Entertainment For Lively Minds
Bit of help please.
Posted by Mint on 19 February 2009 - 6:17pm.
The morning after the wonder of Magazine in Manchester, saw myself take a wander down to Fopp. Picked up one or two things including 'Imperial Bedroom' by Elvis Costello,I only bought this on the strength that it had 'Beyond Belief' and 'Man out of Time'on it, a couple of my favourite tracks from a best of i've got.
There was quite a few other Costello cds in the store, all at reasonable prices. So where do I go from here with Costello, bearing in mind a 'best of' and 'imperial bedroom' is all i've got. Which 3 other Costello cds should I buy when I next go to Fopp?
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My choices
You can't go far wrong with a lot of the early stuff in my humble opinion (I've gone off EC of late), but if I was narrowing it down to three I would say:
Armed Forces
Get Happy!
Almost Blue (not universally loved by Elvis fans, but I think it's great)
If you want one of the collaborations, I would recommed 'Painted From Memory', with Burt Bacharach
This Year's Model
I used to be a huge fan and would agree that Imperial Bedroom is one of his best. There is some good songwriting and performances on Spike and King of America; Blood and Chocolate is rawer and more urgent than his loungier styles. But for classic paranoid, bitter, screwed up vitriol, you can't beat This Year's Model, his first album with the Attractions.
I recommend
King of America and possibly Punch The Clock.
from his golden period?
This Year's Model
Armed Forces
Trust
also recommended:
Get Happy loadsa soul tracks
Blood and Chocolate return to the rockier style
Brutal Youth the best of his late-ish stuff to my mind.
Model, Trust, Blue and King should suffice. Thats 4, I'm afraid.
But there are some, hushed tones, good compilations too. Or, sit down at i-tunes or equivalent and cherry pick your own. I am uncertain of his spotty status.
But hang on a mo', I am sure our EC expert, Mr Turner, will be along in a while.......
Personally I would buy
Personally I would buy everything from the first album My Aim Is True through to Blood And Chocolate (although I'm not a great fan of Goodbye Cruel World).
After that there are good albums, but they head into repeating old ground. Out of those Spike and Brutal Youth are my own particular favourites.
Of the ones I mention first Blood and Chocolate, King Of America and Get Happy are amongst my all time favourite albums by anybody.
I would also recommend..
...getting some of the compilations of material, or at the least editions of his albums that feature extra material. Songs such as Hoover Factory and Red Sails In The Sunset are the match of anything on his regular albums.
You won't go wrong with these 3
This Year's Model - Powerhouse first LP with the Attractions, hit after hit. His best songs of love and jealousy.
King of America - First non Attractions LP, his best songs of love and regret in beautiful musical settings.
Blood and Chocolate - Beguilingly ragged last LP with the Attractions, until a more mixed reunion in the 90s. Delightfully unhinged in places.
Happy listening.
What Paul B said
They would be my three as well, given you've already got Imperial Bedroom.
'Painted From Memory' is also excellent in my view although many would disagree, and from his latter period I would give 'All This Useless Beauty' a listen.
Avoid 'Goodbye Cruel World' at all costs - potentially great songs ruined by willfully awkward arrangements and poor production.
What Paul W said
Absolutely - though he over reaches with his voice a bit on Painted From Memory. In actual fact he's a much better singer in concert - Mint you'd might enjoy it if you could catch him on his tour with the Brodsky Quartet in a few weeks. Which reminds me, The Juliet Letters (his LP with the Brodskys) is a a gem too.
my aim is true
And Almost blue are the only ones I listen to these days - and they are probably his least representative. Though Hoover Factory and Tokyo Storm Warning are frequently on the ipod.
First three.
No question.
This Years Model
armed Forces and Get Happy. Or Trust, King Of America and Blood n Choccies. Or Spike, Brutal Youth, The Delivery Man.
Definitely This Years Model and My Aim is True
then a toss up between Armed Forces and Get Happy, with the latter getting the nod by a short head.
Funny how nobody has mentioned anything done in the last 15 years...
Ahem
The Delivery Man. I'd also say When I Was Cruel which is a blustering old album in the style of Blood and Chccies.
Painted From Memory
which Paul Waring mentions above was produced in 1998. I endorse that choice, but there is the proviso that we may be perhaps the only two here who really like it.
I'd add Punch the Clock and Get Happy!!
EC expert Mr Turner here (tm)
Thanks for the title Retro anyway here goes:-
King of America is his best album and better than anything the Beatles ever did.
Spike got slagged off but I think it is a great album
The Delivery man has a couple of great duets with Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris including imho his best ever song The Scarlet Tide
This Years Model - full of vitriol and rightly put him on course for title of best British songwriter
Avoid Momufuku which I think is half baked and rushed. Goodbye Cruel World is also not one of his best but does include Love Field and Peace in our Time, both great songs.
However you shouldnt really listen to me as I am completely biased and truly believe him to be the best songwriter we have produced since Lennon and McCartney. Yes he can be over clever but when it comes off it can also be inspired.
Elvis on Spotify
Why not listen on Spotify?
They are all there in all their glory...
'My Aim Is True'
is his best by a mile. 'King of America' and 'Imperial Bedroom' are also marvellous. But he's not the Beatles. ( Or even a Beatle ).
Thanks very much,
appreciated. Lots to be going on with. Knew i'd be better asking you guys than trawling through reviews, after all you're the people who buy the stuff.
nothing much to add
but if I was forced to choose just one it'd definitely be King of America, which is practically flawless.
From the dozen or so I have....
...my favourites are Almost Blue and King Of America.
Just behind(in no particular order)are My Aim Is True, This Years Model, Punch The Clock, Armed Forces, Imperial Bedroom, The Delivery Man and Get Happy.
I find hard work - Mighty Like A Rose, Goodbye Cruel World and the one with The Brodsky Quartet(Juliet Letters perhaps?).
A few years ago, most of his early catalogue was re-issued and each album came along with a bonus cd of outtakes, demos and alternative versions.....and they were going for a fiver I think. Fabulous stuff if you're a fan, though maybe not so much of interest for a newbie.
Can't think of an artist
who has had his back catologue re-issued so many times.
For fans the 2cd re-masters are the best buy, but he has also released the originals (without any extra tracks) in the past couple of years.
On the subject of Momofuku, I was pleasantly surprised. Of all his albums the one played least is probably "North".
For The Stars
must be even less played. At the Festival Hall once I remember a squirmingly awkward, tumble weed blowing through the auditorium silence when he announced he was going to play a track from it.
Thing about Elvis is when he's great he's what most artists are not, utterly passionate and driven, and when he's not great he's what most artists are, which is, er, not all that great. But you have to let him try, other wise he gets very indignant and wouldn't be able to find his way to producing the good stuff, which he still can and does (and I don't just mean the more traditional rock'n'roll albums, his broader stuff can be great too.)
The Juliet Letters
Whilst I would definitely agree with the various endorsements of "King of America" and "Blood and Chocolate",I've always been mystified by the general lack of appreciation for "The Juliet Letters".
The classical community were predictably sniffy and dismissive of EC's percieved effrontery in daring to dabble in their field,and the rock squad were outraged by what they saw as Declan getting a bit above himself and pretentious.
To these ears it's a cracking album,and if you can leave your preconceptions and prejudices at the door,you will find an album full of memorable tunes and exactly the sort of biting and witty wordsmithery you'd expect from yer man.Go on,it doesn't hurt...honest!
I'd endorse that 100%
and I'd even go on about the Wendy James demos from the same period, which came out in installments as series of B sides and EP tracks - it's like his ironic tribute to Ziggy Stardust -but that really is too much to explain to a newcomer!
I was going to ask this question
but in regards to Tom Waits. 3 starters please? Sorry for going off-topic slightly
Probably have been better....
....if you'd started another thread as there'll be loads of people more qualified than me to advise.
I do have all his albums, but where to start giving recommendations???
I suppose it depends on what you like. His early albums on the Asylum label could be described as bluesy jazzy folk songs mostly done on acoustic guitar or piano. The later Asylum albums got more electric and rockier. On these albums he mostly plays the character of a drunk slumped over the piano telling tales of down and outs and 3 time losers from the sleazier parts of Los Angeles. My favourites from this part of his career are Blue Valentine and Heat Attack and Vine.
In the early 80's he got married and switched labels to Island. He changed both lyrical and musical directions with his *80's trilogy* of Swordfishtrombones, Franks Wild Years and Rain Dogs. These albums can easily be described as experimental and definitely are a bit harder to listen to but I love them all and if I had to pick a favourite it'd be Rain Dogs.
As we move farther into his career I can only describe has later work as even harder to listen to. The Black Rider and Bone Machine are not really for Waits beginners, though Mule Variations from the same period is a gem and much easier on the lug.
This isn't party music...it's very personal music. His stories can be very funny or very sad or even both at the same time. His voice often puts people off as it is an extremely gravelly growl. Don't let that put you off(on his early albums his voice is part of the charater he portrays)....he trully is a master wordsmith.
There are a few albums on Spotify. Delve in and listen to different parts of his career before buying anything. His cds used to be very cheap on the likes af Amazon et al.
I envy you having all this wonderful stuff still to discover.
Waits
my way in was The Heart Of Saturday Night, Mule Variations and Swordfishtrombones. Like EC they are a fiver a pop in the Fopp!
I'd also say Closing Time, Raindogs and Franks wild Years are a good opening salvo.
But like others - my love for Costello and Waits 'starts like fascination, ends up like a trance'
Thanks for that
now off to discover Waits & Costello!