Imperial Bedroom Reviews
All-Music Guide (Stephen Thomas Erlewine)
Having gotten his country album out of his system with Almost Blue,
Elvis Costello returned to pop music with Imperial Bedroom. And it
wasn't just pop/rock -- it was pop in the classic, Tin Pan Alley sense. In
order to accurately convey the advances in songwriting, as well as his desire
to experiment with studio sonics, Costello didn't return to his long-time
producer Nick Lowe. Instead, he chose to hire Geoff Emerick, who engineered
all of the Beatles' most ambitious records. And that gives a good idea of what
Imperial Bedroom sounds like -- it's traditional pop songs given a
post-Sgt. Pepper production. Essentially, the songs on Imperial Bedroom
are an extension of Costello's jazz and pop infatuations on Trust. All
of Costello's writing is more complex and intricate, with the verses and
choruses seamlessly flowing together. Conversely, the lyrics are quite bitter
and brutal, but you wouldn't know that from the shiny surface of the
production. The interweaving layers of Beyond Belief and the whirlwind
intro are the most overtly dark sounds on the record, with most of the album
given over the orchestrated, melancholy torch songs and pop singles. Never
once do Costello and The Attractions deliver a rock & roll song -- the album
is all about sonic detail, from the accordion on The Long Honeymoon to
the lilting strings on Town Cryer. Of course, the detail and the ornate
arrangements immediately peg Imperial Bedroom as Costello's most
ambitious album, but that doesn't mean it's his absolute masterpiece.
Imperial Bedroom remains one of Costello's essential records because it
is the culmination of his ambitions and desires -- it's where he proves that
he can play with the big boys, both as a songwriter and a record-maker. It may
not have been a commercial blockbuster, but it certainly earned the respect of
legions of musicians and critics who would have previously disdained such a
punk rocker. And, perhaps, that's also the reason that he abandoned this
immaculately crafted style of work on his next album, Punch The Clock.