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Great things about Costello: energy, anger, a pop heart, that clanking row of the Attractions era, the cracked and emotional voice of the ballads and the bittersweet years. Bad thing about Costello: self-consciousness, clever-cleverness, 'Pads, Paws And Claws'. When I Was Cruel is all of the things in the first list, none of the second, plus some new twists learnt from classical and cinematic collaborations from the six years since All This Useless Beauty. We're always going to be hard on a man who produced too many great early albums for his talent to be fluke, and yet we also rush to praise flawed efforts for their marvellous moments because we want to believe the old guy can still do it. This time it's the real deal. The brash power of the current single 'Tear Off Your Own Head' is Costello having fun but sounding pissed off, the prowling epic 'When I was Cruel No 2' is Elvis coming on seductive but getting vicious. It's in the stunning arrangements: Steve Nieve toying with the piano for 'Cruel', Pete Thomas always at the melodies' heels, the brassy mess of '15 Petals' and the bruised guitar blues of 'Dust 2...'. It's in Costello's lyrics: evergreen, articulate, funny. But mostly it's in a voice that still is all the rage and then utterly vulnerable when talk of sex, money, power and inspiration get the better of this character played so powerfully by Declan McManus. Fabulously fresh but wonderfully world-wearied, this is a thrilling album.
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