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It's just like Elvis Costello to kick off his contract with Warner Bros. by releasing Spike, the most difficult and eclectic album of his 12-year recording career.
Spike is difficult to digest. Long, stylistically diverse and loaded with lots of songs (14 on the album, 15 on the cassette and compact disc), Spike is a collection to live with, not one for immediate gratification. It's no party record.
Costello hasn't released an upbeat album in years. Ever since he outgrew the British punk wave of 1977, Costello has forsaken fads or top-selling trends. He's always followed his impulses and put the songs first.
What makes Spike special is that, for the most part, it isn't rock 'n' roll, pop, country, retro R&B or any of the other styles Costello has explored on previous releases. What it is isn't easy to categorize.
Although the lyrics and the melodies sound as carefully crafted as ever, Spike is primarily a vehicle for Costello to renew his interest in complex and inventive arrangements. Whereas his early work with the Attractions and Nick Lowe had the slapdash spontaneity of live-in-the-studio recordings, Spike sounds meticulously crafted and rendered. The pleasure it offers lies in the high contrast between styles, moods, tempos, volumes and emotions. If it didn't feature Costello's voice, Spike would resemble a "various artists" compilation.
In some ways, that's what Spike is. Unlike Imperial Bedroom, there's no one band to hold all the experimentation together. There are appearances from Irish folk singer Christy Moore, Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, Allen Toussaint, Paul McCartney, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Chrissie Hynde and T Bone Burnett, who produced the album with Costello and Kevin Killen.
As off-putting as the wide scope of styles and instrumentation are initially, Spike may someday be regarded as Costello's most rewarding offering. Although it might not provide the hit single that has still eluded the English songwriter, it is certainly his most ambitious offering. After the few dozen listenings necessary for it all to sink in, you might agree that Spike is also one of his best.
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