Review of Painted From Memory
Jam, 1998-09-27
- Dave Veitch

Classic move for Costello
By DAVE VEITCH -- Calgary Sun

PAINTED FROM MEMORY
Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach

Costello tipped his hat to the king of adult-pop throughout his career --
Town Cryer, for instance, ended 1982's Imperial Bedroom on a distinctly 
Bacharachian note. However, their first collaboration occurred only two 
years ago; their song, God Give Me Strength, featured some of Costello's 
most mature and penetrating lyrics and Bacharach's best music since his 
late-'60s zenith. Their first album together, in stores Tuesday, fulfils 
all that promise. Painted From Memory seems to come from another time, as 
the record masterfully employs such rare extravagances as a 24-piece string
section, woodwinds and brass. The arrangements are so lush and sophisticated,
the melodies so imaginative and indelible, the singing so nuanced 
and gut-wrenchingly phrased, and the theme of romantic despair so well 
articulated and strictly adhered to that the album doesn't evoke Bacharach 
or Costello's previous work as much as Frank Sinatra's classic Nelson 
Riddle-arranged concept albums about heartache, Only The Lonely and In The
Wee Small Hours. There is no higher praise.