Miscellany
The first sign of Costello's reckless eclecticism came with 1981's Almost Blue, a cover set of Nashville favorites that puzzled fans at the time, but now sounds like a harbinger of the alt-country movement that took off in the following decade. But Costello had country music on his mind from the start. The 1978 single "Stranger In The House" was unabashed with its twang. It fell between the cracks of My Aim Is True and This Year's Model, but was revived by Costello as a duet with George Jones, and memorably covered by Stiff Records' Rachel Sweet.
"'Stranger In The House'" by Rachel Sweet
Costello's back catalog has been well-handled by Rykodisc, Rhino, and now Universal's Hip-O Select, but in all the multi-disc sets with all their bonus tracks, none of those labels has bothered to re-release the second album that Costello released in the U.S. in 1980. That would be Taking Liberties, a 20-song collection of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings that has since formed the backbone of all those CD reissues' supplementary material. On its own, Taking Liberties is a marvelous record, neatly summarizing the changes Costello went through from 1977 to 1980, via a largely unfamiliar (but stellar) set of songs. Only a songwriter as prolific as Costello then was could essentially throw away a song as lovely and inspired as "Hoover Factory," which uses a crumbling building as a metaphor for the way styles come in and out of fashion. The subject obviously means a lot to Costello, even though he admits, "It's not a matter of life or death / But what is? What is?"
"Hoover Factory" by Elvis Costello
A not-quite sequel to Painted From Memory, the 2006 album The River In Reverse found Costello collaborating with New Orleans veteran Allen Toussaint for a set of songs more genial than memorable, but still worth a listen.
The Essentials:
1. Get Happy!! (1980)
Though often cited as Costello's R&B record, Get Happy!! is more a compendium of his interests and influences, from the half-Dylan/half-Beatles "New Amsterdam" to the simmering country gospel of "Motel Matches." It's also Costello's most generous album, bopping quickly through 20 smart, tuneful songs, and it contains some of his cleverest lyrics, as on "King Horse," where Costello delivers a semi-monologue in the voice of a woman who turns down sex because she has too much respect for the song on the radio, and doesn't want to taint its memory.
2. This Year's Model (1978)
Costello's debut album, My Aim Is True, was beholden to proto-rock and roadhouse country, but the jumpy, punk-informed dynamic of This Year's Model confirmed that Costello was a rare talent, able to work competently in a variety of styles. It's unmistakably an Elvis Costello album—evidenced by the clean, long-line melodies and the lyrics that paint a picture of a status-obsessed, undersexed modern world—but the peppery rhythms and minimalist blare of Costello's new backing band, The Attractions, creates a buzz of its own. Neither Costello nor any other rocker has ever made an album that sounds quite like This Year's Model.
3. King Of America (1986)
King Of America was significant back in 1986, because after two straight albums of hit-and-miss material, Costello showed that his creative well hadn't yet run dry. By billing himself as "The Costello Show featuring The Attractions and Confederates," Costello shrugged off some of the burden of expectation, and delivered a set of songs that went back to basics, growing from his folk and country roots. There's a thematic consistency to King Of America, too, as all its songs seem to take place in a country populated by liars, hucksters, and disappointed lovers. And only Costello could come up with lines like this one, from "Brilliant Mistake:" "She said that she was working for the ABC News / It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use."
4. Imperial Bedroom (1982)
Sprawl seems to suit Costello's post-1980 aesthetic much better than concision, and no album better exemplifies this than Imperial Bedroom, where Costello makes himself over as a cabaret singer with a massive collection of Beatles albums. There's something valedictory about Imperial Bedroom, as Costello sums up life in England from World War II to the Swingin' London era, by dealing with how the social changes that rocked the British Empire affected people at home. It's an intentionally ambitious, expansive, inviting record, and one that in some ways stands apart from the rest of Costello's discography in its richness.
5. Armed Forces (1979)
Calling Armed Forces a dry run for Imperial Bedroom isn't meant to be dismissive, but still—there's a maturity to the later record that the cocky 24-year-old of 1979 couldn't yet conceive. On the other hand, there's something to be said for immaturity, too. Armed Forces sees Costello starting to move out of his own flat, looking for subject matter, and his first extended take on contemporary soul-sickness is bracing in its anger and cynicism. The album is packed with uptempo songs, but it would be tough to call "Senior Service," "Green Shirt," "Busy Bodies," or "Moods For Moderns" uplifting, given their portrait of people being used and discarded by the culture at large. The American version of Armed Forces ends on a fairly positive note, with Costello's rollicking cover of producer Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding," but the record is really better summed-up in its UK edition, which ends with "Two Little Hitlers," a song about how when two bad impulses fight each other, nobody really wins.
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