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People love putting the boot into Elvis these days, too much genre flitting/flirting, an unsteady hand, too pleased with himself as renaissance man. I still think of him as one of the great pop songwriting talents. When he's on he's on — the catalogue is an embarrassment of riches — and not just the first decade. Granted, after 1986 you have to be a bit more selective, but some of the songs and cover-versions are sublime, plenty of brilliant moments.
That said I'm not so much a fan of the amount of reissues and anthologies that have been served up. Still, I wanted to give this one a try, redundant though it might be — because I kinda like the concept. There was a similar one featuring Van Morrison songs relatively recently.
Elvis Costello has compiled this 15-tracker, showcasing some of his songs that made it into the movies. I had no idea that "Accidents Will Happen" was used in the film ET or "Miracle Man" was in The Godfather III. I did, on the other hand, know that his cover of Charles Aznavour's "She" was for Notting Hill and that the Ray Davies gem "Days" was recreated by Costello for Until The End of the World.
I also loved "God Give Me Strength" in Grace of my Heart, a sweet song from a sweet film.
I like hearing these sorts of alternative hits collections — I guess you could call this that. (I just have at any rate). "My Mood Swings" (from The Big Lebowski) has always been one of my favourite Costello songs and one of my favourites from that film's soundtrack but it's nice to hear it here alongside "Crawling To The U.S.A," "Oh Well" and "I Want You."
Any Costello disc showcasing his songwriting skills needs to have "I Want You" on it.
So I have no idea if this album is really needed or not. Probably not, I'm thinking. And maybe it's on the cheeky and slightly lazy side. But I liked it; just seeing the songs lined up with the films they "starred" in makes me listen to them in a different way; I imagine them in the film setting — and there are a few films listed next to songs that I now want to see/see again.
But if you're a fan with plenty of Costello music already you really don't need this. At all.
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