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Elvis Costello's new album is a love letter of devotion to his heroes in country music — George Jones, Charlie Rich, Merle Haggard, and his professed idol, Gram Parsons. It's entirely country and western, and over half of it ballads, to boot. Costello and his band, The Attractions, are in fine form on the record, and also featured is Doobie Brother John McFee on slide guitar, a musician without whom Elvis refuses to tour.
There are probably two ways of judging this record. One is that Costello wants us to appreciate, as he certainly does, the roots honesty and true emotion of "great" country music. He isn't trying to outdistance the original versions of these songs (they're all covers), just recreate them. The other way of looking at Elvis' 7th album in four years is that it's yet another self-indulgent exercise on the part of this New Wave egomaniac, and something of a practical joke on some of his fans.
Almost Blue is really a showcase for Costello's voice, which is appropriately plaintive and weary-sounding as all good country crooners should be. On that basis the album is a success. Yet, musically, all the versions on this record pale in comparison to the originals. And while there appears to be real earnestness in Costello's latest project, there's also something a little too quaint about this angry young man moaning with deadpan seriousness about how "success has made a failure of our love." He also overdoes the string and chorus arrangements on several numbers — sticky sentiment just doesn't seem to be Costello's forte. "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" is an example of how it would help to believe that the artist has really lived those sentiments in order to appreciate the song. And, you don't get those feelings from Elvis.
Buy the C&W Elvis Costello if you like, but you'd be better off picking up on the Flying Burrito Brothers' Gilded Palace of Sin or The Greatest Hits of George Jones.
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