"Oh I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused" — "Red Shoes," 1977
A disgusted and invigorated Elvis Costello has surely come full circle. The world's most adventurous singer-songwriter has returned to his angry rock roots on his first solo excursion in seven years. On When I Was Cruel, a snarling Costello rails against a variety of injustices in his distinctively articulate-yet-nasty way, on a collection that he aptly describes as "a rowdy rhythm record."
Supported by Attractions holdovers, keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas, along with Davey Faragher (Cracker, John Hiatt) on bass (supplanting Bruce Thomas), Costello combines the fervor of his early recordings with the lyrical eloquence that marks his more recent endeavors.
"There's still some pretty insults left / And such sport in threatening" — "Little Atoms," 1996
You can't say that he didn't warn us. Yet, the immediacy and bite of Cruel is stunning, even to his most fervent fans, those who were willing to take the leaps of faith needed to embrace the artistic detours that took the restless Costello into the realms of string quartets, sweetly sophisticated vocal pop (Burt Bacharach), and opera (Anne Sofie von Otter).
The 47-year-old has lost none of his passion. If anything, his nearly decade-long suppression of anger has stoked his fire. Stomping rockers like "Daddy Can I Turn This?" and "Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)" feature Costello's distorted Silvertone guitar riffs and raw falsetto. His gift for ingratiating poetics is in evidence on most of the album's 15 tracks. Revulsion for modern day anomie is palpable on the metaphoric "Dust 2 ..." ("But dust is always caught behind a coat of paint / Beneath the marble fingernails of kings and saints / And in the theater curtains where they hang a drape / Or in the ticket pocket where your hands escape"). "Alibi," a 7-minute rant that lists every excuse for bad behavior ever rendered, was captured in a single, powerful take and is destined to be a concert favorite.
The marriage of energy and elegance that marks When I Was Cruel starts with the very first track — "45" is sure to be counted amongst the finest compositions of Costello's career. With uncharacteristic lyrical economy, Costello takes a lifelong journey in 3½ rocking minutes, managing to both profess his devotion to music ("Bass and treble heal every hurt"), while lamenting the all-too-quick passage of time ("Bells are chiming and tears are falling / It creeps up on you with out a warning").
"If you don't know what is wrong with me / Then you don't know what you've missed" — "I'll Wear It Proudly," 1986
Though Costello has secured a place among the finest songwriters of his generation, he has also been on the receiving end of numerous potshots by critics who have little regard for his idiosyncratic singing or surprising artistic reaches, and impatient fans who wish that he would keep rewriting "Alison," "Pump It Up" and "Watching The Detectives" instead of pushing the musical envelope.
Like most risk-takers, Elvis Costello has had his share of disappointments. But when he connects, as he does on When I Was Cruel, the results can be brilliant.
"I gossip and I pry and I insinuate / If the failure is great / Then it tends to fascinate" — "Episode of Blonde," 2002
Costello will be taking his fascinating high-wire act to the Tweeter Center in Boston on Friday and to the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Conn., Saturday night.
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