Review of Painted From Memory
Amazon.com
-Rickey Wright

As promised, this long-awaited full-length collaboration bears
the hallmarks of Bacharach's classic '60s work with the likes of
Dionne Warwick--full-force melodies, traditional pop
instrumentation, clever and occasionally pained lyrics. Painted
From Memory finds Costello and Bacharach revelling in their
gifts on a dozen tracks that range from concise
under-three-minute gems ("I Still Have That Other Girl," which
sounds like the great lost Chuck Jackson single) to sprawling art
songs ("Toledo," the pair's Grace of My Heart contribution "God
Give Me Strength"). On the latter Costello meets his match in a
cowriter who knows when to let the excesses flow and when to
stem the tide; his occasionally straining vocals only add to the
album's heightened effect. The result is some instant classics
that stand head and shoulders above much of Costello's '90s
work.