Elvis Costello's "National Ransom"

[Alexander]

I heartily recommend the new Costello album, "National Ransom." Produced by T-Bone Burnett, whose style of production I've come to find boring for the most part, but who does a fabulous job here (the album sounds quite a bit like his work on "King of America").

[jostber]

Will check this out. That's a creative album cover as well!

[Big Al]

Anyone hear EC on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" this past weekend? Very funny!

Approaching this with no small amount of trepidation. Didn't care for "Sugarcane," and it took me forever to like "KOA." Ah well, if I gotta wait through these albums to get to the rockin' stuff (like MOMOFUKU) it's worth it, I s'pose.

[GregK]

I've listened to it twice so far, and I haven't heard much that is making me want to go back to it again. I'll keep trying, but it seems too much like Momufuku to me, which is alright, but I really liked Sugarcane, and I had read that this new one was supposed to be similar to that. I haven't heard the similarities at all. Elvis does folk-country well, and I was hoping for more.

[BruceH]

I liked he and Stephen Colbert singing harmony on that Everly Brothers song the other night.

[Van Basten II]

Just bought his previous one Secret, Profane and Sugarcane , did enjoy it, is it in the same vein ?

[Big Al]

I've listened to it twice so far, and I haven't heard much that is making me want to go back to it again. I'll keep trying, but it seems too much like Momufuku to me, which is alright, but I really liked Sugarcane, and I had read that this new one was supposed to be similar to that. I haven't heard the similarities at all. Elvis does folk-country well, and I was hoping for more.

Really???? I may have to listen to this then. When I saw Burnett's name, I thought it was going to sound more like Sugarcane, which sounds nothing like Momofuku, which is not a bad thing just a personal preference is all.

[Alexander]

No, it doesn't sound much like "Sugarcane" at all...

[GregK]

I've listened to it twice so far, and I haven't heard much that is making me want to go back to it again. I'll keep trying, but it seems too much like Momufuku to me, which is alright, but I really liked Sugarcane, and I had read that this new one was supposed to be similar to that. I haven't heard the similarities at all. Elvis does folk-country well, and I was hoping for more.

Really???? I may have to listen to this then. When I saw Burnett's name, I thought it was going to sound more like Sugarcane, which sounds nothing like Momofuku, which is not a bad thing just a personal preference is all.

I really don't know what to compare it to. I've listened to it a few more times, and it definitely is good (a "grower", one of those awful cliched terms but I think it applies to this record), and I think I made the comparison to Momofuku because the first song is a rocker, like most of that album, and because it seems to be all over the place stylistically. But it doesn't sound like Sugarcane even though it shares some of the same players and the same producer. Actually, if you order it from his website you get a bonus EP which DOES sound a lot like Sugarcane. Odd.

Oh yeah, maybe the best thing about the album, other than the fact that at this stage in his career Elvis has put out another good record, is that Marc Ribot plays a lot of good guitar on it.