Armed Forces
The difference between this and his two
earlier albums is immediately obvious. Sick of being the bratty
punk kid, Costello obviously wanted to be taken seriously as
a musician and show some of his music-writing skills. I swear
there are tinges of prog-rock in the first track, "Accidents
Will Happen." There are also tinges of the troubadour that
Costello will eventually become peaking out of the rock 'n roll
edges here, plus an urge to show his range and musical breadth.
Gone is the sound of the punk circus that dominated This
Year's Model, and in its place are soaring pop odes--damn
good pop odes. Despite the appearance of sunny pop, though,
Costello is always boiling under the surface politically and
personally. I miss the spitting, but am glad to see the guy
explore new territory. |
The Delivery Man |
 Elvis
Costello & Paul McCartney--The Studio Collaboration |
My Aim Is True |
North |
This Year's Model
It almost feels like someone hit the 75RPM
switch on the record player on this LP right out of the gate.
There's an urgency there that makes me wonder why I didn't love
this stuff back when I was a kid. This is a great blast of late-70's
rock 'n roll, complete with rollicking keyboards, awesome stripped
down production and a lead singer who still spits (literally)
vitriol in just the nicest of ways. Quintessential to his punk
spirit is the song "Radio Radio," a gnarly in your face to the
record industry. His f' you performance of it on SNL
still ranks up there as one of the best moments in live TV history. |
Trust
There's something about an Elvis Costello
album that just sounds so damn good. The production is always
so on point. You can somehow hear all the instruments and his
vocals are clear and up front without drowning out anything
in the background. A true engineering marvel. Songs like "Strict
Time" are such perfect pop gems, it's amazing that this guy
wasn't the biggest thing on the planet--or maybe he was, who
can remember? There are a couple songs here that try a little
hard, like "Luxembourg," but most are just great and extremely
listenable. |
The Very Best of Elvis Costello and
the Attractions |
When I Was Cruel
There's a twenty-year gap in my Elvis Costello
record collection. I literally went from Trust to this
album (ignoring the Greatest Hits album). And even that wouldn't
have happened hadn't I worked for the label that put the album
out. And, boy, the guy has either come back from the dead, or
literally hasn't lost a step in two decades. I have a feeling,
judging by his general missing-ness since Spike, that
he may have fallen off a little bit in the 90s. Well, let me
tell you folks, this was actually one of my favorite albums
of 2002. I evangelized this thing like a nutjob. I wanted to
turn non-music listeners onto this album. I think I love it
so much because it honestly surprised me. It's so utterly modern,
this record. It's propulsive and smoky and interesting. It has
bleeps and bloops in some songs that would seem out of place
on one of his albums, but somehow stays completely in the spirit
of an Elvis Costello composition. Parts of it feels like a spaghetti
western or something, but again, they just provide some seriously
cool textures to an otherwise underrated gem of an album. |
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