"All This Useless Beauty" Was The Final Album Elvis Costello Cut With The Attractions

Costello’s artistry was in permanent evolution during the mid-90s. Learning to write music at the start of the decade was the first of many events that led him to reconsider his position as a performer and a composer. In 1995 he released a disc devoted from start to finish to covers. The title of the album was “Kojak Variety”, and it felt more like a resume than anything else. There was only one true gem, namely the version of The Kinks’s “Days” (a little known non-album side that is often packaged as a bonus on reissues of “The Village Green Preservation Society” today). And in 1996, after having given us the chance to glance at those artists whose music spoke to him in one level or the other, Costello swapped sides and looked at how he spoke to other artists. He ran through songs he had written for others to perform, and decided to interpret them for what was to be the final studio album with The Attractions: “All This Useless Beauty”.

At the time, many critics did not get the point. The charge was that Costello was running out of steam, hence his decision to play other people’s material. Now, more than fifteen years later we know that Costello was not really running out of steam. Rather, he was accumulating steam for an unbridled return. He wasn’t empty – he was almost half-full by then. He let it all grow and grow inside of him, and when the time came he ventured forth again without breaking stride with albums like “The Delivery Man”, “Il Sogno” and “Momofuku”.

But that was to come later. If we situated ourselves back in 1996, what we had was a disc made up of songs written for others like “Complicated Shadows” (composed for Johnny Cash) and “All This Useless Beauty” (penned for June Tabor) along with collaborations like “The Other End Of The Telescope” (written with Aimee Mann, and originally issued on ‘Til Tuesday’s album “Everything’s Different Now”) and “Shallow Grave”, a leftover from the writing sessions with Paul MacCartney.

Surprisingly for songs that came from so many sources and that were meant for so many dissimilar destinations, the album had quite a pronounced sense of unity. Of course, some songs were altered in order to suit Elvis’ sound – “Complicated Shadows” was done as a loud rocker, and a countrified version was not to surface until “Secret, Profane & Sugarcane” saw release in 2009.

“All This Useless Beauty” had a predominance of ballads and mid-paced cuts. The exceptions were “Complicated Shadows”, the rockabilly-oriented “Shallow Grave” and the exciting “You Bowed Down” (grossly omitted on “Extreme Honey”). This stood in direct contrast with “Brutal Youth”, a disc that was defined by songs in which Costello revisited his roots. There is only one tune on “All This Useless Beauty” that could have fitted on the previous disc, namely “Starting To Come To Me”. But if the energy was what characterized “Brutal Youth”, a true refinement would be the key note of “All This Useless Beauty”. And that refinement didn’t just boil down to the actual performances being tamer.  Mitchell Froom was no longer acting as Costello’s producer. That was a defining factor.

Salient ballads included the bitter (but veritable) title track (which earned Elvis a “misanthrope” label) and “I Want To Vanish”, a tale of a musician that had had it with the industry and wished to disappear without trace. Elvis was backed by The Brodsky Quartet on that one, too. I think it is a good song, although it treads a true line of indissoluble bleakness. Ditto “Poor Fractured Atlas”.

I am specially fond of “The Other Side Of The Telescope”, and Steve Nieve’s performance is most likely the wherefore and why of my enthusiasm. And “Little Atoms” has a bubbly synth which is immediately noticeable, but that never grates you at all.

At the end of the day, “All This Useless Beauty” is the true flipside of “Brutal Youth”. But I find it hard to go for one or the other. I guess that happens because I don’t have a predilection for Costello’s high-powered style, or for his more instrumentally-tempered sound. I just have a predilection for the rousing music he creates, and the lyrical sheen that goes with that.  And both this album and the previous one have that by the bucket load.

Rating: 8/10

Released In 1994, "Brutal Youth" Has Become A Mandatory Listen For Fans Of Costello Both Old And New

“Brutal Youth” was incontestably Elvis Costello’s best album of the ‘90s. It was no coincidence that it was his first full-scale collaboration with The Attractions since “Blood & Chocolate”, his 1986 record that yielded the deliciously turbulent “I Want You”.

Here, Costello is backed by his classic ensemble on five numbers; Nick Lowe sits in for Bruce Thomas in the remaining seven cuts, and Elvis himself plays bass on “Kinder Murder” and “20% Amnesia”.

The disc (issued in 1994) mostly apes his late ‘70s sound, and cuts like “Pony Street”, “13 Steps Lead Down”, “My Science Fiction Twin” and “20% Amnesia” wouldn’t feel out of place on his early trinity of albums. The emphasis is often placed on the melodic twists he was always revered for in his heyday, while songs like “Rocking Horse Road” recall the more polished MO of later albums like “Get Happy!!”.

The most new-wavish song is “Kinder Murder”, whose main riff actually treads grungier turf – it always made me think of The Posies at their most pissed off (“Everybody Is A Fucking Liar”).

Giving the coin a good flip we find “London’s Brilliant Parade” and  “You Tripped At Every Step”. The latter is a piano number that will make you think of “Imperial Bedroom”. The song is yet another take on the vagaries of fame when they collide with commonness (“when beauty meets ignorance they shout on the street”, indeed), and it has the most noticeable build-up of the whole disc (“Pony Street” comes damn close, too).

For its part, “Clown Strike” is nothing but a rewrite of “Clowntime Is Over” (“Get Happy!!“), only that the tone has shifted from imminent violence to vengeful sarcasm, as if the new character became aware that words can have a more damaging effect than a thousand blows. The vengeful tone is also the common denominator in “Just About Glad”, a song that adds nothing to the cannon established by “I Hope You’re Happy Now”.

Costello sends off the CD single-handedly by performing “Favorite Hour” on piano, and the instrumental toning down effectively announces his forthcoming (and sadly final) album with the Attractions, “All This Useless Beauty” (1996). That was to be a more measured and refined record (Mitchell Froom did not produce it). But for devotees of Elvis’ golden days, it doesn’t get more consanguineous than this – specially if they sat through “The Juliet Letters” in their entirety.

Rating: 8.5/10

"Mighty Like A Rose" Was Elvis Costello's First Album Of The '90s. It Had A New Collaboration With Paul McCartney Named "So Like Candy".

I will never forget how much I resisted buying this album. The guys at the CD store had it for a long, long time. I was dead against getting my hands on another disc that had “Hurry Down Doomsday”. One copy of that song as part of the “Extreme Honey” compilation sufficed. Plus, the other songs I knew from “Mighty Like A Rose” clearly signaled that the CD stood as the highest peak within Elvis career as far as inventiveness that spilled into weirdness went.

Eventually, that was what made me shell out for the album. I just admire the man, and I had to see what did exactly happen for him to end up cutting a disc with a string quartet just two years later.

Funny enough, I did not get that answer. What I got was a CD that was (and still is) impenetrable. The level of musical chaos and the jumble of styles make for one of the most hostile records I have ever come across.

The production is certainly a major issue. Those who complain about the way Mitchell Froom produced Richard Thompson should give “Mighty Like A Rose” a spin in order to realize that they shouldn’t complain to begin with. But Elvis also had his own way behind the mixing board, so that he was as much of an instigator as anybody.

A sonic avalanche heralds the first cut, “The Other Side Of Summer”. Simply put, it sounds like The Beach Boys on every kind of substance you could ever imagine. Still, it is the one composition where an approach that is heavy-handed elsewhere works out. Whether that is because it is the first song out of the fourteen on offer and that it catches you while you are still fresh could be debated, though – when I listen to the song on “Extreme Honey” I am not that keen on it.

Where the approach does not work for sure is on “Hurry Down Doomsday” and “Invasion Hit Parade”. The production ends up conjuring an almighty racket bar none. And suddenly, when the din goes away you have something like the bare, Spanish-influenced “After The Fall” that sticks out like a sore thumb.

At any rate, the disc has the excellent “Harpies Bizarres”, a song driven along by a lush woodwind section and some of the most characteristic lyrics on the whole disc (“the waiting lines are long/they never go too far”).

Another (partially) approachable moment comes at the end, with a song penned by wife Cait O’Riordan. Named “Broken”, it is a vivid description of fatalism which is freed from the verbiage Elvis offers on his own songs. Again – whether the tune would work well in another context can only be speculated. Here, it lets you come down a little before the disc culminates with “Couldn’t Call It Unexpected No. 4”, a waltz that Costello has been known to play live just with his guitar – no microphone at all.

Incidentally, the disc also has two new McCartney compositions. They are quite accessible cuts too, but neither “So Like Candy” nor the retro-styled “Playboy To A Man” equal (or even remind us of) the hit from the previous record, “Veronica”.

The CD makes it blatantly clear that Elvis had no way to top himself any longer. Not commercially, that was never an issue. Rather, he did not know where to take his expressivity next. “The Juliet Letters” was to be the start of a rediscovery process that would lead him towards an artistic reignition.

Ultimately, “Mighty Like A Rose” stands as a reminder that forms can only contain so much. Nothing can be crammed beyond a certain point. Its density as an album is matchless. It also speaks about Costello’s ambition in terms of expressing ideas and concepts. The adjective in that case is also matchless. The thing is, we didn’t need an unlistenable album in order to know that. But I guess Elvis did, as an unequivocal reminder of where his art could start and end, and which (self-imposed) conventions he was to tear at next.

Rating: 5.5/10

Elvis Costello Posing With The Brodsky Quartet

It might seem incredible, but it is actually possible to pinpoint the moment Costello’s career went into definitive artistic overdrive. The year was 1993, and he released a full-length CD devoted to chamber music where the instrumental backing was solely provided by the Brodsky Quartet.

Costello learned to write and read music right there and then, and the decade was to be his most adventuresome ever. And believe me, that is quite frankly saying an enormity if we look at his previous output. During the 90s and right into the new millennium he was to release an album of undiluted pop with 60s stalwart Burt Bacharach, a country album (The Delivery Man), an album dominated by ballads (All This Useless Beauty), an orchestrated work named Il Sogno… and the rock and roll albums he did release were not up to his usual standards (When I Was Cruel), as if he had just outgrown the genre. He was to become acquainted with it once again in 2008 with the release of Momofuku. But the previous decade was to be a true creative windmill on the other side of the grass.

Curiously enough, the album that set the spark to the flame is not a rewarding listen. The Juliet Letters takes the form of a concept album constituted by songs in the shape of letters. The effort that went into crafting the songs is admirable. Costello and the Brodskys must have sensed that the conceit could grow repetitive very quickly if they were not careful enough, and so they came up with letters of every type – love letters, a suicide letter, a junk mail offer, a letter from a soldier in the line of duty…

Still, the album is monotonous. The best songs on it do work (and quite splendidly, I must add) if you take them on their own. Just listen to the two which are embedded below:

The same goes for the one found on “Extreme Honey”, as “The Birds Will Still Be Singing” occupies a privileged place within that collection.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Costello ever said that this album is among the ones he is the fondest of. Even then, I am sure the value he places on it goes beyond how listenable it truly is. The CD gave him a new artistic horizon. Someone who was always so concerned about going one step beyond couldn’t have found a better vehicle for realizing what might have gone unheeded otherwise. For the listener, though, The Juliet Letters is frequently exhausting and occasionally striking. These moments are too far and few between to make it a mandatory purchase. But they are sparkling enough, especially when listened to separately. “Jacksons, Monks & Rowe”, “I Almost Had A Weakness”, “For Other Eyes”… these are startling songs about the human condition. Just make sure you listen to them in an individual context. Then, sitting through the whole album could be easier.

Rating: 5.5/10

The Front Cover

Costello defines this album as his worst ever. After listening to it attentively, I dare say it was (up to that point in his career, 1984) the album that was approached the worst. Some of the material holds well under scrutiny, but the fact that the best songs are segregated on the first side does lead to an exhausting listening experience.

The album’s leading single was actually a mildly successful one – “The Only Flame In Town” broke the Top 40 in the US, largely because it came on the heels of “Everyday I Write The Book” and it replicated the formula to a hilt.

As I said, the best music comes at the beginning – “Home Truth”, “Inch By Inch” and (especially) “I Wanna Be Loved” and “Worthless Thing”. The latter is a forerunner to Costello’s “rambling” lyrics like “Tokyo Storm Warning” and “Bedlam”, only that it is more ordered. And (as you know) I have a soft spot for “Love Field”.

The whole of the second side, now, slides downhill constantly. The remastered CD actually has a demo of one of these songs (”The Deportee Club”, renamed “Deportee”) that is far more approachable. Speaking of which, the remastered CD includes “I Hope You’re Happy Now” and the catchy “Turning The Town Red”, not to mention two salient covers: “Withered and Died” and “Baby It’s You”. The CD is rounded by a slew of live songs – “Worthless Thing” and “Motel Matches” work, while the cover of “Sleepless Nights” reminds us that nobody sings like the Everly Brothers. And the live “The Only Flame In Town” is an absolute highlight. Costello plays it solo (like all the other live cuts), and in this context the song turns menacing and even disturbing.

As you can tell from the above, the album is a true mixed bag in terms of compositions and performances. But the most aggravating aspect of “Goodbye Cruel World” is the actual production values. In a nustshell, it stands now as everything that was wrong about ’80s music, with Steve Nieve playing an incongruous amount of keyboards and synthesizers. Costello now regrets employing the same set of producers on this and the previous record. When this album was released he also started changing the way he always wrote, relying less on wodplay and puns. In fact, he also announced his first ever retirement at around this time. Everything was changing for him – he must have perceived that (notwithstanding his recent American successes) he was sliding out of the picture. He was no longer a new, young sensation and he must have felt unsure about how to proceed best. He would reignite himself artistically shortly, but the charts were to remain mostly aloof to him from this point on.

Rating: 5/10

The Retro-happy Cover Of The LP

Issued for the first time in 1980, Get Happy!! was Elvis Costello’s fourth album, and (to me) the one signaling the end of his purple years. Granted, his biggest hits were yet to come, but those were to be sporadic successes. The string of consecutive Top 10 singles ended here with his cover of “I Can’t Stand Up (For Falling Down)”. The sound of the album also marks the first detour from Elvis’ “classic” New Wave sounds, as some R & B inflections are very evident throughout.

The original LP has 20 tracks. Many last little more than 2 minutes, and some are even shorter than that. Absolutely nothing has a chance of getting on your nerves, and the one “long” track (in the context of the album, obviously) is the set closer. The song is named “Riot Act” and it is one of Elvis’ most balanced lyrics from the period. Content and form are perfectly interweaved, and the disc couldn’t finish on a higher note.

The two main rereleases are the upgraded Rykodisc CD (1994) which has 30 tracks (including demos, b-sides and all-around rarities) and a 2 disc deluxe set that was first pressed in 2002 by Rhino. The extra CD has all the bonuses found on the Rykodisc release along with many more demos and also some live versions that close the disc.

Lyrically, Costello was at the peak of its word-twisting-and-bending reign. The album starts on all cylinders with “Love For Tender”, a whirlwinding concatenation of financial puns applied to love, turning feelings into something mercenary, and it never really lets go. Other exhilarating heights include the claustrophobic “King Horse” (which comes across like a cannon detonated in the violence after a storm), and another anti-romance song named “High Fidelity”, a single in its own right. It has one of Steve Nieve’s most swinging performances.

A song which also stands out is “New Amsterdam”, which is performed solo by Elvis. A band version can be found on the 2 CD set, and I feel it should have been included on the Rykodisc release too.

Some personal favorites include “Opportunity”, “Men Called Uncle” and “The Imposter”. “Opportunity” was to be somehow recounted two decades down the line in the song “45”, whereas you know how much I like the song “Men Called Uncle” if you have read my previous post about my favorite Elvis Costello’s lyrics. For its part, “The Imposter” is a song that Costello admittedly adores (his current backing band bears the name, and he also was part of a short-lived duet adhering to that moniker). Incidentally,  “The Imposter” features the “megaphone effect” on the vocals during the chorus. This effect can likewise be perceived on the song “King Horse”.

I am also very keen on “Possession”, featuring a set of lyrics that will top the next installment on “My favorite Elvis Costello Lyrics” feature for sure: “Now you’re sending me your best wishes/Signed with love and vicious kisses/ You lack lust, you’re so lackluster/ Is that all the strength you can muster?”

And I have no doubts many are mad about “B Movie”, “Human Touch” and “Motel Matches”. These are all exceptional songs, and “B Movie” in particular has one of the most enduring bass parts I have ever heard.

You must have noticed that I haven’t spoken about the record’s low points. That is because there is not such a thing. You could say that “Beaten To The Punch” and “5 Gears In Reverse” are not that brilliant, but that is only two song out of 20. And they are over in a blink.

Personally, I find “Get Happy!!” a hugely enjoyable album. I would buy any of his previous two records first, but if you can not find them this is a very cohesive introduction, and it is bound to send you hunting for more records by Mr. McManus. And if you find both the two previous records and this one, buy “Get Happy!!” and any of the other two. That would be a phenomenal tandem.

Rating: 8.5/10

Elvis Costello

What a task it is to pick favorites from Costello’s lyrics! I will say again what I said when reviewing my favorite Keith Moon’s drum breaks – this is just a list of lyrics I truly connect with, or that hold some kind of thematic poignancy to me. I could have a list made up of 80 lyrics and I would still feel like I omitted a worrying amount of excellent lyrics from him. I will see how many installments I end up running as regards this topic. In the meantime, these are (in no particular order) 5 of his lyrics that I relate to the most. I chose some obscure songs to start, too, so as to avoid quoting the ones everybody knows to the bone.

1)

“But if I’ve done something wrong there’s no “ifs” and “buts”
Cause I love you just as much as I hate your guts”

If someone asks you what a paradox is, do not give them a tome on rhetoric – give them this lyric. It is from the song “Alibi”, which is included on the “When I Was Cruel” album. That single song justifies purchasing it.

2)

“..As you check your effects and check your reflection,
I’m so affected in the face of your affection”

This is from the song “Men Called Uncle”, a song that is often listed (erroneously) as “Men Called Uncles”. The song is found on the “Get Happy!!” disc, and it paints Elvis as a superlative wordplayer from start to finish.

3)

“Under an archway
On a road of white linen
In a love field
Feel the anxious rhythm of a functional stranger
In a love field

In a love field
In a love field
She’s so tense but it’s never mentioned
In a love field”

Now, this is from the song “Love Field” (included on the album “Goodbye Cruel World”). Costello explained he wanted to create a song with lyrics akin to words from a foreign language badly translated into English. Is it because my first language is not English that I find the song in general and that passage in particular highly evocative? Mmmh, what do you think?

4)

“Don’t tell me you don’t know the difference
Between a lover and a fighter
With my pen and my electric typewriter
Even in a perfect world where everyone was equal
I’d still own the film rights and be working on the sequel

And I’m giving you a longing look
Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the book”

I had to include a lyric from “Everyday I Write The Book”, probably one of my favorite songs ever. I chose that part, but the whole song is pure genius – the degree of characterization is awe-inspiring.

5)

“But if I’ve done something right then don’t be surprised

There are soldiers who will kill but refuse to die”

Yet another lyric from “Alibi” – if you haven’t listened to the song try to do so as soon as possible, it is a true gem. What I like about this lyric in particular is how he takes a common conceit (“he who will kill is he who will die” – The Clash sang it that way on “The Equalizer” from the triple album “Sandinista”) and turns it around. It seems that Costello is saying that the one who goes to extremes will not necessarily meet an extreme fate, yet he is going to cause others meet one. Just my personal interpretation. I also like the irony that using a conditional (“if”) adds, especially taken as a whole with the elucidation that follows.

As I said, these are some lyrics I really like. There is a trillion more I am adding soon for all of us to discuss and comment. Now, it’s your turn! Let us all know which lyrics penned by Costello make you think and feel a lot. And check back soon for a second installment.

Elvis Costello From Every Angle

This CD compiles Costello’s recordings during his tenure at Warner Brothers, a time of constant reinvention that resulted in some really good music, some disconcerting experiments and overall timid performances on the charts. The CD has 18 tracks, and every album minus “Kojak Variety” (a collection of covers released in 1995) is represented.

The one song you might be familiar with is “Veronica”, co-written with Paul McCartney along with “So Like Candy”. The song was incredibly successful and it received heavy airplay when it was released at the tail end of the 80s. It has Elvis on a very accessible pose, granted, but I feel that without the McCartney connection it would have shared the fate of most of his late day compositions: respected by critics, accepted by fans, revered by a few, and ignored by the masses.

The best songs on the whole CD might just as well be the ones from “Brutal Youth”, an album where he is backed by The Attractions. These songs include “Kinder Murder”, “13 Steps Lead Down” and “Sulky Girl” – all heavy numbers that in spots recall Costello’s finest hour while making it clear that the man is a sharp as ever.

And there is also another set of songs recorded with his classic band. They come from the album “All This Useless Beauty”, and they are mostly ballads – and good ones at that, especially the savage title track. It earned Mr. MacManus a misanthropist label, and it is true he went a little too far. But wasn’t that his modus operandi from day one? Wasn’t he known for going too far, looking back at the audience and then saying “I am carrying on. If you want to come along for the ride, do so. If not, you know where you can get off.”? And he said it in a way that you just had to follow him.

But not everything works out, of course. In fact, there is an alarming number of tracks that show what happens when Elvis indulges himself. “Hurry Down Doomsday” is a cacophonous track that has you reaching out for the ”Skip” button, and songs like “Deep Dark Truthful Mirror” have so many guests that it feels as if he were the one guesting on somebody else’s record. There is also far too much going on “The Other Side Of Summer” and “Tramp The Dirt Down”, tracks that still have more than occasional sparkle. Conversely, a restrained performance produces the delicate “I Want To Vanish” (the final track on “All This Useless Beauty”), while the set closer here is “All The Rage”, a two-fingered gesture at the press, with a diamond ring upon each finger.

A song which works better here than on its original album is “The Birds Will Still Be Singing”. You see, the song comes from a CD which has over an hour of chamber music (“The Juliet Letters”, 1993) and that tests the listener in the utmost ways – the tonal uniformity is too much, even when some individual compositions rank along Costello’s’ very finest ever. Here, the song is a graceful interlude that I have always regarded very dearly.

The one rarity is the never-before-released “The Bridge I Burned”, a song heavy on loops and sound processing. I don’t like it that much, but it has the timeless line “You said I used to be handsome/if you screwed up your eyes”. And there is also a song from the “X Files” soundtrack that has even more sound processing going on. And that is only fitting – it was co-written and recorded with Brian Eno.

My verdict is that the CD does gather together some of his best composition from the period, yet there are far too many omissions to call it a comprehensive overview. For example, we are missing “You Bowed Down” and “The Other End Of The Telescope” from “All This Useless Beauty”, “My Science Fiction Twin” from “Brutal Youth”… the list is endless. The album is rather a time capsule from those days in which he created himself anew artistically. Most artists do that. And such days always – always – are marked by a certain pigheadedness on the part of the artist. A conviction that his “new direction” is nothing but the truth, and that such a bearing is going to result in his biggest artistic statement ever. In actuality, when that time is over the artist discovers he has made so many turns that he has lost half his followers along the way. Not because they became bored, but simply because they couldn’t keep up. And that is what Elvis Costello’s stay at Warner ultimately stood for. And that is what this CD represents. Before this time, Costello‘s followers were known to follow him around. At every turn. As I said above, he instilled that on you. After this point, many threw the towel in. I repeat – the CD has some gems, but don’t ever think about buying it before any “classic Costello” compilation. And if you already have one, it doesn’t mean you will enjoy this CD. Go pick something like “Armed Forces” or “Get Happy!!” instead. At least you will not scratch your chin every two songs, wondering what it is you are listening to.

Would I recommend purchase of this compilation: No

Do I feel like digging deeper into his catalog after listening to it: No

The Front Cover

I am reviewing the single disc edition of this 1999 “Best Of” album. It is the one readily available in South America, and it is actually quite reminiscent of other Costello anthologies that summarize his years with The Attractions like the one that was released in 1994 by Rykodisc.

Out of 20 tracks, only 6 do not feature this classic band. They are “Watching The Detectives” and “Alison” (from Elvis’ debut, where he was backed by a band named Clover), “Good Year For The Roses”, and his Bacharach collaboration “God Give Me Strength” (the key tune of the 1996’s movie “Grace Of My Heart”, and the recipient of a Grammy Award). Likewise, the elegiac “Indoor Fireworks” (with Costello backed by “The Confederates”, a band featuring Mitchell Froom) is included. The final non-Attractions song is “She”, Costello’s rendering of the best-loved Charles Aznavour song about the duality of love. The song was a very big hit in South America – Costello is always requested to perform it when he tours these latitudes, and the song is found in countless love compilations sold here to this day.

The remaining 14 songs give listeners a very good taster of the man who shone as a composer par excellence, backed by his best unit. The songs are presented in non-lineal order, but that order is somehow more chronological here than on the 2-disc set. The single disc splits the different stages of his career pretty well, and the “early” songs are grouped together on the first half of the CD: the opener is “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding”, and it is followed by “Oliver’s Army” and then “Watching The Detectives”.

Classic Elvis Costello & The Attractions:

One Of The Best Ballads From The Compilation, About The Falklands War:

A song that maybe could have been omitted is “Tokyo Storm Warning”, especially as it is a lengthy composition that is not instantly likeable, and which could have been replaced by some shorter songs such as “High Fidelity” or “New Amsterdam”

Still, the album is a true appetizer that gives a good indication of the main course and the dessert that those who decide to explore Elvis’ catalog are treated to, without ever leaving the listener indigested. I dare say this single-disc version is more appealing than its two-disc counterpart, if only because the emphasis is on his “best” classic work with The Attractions and the 6 excursions are warranted, showing other facets of the man, and good facets at that. It is also a better disc than “Extreme Honey” (1997), a compilation that chronicles his Warner Years. The single disc has absolutely no overlap with that one, and that makes the two of them compatible (the two-disc version overlaps quite a bit). But if you want to have a focused image of an artist that never lost his edge, “The Very Best Of Elvis Costello” is the one you should pick up first. Either that, or any of the anthologies focused on his early work with The Attractions (the ones released in 1985 and 1994 by Columbia and Rykodisc respectively fit the bill quite well).

Would I recommend purchase of this compilation: Yes

Do I feel like digging deeper into his catalog after listening to it: Yes

Elvis Costello. His Real Name Is Declan MacManus.

When discussing songcraft with the bands I work with as a lyricist, one recurrent question I am asked is “Who are these lyricists you look up to?”. I usually answer: “It depends”. That is, the art of crafting songs can be analyzed from the structural point of view, and also from the perspective of the actual content of the composition. If we were to be objective, we would agree that what is said matters as much as the way it is actually being said. That is, form and content go hand in hand – one should not stand out at the expense of the other.

I know three composers that keep everything balanced and whose message is always conveyed in the most memorable fashion of all. I have already discussed two of them (Richard Thompson and Andy Partridge), and it is with great pleasure that I now introduce you to Mr. Elvis Costello.

The man is a genius. That might look like a bold introductory remark, but a fact is a fact. He was part of the punk explosion of 1977, and like many other artists that were not punk he was somehow caught in the middle and the “punk” label was applied to him. While his attitude made for easy comparison, he had pop sensibilities that set him apart from the movement, and that was evident from the very beginning.

He has always had a true way with words. I have seldom seen wordplayers like him, frankly. “I’m so affected in the face of your affection”, “You lack lust you’re so lackluster”, “Like a lady in the chamber and another in the clip”, “Abel was able so Vivian said”… these lyrics sprang to mind in a matter of seconds. And if I started enumerating the ones that I remembered within a minute I could fill three blogs. His MO also used to involve taking a conceit and placing in as many puns and references as he could muster. And believe me, he was never shortchanged. Listen to “Love For Tender” (“Get Happy!!”, 1980) or “The Only Flame In Town” (“Goodbye Cruel World”, 1984) to arrive at your own conclusions. Note that he eventually moved away from that – he recognized he was sort of parodying himself, and he changed the style in the mid 80s. All the more kudos to him for realizing he was becoming reliant on formulas that although effective gave him an image that could actually caricaturize him.

Also, look at the degree of characterization he can pull off. Any person who writes falls in love with this, his one big American hit:

It would be unjust not to mention his “classic” backing band. They were named “The Attractions”, and they accompanied him all through the early years. The band was conformed by Steve Nieve (a phenomenal keyboards player) and the exemplary drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Bruce Thomas (they are unrelated). This outfit helped him define his sound, and they reunited sporadically as far as the 90s. Bruce no longer plays with Elvis, but the other two are part of his new backing band, “The Imposters”.

Successes came early on his career. These included “Pump It Up” (included in “This Year’s Model”, his second album from 1978) “Oliver’s Army” (from Armed Forces, released in 1979) and “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down” (from 1980’s “Get Happy!!”). Nowadays, he is regarded as more or less of a “cult” figure, yet the creativity of the man is as solid as ever, and he still goes from musical genre to musical genre arriving unscathed and more bristling than before.

One thing you must understand, and that is very important before jumping with both feet into his catalog: the man has the most diverse and eclectic career you could imagine. He has released rock, pop, country and jazz albums. He even released a disc wholly devoted to chamber music with the Brodsky Quartet (1993), and an orchestral album called “Il Sogno” (2004). In the posts that will follow I hope to give you a good overview of his career. The idea is that you will be able to approach him in the best possible way, and avoid buying an album that is not compatible with your musical tastes.

That is something about Costello – you must know what you are getting your hands on first. As a rule, I will tell you that if you like rock and roll then any of his early records (the ones released in the late 70’s and early 80’s) are a safe bet. Still, his first foray into a different territory came as early as 1980 (“Almost Blue”, a country album). He then released some of his most realized pop/rock records (including “Imperial Bedroom” and “Punch The Clock”), and in the 90’s he really began experimenting in earnest. In additions to the albums listed on the previous paragraph, he released a jazz record named “North” in 2003, and a terrific country album named “The Delivery Man” in 2004. The latter includes duets with Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams, and it is a record I really treasure. Look forwards to the reviews soon!