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It's hard to believe, but this is Costello's ninth album, beginning with My Aim Is True in 1977. The current complaint is that the album-a-year pace of most groups is too much to foster quality releases each time. Somehow Costello doesn't seem to have the same trouble, his albums containing as many as 20 songs.
The latest is his most commercial-sounding album, with 13 songs that bear his distinctive trademark. The musical styles vary from standard Costello to Caribbean-flavored to ballads to horn-filled numbers. Much of side one deals with love themes, but he also deals with many current issues. While there is no denying his flair for lyrics, as on "The Invisible Man," there are many examples in which style seems to be favored over substance,
"Shipbuilding" and "Pills and Soap" are two examples. The former is about the Falklands' war and the latter about this year's general elections in Britain. It's a good thing the promo material explained that, since the connection to the lyrics is dubious at best. The accessibility of the music assures that the album will do well.
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