|   older Elvis Costello | Rae
May 14, 2001 6:15 PM | | I found it odd the other day when a friend of mine mentioned that his favorite Elvis Costello disc was "Brutal Youth". I've always been a big EC fan, but since I've appreciated most of his work well after the fact on account of my age, I guess I lost track of his career after his "seminal" period (i.e. when the Ryko reissues end with "Blood & Chocolate"). My appreciation of later albums like "All This Useless Beauty" and "Mighty Like a Rose" only extends to liking their titles. Am I missing out? I did pick up the collaboration with Burt Bacharach when it came out and like it quite a bit, but that's the only release I own after 1986. I'd appreciate hearing what you guys think about Costello's later stuff... |
| Older Elvis Costello Rules | BarryL
May 15, 2001 9:49 AM | | I'm with you. The inventiveness of the early EC was amazing, and it wasn't limited to Elvis. Steve Nieve was always doing outstanding work on the keyboards. But around Blood & Chocolates was it for me. I thought Mighty Like a Rose was mighty stultified. I then ignored much of what he did after that. But the Bacharach collaboration is five stars in my book. This is a must have for any elvis fan. And if you don't like Costello's voice, then pick up the Bill Frissell version of these songs, although Costello does add vocals on a couple of tracks. |
| re: older Elvis Costello | Dario (a/k/a Darius in Spain)
May 16, 2001 8:48 AM | | Because of my age and the way my musical development went in high school, Spike! was the first EC album that I ever purchased, and I still think it´s a very good album. People´s reaction to the baroque (and non-rock) production values and arrangements of this one I think have caused it to be way underrated. Mighty Like a Rose "sounded" similar but had a definitely inferior set of songs. The songs on Spike however, were mostly of the highest quality. Satellite, Deep Dark Truthful Mirror, Baby Plays Around, Veronica, Last Boat Leaving and others were excellent songs that made me want to hear more EC. I bought Blood & Chocolate and then This Year´s Model, and the rest is history (he is now one of my all time favorites). So anyhow, that one is definitely a 4(out of 5) star album for me. I also like the Burt Bacharach one. |
| When I play "This Years Model"... | jasn
May 16, 2001 9:33 AM | | which about 5-6 times a year (actually last week too), it's usually to listen to Bruce Thomas' incredible bass lines. This came out in the "no lead guitar" phase of New Wave, and Bruce fills in the gap nicely. Put it or Armed Forces back on and hear what I'm touting, if you haven't already picked up on it. |
| Bruce Thomas | maf
May 16, 2001 9:59 AM | | One of the great, under appreciated bass players in rock, and his performance on This Years Model is virtuoso: Especially like "The Beat" and "Lipstick Vogue," Great stuff.
Mark |
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