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Almost Blue
Elvis Costello
Noel Coppage
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Elvis Costello's "country album" is a puredee disaster. I can just picture some of the reaction to this turkey in Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and countless roadhouses. Some old boy is liable to put his boot through the jukebox, among other things. Costello made the apparently commonplace assumption (it was common enough in the movie Nashville anyway) that anybody can come in cold and perform country music — and it blew up, I'm happy to report, right in his face. Time after time he proves he doesn't really understand what this music is all about You can also learn — if you get trapped into listening to the thing — something his other albums have only suggested: Elvis can't sing. He can get by, sticking with things like "Pump It Up," where he has to hold pitch for only a quarter-note at a time, but these country songs take him into a realm where grunting and posing aren't enough. Pickin' and grinnin' ain't so simple. The Attractions seem as lost as he is, except for some decent piano fills by Steve Neive. Like a typical inept country band, they rely on the pedal steel — played by nonmember John McFee — to cover up the mess they're making, and McFee is only passable. It says on the jacket that Billy Sherrill produced it. Now, I have a hard time picturing that, but it works if I imagine Billy with his hands over his ears the whole time. Ye gods, this is awful.
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Performance: Embarrassing
Recording: Adequate
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Page scans.
Cover and contents page.
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External links
