|
Elvis Costello's Almost Blue left me feeling just that. And if the dejected fellow on the cover is any indication of how I'd feel after listening to the album, then I was warned.
Costello and his backup band The Attractions have made an unpredictable move to Nashville music, leaving behind Costello's popular Jerry Lee Lewis style of rock 'n' roll.
Nashville fans can rejoice. Almost Blue is a neat package of original Nashville music complete with honky tonk piano and twanging guitars.
However, two songs — "Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used To Do)" and "Honey Hush," remind us that Costello still has the rhythm of rock within him.
Recorded in Nashville, with assistance from John McFee, lead guitar and pedal steel; Tommy Millar, violin, and backing vocals by Nashville Edition, almost every song is about the blues associated with love.
Everything revolves around blue in one way or another, even the band looks like The Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi 50's concept). It's enough to make you wonder whether Costello has experienced a recent trauma.
Although Nashville music has never been one of my priorities, Almost Blue is an experience.
| 
