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The roots of Rock and Roll are deeply entangled with the country music tradition, unfortunately, few artists have the inclination or the talent to perform successfully in both areas. Most country performers are content to continue in that vein, and the only opinion expressed by major pop-rock acts is one of derision (N.B. "Far Away Eyes" by the otherwise beloved Rolling Stones). In this album, In this album, Elvis Costello attempts to bring his country style to the fore, and let Blues take over where New-Wave and Modern Pop previously dominated the musicians repertoire.
Recorded in Nashville,and containing songs written by Merle Haggard, George Jones, Charlie Rich and Hank Williams, this album has everything going for it. Such are the advantages of success. You get to do and use pretty much anything or anyone you choose. The best ideas can go awry, though, and there are problems here that make Almost Blue only almost good.
Elvis' country character on this collection of bluesy ballads seems too damned happy. Maybe he's happy because he's allowed a great deal of artistic freedom from the usually restrictive record producing firms, but sprightly versions of "Tonight the Bottle Let me Down" simply don't pull the tears from my eyes. Also, the mix that allows the vocals to overpower the instrumentals on this disc is a major fault. Costello has to work very hard and be very lucky before he can pull the album out of the pool of alligator tears it lays in.
There are good cuts here though. The pickup tunes survive best. Listen close to "I'm Your Toy (Hot Burrito #1)" and "Honey Hush." Costello's style fares better when he's up against something, when conflict warrants a hard lipped, punky attitude and the cynical edge in his voice rings true. The only ballad which really caught my ear was Elvis' rendition of George Jones' "A Good Year For the Roses."
One thing which was left off this album which should be prominent on any country cut is a strong instrumental work. Special guest John McFee on the pedal steel deserves a few seconds alone, as does Steve Nieve on the keyboards.
I'm glad Costello gave it a try though, and even if the album doesn't always work as well as I'd hoped, it breathes some life into country music and gives a new forum to a musical style which has suffered from a severe lack of innovation for the last decade.
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