Elvis Costello

[BruceH]

Hey Kalo, have you got The River In Reverse yet? If so---thoughts, reactions, opinions?

[sheldonm]

I've been a fan for years. Never thought I would get the chance to see him but he was a special guest at the "Great Night in Harlem" event I photographed at the Apollo Theater earlier this year. He was excellent, performing a new tune during the show and performing in a jam session at the end of the night.....made a handful of nice images as well.

m~

[Kalo]

Hey Kalo, have you got The River In Reverse yet? If so---thoughts, reactions, opinions?

No. I burned out on newer Costello releases years ago. He seems like Woody Allen, just keeps pumping 'em out regularly out of habit. I heard North and hated it. His singing, always mannered, has become more and more self important and humorless.

I love a lot of what Alan Toussaint has done over the years as a producer, but somehow the mixture of him and Costello seems like oil and water. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

[Alexander]

Hey Kalo, have you got The River In Reverse yet? If so---thoughts, reactions, opinions?

No. I burned out on newer Costello releases years ago. He seems like Woody Allen, just keeps pumping 'em out regularly out of habit. I heard North and hated it. His singing, always mannered, has become more and more self important and humorless.

I love a lot of what Alan Toussaint has done over the years as a producer, but somehow the mixture of him and Costello seems like oil and water. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

I think you're wrong. "The River In Reverse" is the best Costello in years. Of course, I liked "The Delivery Man" and even liked "North" so maybe I'm not the best judge...

[GregK]

I'd say Delivery Man is just as good as anything he's done. When I was Cruel is right up there, too

[Kalo]

Hey Kalo, have you got The River In Reverse yet? If so---thoughts, reactions, opinions?

No. I burned out on newer Costello releases years ago. He seems like Woody Allen, just keeps pumping 'em out regularly out of habit. I heard North and hated it. His singing, always mannered, has become more and more self important and humorless.

I love a lot of what Alan Toussaint has done over the years as a producer, but somehow the mixture of him and Costello seems like oil and water. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

I think you're wrong. "The River In Reverse" is the best Costello in years. Of course, I liked "The Delivery Man" and even liked "North" so maybe I'm not the best judge...

The fault is perhaps just as much mine as Costello's. I followed him from the very beginning -- bought his first album when it came out -- and he was one of my favorite rock artists for years. But as I said in my previous post, I pretty much tuned out a number of years ago out of sheer frustration.

So I've never even heard Delivery Man, except for one track on an anthology that didn't impress me. As for When I Was Cruel, I really want to like it and I haven't been able to get myself to sell it yet, but despite their admitted charms the songs are just so damn long, going on and on and on. Back in the day Costello rarely exceeded the three-minute mark. Of late his songs have been twice as long or more, yet with fewer than half the ideas.

Well, as I said, I haven't heard The River in Reverse yet and I'd love to be proved wrong, so I'll try to give this one a fair hearing when I can get around to it.

Toussaint has as close to a magic touch as anyone I can think of as a producer, so who knows? And I did enjoy Costello's collaboration with Bacharach...

[HolyStitt]

I really enjoy his recordings, but in the last twenty years he has not been as creative and consistent as he was in the first ten years of his career. IMHO, post Blood & Chocolate/King of America, he has had four perfect recordings: Brutal Youth (which many people would debate, but I love), Painted from Memory, The Delivery Man, and The River in Reverse. To my ears, When I Was Cruel never really clicked. I think it worked for some fans because it was his first "rock" recording in quite sometime, so they were so happy that he was playing rock again that there expectations for the songs was very lower then my own.

I would endorse The River in Reverse to anyone. It works as a Elvis CD and as a Toussaint CD. Elvis really does a great job reinterpreting some of the songs that were made famous by Lee Dorsey, which I never thought I would be able to say.

[fent99]

I've been a long term fan since the early 80's and seen him half a dozen times.

I've lost patience with his studio albums since Spike and the "rock" albums have all sounded forced for some time. He's tried my patience live too, self indulgent shows too arch and knowing for their own good.

But and its a big but, there's always something of interest. Plenty of great songs since Spike even though the albums mainly annoy after a while.

All this Useless Beauty had some great songs but they sounded better on the limited edn live set with steve nieve on piano (its great and deserves wider release and a boot of a full show from the Filmore I have is really good)

I did like Painted from Memory but hated North (even with Konitz!).

I'll try the Tousaint collaboration sometime though since I've a couple of compilations of his early stuff which I adore.

[Big Al]

I'm bumping this thread because I have been in full-on EC obsessive-compulsion. Last weekend, I acquired (*or re-acquired in a couple of cases) the following Rhino 2-fers:

Imperial Bedroom* (should never have gotten rid of this one)

Trust* (ditto)

Armed Forces (what took me so freakin' long to get this? This is INCREDIBLE! The second disc is on a par with the first!)

King of America (took me a little longer. Still haven't warmed up to much of the 2nd disc, and for a long time I didn't really like KoA. Every time one of the songs starts, I expect to hear someone say "Funding for this and other NPR programs provided by.....")

This past week, I checked out the following Rhinos from a couple of local libraries:

My Aim is True (the sound on this blows away the Ryko, which already sounded good to begin with! The 2nd disc is nice as well!)

This Year's Model (the 2nd disc on this is probably my least favorite; just seems like it could've had a lot more)

Needless to say, I will be acquiring these for my own pronto! Then yesterday, from the Fort Worth library, I checked out the following:

My Flame Burns Blue (probably need to listen to this again; made no impact on me whatsoever)

The Delivery Man (wow, what a furious record! EC at his most visceral! I love it!)

When I Was Cruel (another howling EC record, but it sure could've used some editing)

The River in Reverse (what the hell was I thinking ignoring this record last year? On a par with the magnificent Painted from Memory)

Finally, today, this mega-music/games/video store opened, was having its grand opening sale, and I picked up the following at ridiculously low prices:

The River in Reverse (with bonus DVD! Can't wait to watch this one)

Brutal Youth (Rhino, never heard this one, but at $7.00, what is there to lose)

Mighty Like a Rose (Rhino, never heard this one, but always liked "The Other Side of Summer." I stayed away from this because a lot of people said it was worse than Spike, and I hated Spike. Still do, in fact: I passed up the Rhino 2-fer for $7.00! Been listening to this one, and so far it lives up to EC's claim of "If you're looking for an angry record, you've come to the right place." And, I like it a lot more than Spike, but then I like root canal surgery more than I like Spike.)

All of this is showing me that EC's post-Columbia work is a lot more interesting than I originally imagined. And so the journey begins yet again!

[GregK]

Mighty Like a Rose is better than Spike. Much angrier (check out How to be Dumb and Hurry Down Doomsday; he was quite pissed off). The bonus disc of Spike is better than the original, as some of them are acoustic demos, revealing some not-so-bad songs.

I agree, The River in Reverse is fantastic! It seemed to be virtually ignored when it came out, but it's a very good album. International Echo has a nice groove going on. Elvis is on a streak currently that rivals his early days.

[Big Al]

Elvis is on a streak currently that rivals his early days.

Totally agree, even if I don't personally enjoy EVERYTHING he's put out during this streak. How he's able to keep up with each muse is beyond my comprehension (which isn't saying much, but still......)

[sidewinder]

I first saw Elvis at a club in Edinburough in the summer of '76.

That must have been the Stiff Records tour that he did with Ian Dury, Graham Parker, Nick Lowe and some others (not sure if it was '75 or '76).

The Beeb broadcast film of that tour on a great 2-part Stiff Records documentary quite recently (along with a whole heap of vintage Stiff Records performances from Dury, Madness, Kursaal Flyers etc) . Elvis pretty well came into Stiff's office from the street, pretty well unknown but he was a major hit on the tour.

He also did appearances later on at Ronnie Scotts of course, along with Chet Baker.

[Quincy]

The Hip-O deluxe versions get a start on September 11th with a My Aim Is True.

Billboard link, excerpt below

"Elvis Costello's classic 1977 debut "My Aim Is True" will be the first original album reissued in expanded form as part of a new catalog campaign by Hip-O/UMe, Billboard.com can reveal. Due Sept. 11, the "Deluxe Edition" of the project features 48 tracks across two discs, including 29 previously unreleased or new-to-CD bonus songs.

Disc one includes the original album plus outtakes of "No Action," "Living in Paradise," "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger in the House" and eight additional demos recorded at London's Pathway Studios.

The second disc is comprised mostly of an Aug. 7, 1977, concert at London's Nashville Rooms, plus five songs from soundcheck earlier in the day. Costello's only prior release of a complete live performance was the rare 1978 album 'Live at the El Mocambo.'"

For whatever reason (laziness, bootlegs that flesh things out) I'm still on my original vinyl with the debut. So I can't gripe in this case about having to buy the album 4 times.

[ghost of miles]

Great version of "Gloomy Sunday" on the bonus disc of the 2003 TRUST reissue.

[BruceH]

No comments on Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane?

[Alexander]

No comments on Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane?

I like it. I hear it (or bits of it) several times a day since it's on the in-store play at work. It certainly doesn't suck, listening to Costello all day...

[Big Al]

I don't care for it. I found it sleepy and boring. But then, MOMOFUKU was such a blisteringly brilliant record, I didn't expect (and sure didn't hope) Elvis to revert to NPR/King Of America form. Maybe I should listen to it again.

Bottom line, if you really like King of America, you'll likely enjoy this one.

[GregK]

No comments on Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane?

It's fantastic! It's the best Costello I've heard since The Delivery Man (which is my favorite of all his albums), maybe even better than that. I love the instrumentation (acoustic country/folk/bluegrass) and some of his strongest songs in at least 15 years. My only problem with it is that one of the bonus songs on the vinyl is Femme Fatale, which just sounds out of place (I've never been a big fan of Lou Reed anyway). But after the rather formulaic Momofuku, it's great to hear him sound so different.

[Alexander]

I don't care for it. I found it sleepy and boring. But then, MOMOFUKU was such a blisteringly brilliant record, I didn't expect (and sure didn't hope) Elvis to revert to NPR/King Of America form. Maybe I should listen to it again.

Bottom line, if you really like King of America, you'll likely enjoy this one.

I really like "King of America." It was one of the first Costello albums I ever got.

[ghost of miles]

I don't care for it. I found it sleepy and boring. But then, MOMOFUKU was such a blisteringly brilliant record, I didn't expect (and sure didn't hope) Elvis to revert to NPR/King Of America form. Maybe I should listen to it again.

Bottom line, if you really like King of America, you'll likely enjoy this one.

I really like "King of America." It was one of the first Costello albums I ever got.

Ray Brown's on that record, innit he?

[Big Al]

I don't care for it. I found it sleepy and boring. But then, MOMOFUKU was such a blisteringly brilliant record, I didn't expect (and sure didn't hope) Elvis to revert to NPR/King Of America form. Maybe I should listen to it again.

Bottom line, if you really like King of America, you'll likely enjoy this one.

I really like "King of America." It was one of the first Costello albums I ever got.

Me too, and I liked it a lot when I first got it. I don't listen to it as much as other EC records, though. It's a fine record, and yes, Ray Brown's on a couple tracks.

Hey GregK, you thought MOMOFUKU was formulaic? Hadn't ever thought about that, but I can see where you're coming from even if I disagree wholeheartedly. I mean, there were a lot of times listening to that record that felt like I was listening to This Year's Model (especially "American Gangster Time"), but for me that's what makes it such a fantastic record. One can retread without rehashing, and IMO EC did that brilliantly on MOMOFUKU.

[BruceH]

I don't care for it. I found it sleepy and boring. But then, MOMOFUKU was such a blisteringly brilliant record, I didn't expect (and sure didn't hope) Elvis to revert to NPR/King Of America form. Maybe I should listen to it again.

Bottom line, if you really like King of America, you'll likely enjoy this one.

It took me years to really get into King of America. But I finally saw it as one of his last really good albums.

Edited August 30, 2009 by BruceH

[GregK]

Hey GregK, you thought MOMOFUKU was formulaic? Hadn't ever thought about that, but I can see where you're coming from even if I disagree wholeheartedly. I mean, there were a lot of times listening to that record that felt like I was listening to This Year's Model (especially "American Gangster Time"), but for me that's what makes it such a fantastic record. One can retread without rehashing, and IMO EC did that brilliantly on MOMOFUKU.

Yes, formulaic in the sense that it has a sampling of a lot of the styles of music he's tried out in the past (it reminded me of Spike immediately). Not bad, just not nearly as interesting as Delivery Man, River in Reverse or Secret, etc.

[Big Al]

Hey GregK, you thought MOMOFUKU was formulaic? Hadn't ever thought about that, but I can see where you're coming from even if I disagree wholeheartedly. I mean, there were a lot of times listening to that record that felt like I was listening to This Year's Model (especially "American Gangster Time"), but for me that's what makes it such a fantastic record. One can retread without rehashing, and IMO EC did that brilliantly on MOMOFUKU.

Yes, formulaic in the sense that it has a sampling of a lot of the styles of music he's tried out in the past (it reminded me of Spike immediately). Not bad, just not nearly as interesting as Delivery Man, River in Reverse or Secret, etc.

Well, we agree to disagree then. I think Spike is EC's most horrid album.