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Maybe it's too early to pick the winners for next year's Grammy Awards but I'm going to go out on a limb. The best album of 1989 is Elvis Costello's Spike.
Few artists can weave such unique stories around such flawless pop hooks the way Costello can. He is the James Joyce of rock 'n' roll, and Spike is his Ulysses.
Costello begins on a lighter note with Spike. "This Town," a song which tells the story of a town where "you're nothing unless you're a bastard," features Paul McCartney on the Hofner bass and Roger McGuinn on the 12-string Rickenbacker.
"This Town" is followed by "Let Him Dangle," a lonesome tale of a 1952 murder trial in which an innocent person was executed. Though the subject matter may sound dreary, it is offset by Costello's wonderful melodic structure.
"God's Comic" is truly unique of any pop song I've ever heard. Sounding like a slow blues progression from the 1940's, it tells the story of a comedian, who, in his act, pokes fun at religion. When he dies, he meets God and is confronted by his blasphemous humor.
Costello then completely changes gears and sings from God's point of view. "People confuse me with Santa Claus. It's the big white beard I suppose." His use of humor offsets the seriousness of the song.
His catalogue of influences is so vast he, with ease, glides simply from a slow blues into moving gospel with the self-reflective "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror."
Just when you think it just can't get any better — it does.
"Veronica," co-written by McCartney, has an early 60's British pop feel reminiscent of The Turtles, The Monkees and yes, the early Beatles.
This cheerful romp into 60's pop is contrasted by the song's serious story of a woman in an uncaring nursing home dealing with the loneliness of growing old.
"Do you suppose that with her hands on eyes, Veronica has gone to hide, and all the time she laughs at those who shout her name and steal her clothes, Veronica."
Of course it's sad, but it is a courageous attempt on Costello's part to take the pop song into a completely new realm. Instead of pop songs, Elvis presents the "pop novel."
Spike is the album other artists only dream of making; skillful, precise and brave yet commercially pleasing.
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