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On this album with Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello delivers what is probably his strongest vocal performance to date - pushing his singing past what he’s done before in response to what really seems like a vocal album. The music is a lounge-y dinner music vibe, but without the kind of enthralling textures that would come with Bruce Springsteen’s Western Stars some 20 years later. I am sure it’s great for those that are into it, but I found this to be mostly boring. Faceless love ballads without a sense for me of context or purpose. Music for adults. I have taken every ride with Costello on this journey and found highlights everywhere…but this one ain’t for me.
Imperial Bedroom King of America My Aim Is True This Year’s Model Trust Brutal Youth Blood and Chocolate All This Useless Beauty Get Happy Kojak Variety Punch the Clock Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Mighty Like a Rose Almost Blue Spike Goodbye Cruel World Painted From Memory
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 3:35 pm Posts: 32045 Location: Buenos Aires
Ahhhhhh I love Painted From Memory so much. I think this is the most far apart we've been on this discovery journey of yours, but I think that makes sense given our individual tastes. Painted From Memory is truly one of my all-time favorite albums of all time, top notch songwriting
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 3:35 pm Posts: 32045 Location: Buenos Aires
1. This Year's Model 2. Painted From Memory 3. Blood & Chocolate 4. All This Useless Beauty 5. Imperial Bedroom 6. Brutal Youth 7. King of America 8. The Juliet Letters 9. Mighty Like a Rose 10. Spike 11. Trust 12. Get Happy 13. My Aim is True 14. Armed Forces 15. Punch the Clock 16. Almost Blue 17. Goodbye Cruel World 18. Kojak Variety
Ahhhhhh I love Painted From Memory so much. I think this is the most far apart we've been on this discovery journey of yours, but I think that makes sense given our individual tastes. Painted From Memory is truly one of my all-time favorite albums of all time, top notch songwriting
Agreed, PFM is a beauty -- it doesn't land quite as high in my pecking order as it does in yours but that's hardly a knock against it. "Toldeo" is probably a top 5 EC song for me.
This Year's Model Brutal Youth Get Happy King of America Blood and Chocolate Imperial Bedroom All This Useless Beauty Painted From Memory Mighty Like a Rose Trust My Aim Is True Spike Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Punch the Clock Almost Blue Goodbye Cruel World Kojak Variety
When you get this far in, it gets harder to make definitive statements about these albums, having lost a bit of the memory of what sparked such excitement about some of the early albums. With that in mind, I cannot recall enjoying any of the albums at first glance as much as this one. There’s the immediate draw of songs like 45, Spooky Girlfriend, Tear Off Your Head, Dissolve, Daddy Can I Turn This?, and Episode of Blonde (I really enjoyed that one), and then there are songs that sort of reveal themselves as the songs themselves progress, like Dust & Dust 2, Alibi, Soul for Hire, 15 Petals, Tart, and Radio Silence. I am not gonna come out here and say it’s his best, I don’t have that kind of experience and time with his albums, but holy hell this was my favorite first listen so far. How can that happen 16/17 albums and 25 years in!?
When I Was Cruel Imperial Bedroom King of America My Aim Is True This Year’s Model Trust Brutal Youth Blood and Chocolate All This Useless Beauty Get Happy Kojak Variety Punch the Clock Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Mighty Like a Rose Almost Blue Spike Goodbye Cruel World Painted From Memory
When I Was Cruel was my very first Costello album -- more or less bought it on a whim in the summer of 2002, when it was new and getting rave reviews (after All This Useless Beauty, Painted From Memory, and For the Stars, people were really ready for a rock album, it seems). Anyway, it absolutely knocked my socks off; I probably played "Episode of Blonde" 100 times in a week. It will always be a special album to me for that, and the next 2-3 years of going through the rest of his discography constitute some of the best music-related memories of my life. Now that I know it all, I think it's a mid-tier album in his catalog, but really...that's just because it's such a good catalog. The idea of WIWC being an album that just grabs you by the throat and demands to be loved on first listen is something I totally relate to, and I'm glad you had that experience with it too
This Year's Model Brutal Youth Get Happy King of America Blood and Chocolate Imperial Bedroom All This Useless Beauty Painted From Memory Mighty Like a Rose Trust When I Was Cruel My Aim Is True Spike Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Punch the Clock Almost Blue Goodbye Cruel World Kojak Variety
When I Was Cruel was my very first Costello album -- more or less bought it on a whim in the summer of 2002, when it was new and getting rave reviews (after All This Useless Beauty, Painted From Memory, and For the Stars, people were really ready for a rock album, it seems). Anyway, it absolutely knocked my socks off; I probably played "Episode of Blonde" 100 times in a week. It will always be a special album to me for that, and the next 2-3 years of going through the rest of his discography constitute some of the best music-related memories of my life. Now that I know it all, I think it's a mid-tier album in his catalog, but really...that's just because it's such a good catalog. The idea of WIWC being an album that just grabs you by the throat and demands to be loved on first listen is something I totally relate to, and I'm glad you had that experience with it too
This Year's Model Brutal Youth Get Happy King of America Blood and Chocolate Imperial Bedroom All This Useless Beauty Painted From Memory Mighty Like a Rose Trust When I Was Cruel My Aim Is True Spike Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Punch the Clock Almost Blue Goodbye Cruel World Kojak Variety
Yeah I think that is the experience. I imagine listening to all the albums again over time it will live somewhere closer to top third, but on initial impressions alone, it is a perfectly balanced record.
Following the rock album When I Was Cruel, we have an album of ballads not so dissimilar to Painted From Memory, though this one seems to have a more understated feeling to it. This is a difficult listen, but mostly because this is a difficult space to sit in for 40 minutes. Nothing comes in to shake the cobwebs. That’s not to say there aren’t still highlights and I would easily take this one over Painted From Memory. You Left Me in the Dark, Still, and When Green Eyes Turn Blue were highlights for me, and I appreciate what he’s doing here, but not something I am going to actively reach for without needing this exact sound.
When I Was Cruel Imperial Bedroom King of America My Aim Is True This Year’s Model Trust Brutal Youth Blood and Chocolate All This Useless Beauty Get Happy Kojak Variety Punch the Clock Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Mighty Like a Rose Almost Blue Spike North Goodbye Cruel World Painted From Memory
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 3:35 pm Posts: 32045 Location: Buenos Aires
I'm doing it:
1. North 2. This Year's Model 3. Painted From Memory 4. Blood & Chocolate 5. All This Useless Beauty 6. Imperial Bedroom 7. Brutal Youth 8. King of America 9. The Juliet Letters 10. When I Was Cruel 11. Mighty Like a Rose 12. Spike 13. Trust 14. Get Happy 15. My Aim is True 16. Armed Forces 17. Punch the Clock 18. Almost Blue 19. Kojak Variety 20. Goodbye Cruel World
North This Year's Model Brutal Youth Get Happy King of America Blood and Chocolate Imperial Bedroom All This Useless Beauty Painted From Memory Mighty Like a Rose Trust When I Was Cruel My Aim Is True Spike Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Punch the Clock Almost Blue Goodbye Cruel World Kojak Variety
Costello in this time seems to oscillate between albums where he looks for something different with a more traditional Attractions/Imposters album. This falls mostly in the latter category though there are some country flourishes here that shake things up a bit from that formula. The performances here are great again, with Button My Lip a great jump off point, Country Darkness building into that song you aren’t 100% on board with until it ends and then it all sort of now makes perfect sense, the rockin’ Bedlam, Monkey to Man, The Name of This Thing Is Not Love, She’s Pulling Out the Pin, the really great Needle Time, and The Judgment. Another very solid outing.
When I Was Cruel Imperial Bedroom King of America My Aim Is True This Year’s Model Trust Brutal Youth Blood and Chocolate All This Useless Beauty The Delivery Man Get Happy Kojak Variety Punch the Clock Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Mighty Like a Rose Almost Blue Spike North Goodbye Cruel World Painted From Memory
The Delivery Man is awesome. "Bedlam" is a masterclass in songwriting. Also "Either Side of the Same Town"
Yeah there’s a lot of really great stuff in here. It’s around this point I am always worried about artist fatigue while simultaneously getting summit fever.
This is one of the tougher albums to consider a placement on the list, in large part because the album is a true collaboration between Costello and Allen Toussaint. Both of their sounds and signatures are evident throughout, whether we are talking about new songs or covers. Nevertheless, this is my favorite of these collaborative albums so far. Granted, I tend more towards a New Orleans soul (in the wake of Katrina no less), so this fits my personal preferences. All of this is great so I can’t even just list songs - they are all quite worthy.
When I Was Cruel Imperial Bedroom King of America My Aim Is True This Year’s Model Trust Brutal Youth Blood and Chocolate All This Useless Beauty The Delivery Man The River in Reverse Get Happy Kojak Variety Punch the Clock Armed Forces The Juliet Letters Mighty Like a Rose Almost Blue Spike North Goodbye Cruel World Painted From Memory
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 3:35 pm Posts: 32045 Location: Buenos Aires
Such a fun album to listen to. Hey liebzz, if you enjoy this format, you should check out his concert fil, Hot As a Pistol, Keen as a Blade -- EC & The Imposters with Allen Toussaint and the Crescent City Horns. They play songs from this album as well as various tunes from across EC & Allen's career (leaning more towards EC). Really great stuff, amazing performances. I wonder if it can be streamed anywhere
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