis Costello you're stealing. The Attractions are on here, but they're even less noticeable than they were on Brutal Youth, since most of the songs are pristine, succulent ballads which lack any sort of band dynamic whatsoever, but I guess the record company thought it would help sales.
Considering its concept, the album hangs together surprisingly well, but the actual songs themselves have the irritating tendency to dip into the "useless" site of the album title as opposed to the "beauty" side. Let me get the crappy zydeco song out of the way first - "Starting To Come To Me"?? What the hell is that crap? Alright, now it's time to target the generic balladry - ha ha, I don't care if you're on the hits collection, "Poor Fractured Atlas," you suck! Now onto the recycled Byrds imitation - hey "You Bowed Down," I know you were contributed to a Roger McGuinn solo project, but that doesn't give you an excuse to consist almost solely of rehashed Byrds cliches - you even have almost the same goddamn riff as "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Get off of my planet, you pathetic loser song thing.
Aside from more worthless and boring stuff that I don't have anything particularly insulting to say about, I think that I respect the rest of the material enough to refer to it in the third person. Towering over everything else as far as goodness is concerned is "The Other Side (Of The Telescope)," originally given to Aimee Mann, and it's more balladry with Costello's voice placed way too high in the mix, but its chorus absolutely soars. "Little Atoms," on the other hand, is relatively more subtle and gentle, and all the more wonderful for that. "Distorted Angel" and "It's Time" have dance flourishes that sound kind of silly, especially in the space of Costello's material, but they do a decent job at texturing the songs without impeding on the melodies and arrangements, which are pretty damn good. The much-lauded, stately title track is also lovely, though I don't have anything in particular to say about it so I'll just leave it at that.
Even though not very many of the songs really jump out and grab me, I'm at least consistently soothed by most of this album, except for the more crappy and awkward songs mentioned above. The crappy and awkward songs form a minority on here as opposed to the heaps and gobs of space they took up on (I'd Like To Shove A) Spike (Through My CD Player When I Hear This Album) and Mighty Like A (Boy, This Album Sucks) Rose, though, so it definitely merits a bit of a higher grade. The main problem is that if Costello had really originally thought that most of the recycled songs on here were worthy of sitting alongside his best material, he probably would've just put them on his own albums in the first place. But he didn't. So they weren't.
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(reviewed by Rich Bunnell)
I think it's becoming a trend - every time Costello's latest album is hyped as his "long-awaited return to rock," it ends up rocking even less than the last time this claim was made. Maybe the people who prepare his press kits have just been using the wrong dictionary for the last decade or so and have acidentally mixed up "ass-kicking rock music" with "creepy contemplative balladry." Actually, maybe Costello writes his own press releases, which probably isn't far from the truth considering the long, obsessive liner notes he always includes in his reissues, and he's assumed that all of the passion that he poured into all of the songs while writing them will be magically transformed into the sound of roaring guitar noise when people put on the album. Either that or the press saw the word "cruel" in the title and said "Hey, maybe it's a self-conscious return to his rootsy Goodbye Cruel World sound!" at which point every casual fan of Costello would have raised his finger in the air and said "Uh..." had they not then realized the futility of arguing with sloganeering members of the record company press.
The totally oblique and unobvious point that I am trying to make is as follows: this album does not rock. This is not a bad thing. However, to a person who picks up a brand spankin' new Elvis Costello album with a sticker on it saying "Costello's first rock album since 199?," anything less than frenzied guitar rock is likely to be disappointing on the first couple of listens, and with that in mind, it was a bad thing. I heard slow dirges like "When I Was Cruel No. 2" and "Soul For Hire" and thought "What the hell? This sucks." and then went around complaining to all my friends who didn't care about how I'd succumbed to the evils of retail only to end up feeling cheated and raped by a four-eyed dork with a speech impediment. The only songs I really liked were the ones that lived up to the promise on the front sticker - the opener "45," which pulls off a nice-if-obvious contrast between simple verses and a loud chorus in a "13 Steps Lead Down" sort of way, and the single "Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)," which not only has a title which absolutely nobody but Costello could ever have written, but also a fantastic, gritty-sounding riff.
Either music will always(I) end up sounding good if you listen to it enough times to become familiar with every twist and turn of the songwriting, or I just didn't notice how good these songs were since they defied my expectations. Turns out that this album, though not great, strikes a wonderful, consistently-moody tone with just enough subtle little ear-catching hooks that it serves as a solid reminder of why Costello hasn't necessarily lost it. The repetitive, seven-minute "Alibi" is really unique for a Costello song in that it manages to get by solely on a strong vocal performance, and "Tart" strikes an uneasy vibe that somehow manages to be both pristine and intense at the same time, though I could certainly do without the ugly, awkward bursts of passion near the end of the song. There's also this really awesome song called "Dust" which is actually not literally called "Dust" at any point on the album since it's presented in two different renditions, a hard-edged one called "Dust 2..." and a creepy, low-key one called "...Dust" - yeah, I know, it looks like the stupidest, most pretentious thing ever, but the song's really great, sort of reminiscent of "Pump It Up" in its rhyme-busting rap-master pimp-dogging.
I don't feel like mentioning any more songs. I shouldn't have to. I'll just leave you with a haiku: Costello album / boring shit on first listen / then yummy ice cream. Yes, including the words "shit" and "ice cream" in the same poem, within two lines of one another, isn't the most appetizing thing in the world, but that's the thing about artistic license. This is a fine album full of a bunch of surprisingly original-sounding melodies, particularly when you consider that they all came from a guy who had just spent three years hanging around with Burt Bacharach.
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