Yale Daily News, April 18, 1986

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Costello deposes himself on King of America


Cinco Paul

"This is a letter, not a record review (a moot point at best), but I waited to write it until King of America came out so I could talk about it. While Prince seems to be out to single-handedly fill the Columbia Record of the Month Club, Macmanus has made the album he has had in him for a long time. As much as I enjoy the easy listening of Punch the Clock and Goodbye Cruel World, with their various high points and stylishness, in my opinion the Little Hands of Concrete could have gone straight from Bedroom to America with more grace and integrity. These ballads, these folk songs, these country weepers are the purest distillation of the heart of his music, purer even than the studied studio canvas of Bedroom. I want to say more but I'm probably boring ya [Nah...]. Suffice it to say that I'm already singin' along with the little guy wearing the ill-fitting crown."


I bought Elvis Costello's new album, King of America, about a month ago, and I'm already bored with most of it. My friend who wrote the touching, personal letter above is completely naive — this album (as much as I want it to be) is nowhere near Costello's finest. Also, Annie Hall is clearly superior to Hannah and her Sisters, and Sgt. Pepper's wails on Revolver.

My problems with King of America lie in the radically new direction of Costello's (I refuse to call him Declan MacManus, his new — and old — legal name) music and lyrics have taken. His move to acoustic guitar has led to the production of some stilted, predictable, and forgettable melodies. This move has also placed more emphasis on his solid and passionate voice, which is good, although it highlights the fact that Elvis oversings certain songs (like "Little Palaces" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"), trying to inject too much emotion into them, and achieving painful results.

The lyrics are barely recognizable as the work of Elvis Costello. Gone are the puns and other clever wordplay, the wry twisting of cliches, the witty and piercing put-downs. And, darn it, I miss them.

I much prefer a line like "Do I step on the brake to get out of her clutches?" from "New Amsterdam" to the uninteresting scenarios Costello paints on songs like "American without Tears": "Outside in New Orleans the heat was almost frightening / But my hotel as usual was freezing and unkind." So what?

To be fair, I think King of America contains some of his strongest material: "I'll Wear it Proudly" is beautiful country ballad served up in Elvis' typically inimitable style, and "Lovable" is a playful rockabilly classic with necrophilic undertones.

Occasionally Elvis' new lyric-writing style produces something simple but marvelous, like the ending of the otherwise uneven "Jack of all Parades": "I didn't mean to say it / I just blurted it out / As you pretended not to notice / Or be taken aback / And I loved you there and then / It's as simple as that." Such a sweet and artless declaration of love is especially striking coming from the man who once sang: "Sometimes I think that love is just like a tumor, / and you've got to cut it out."

But the album is plagued by mediocre efforts like "Glitter Gulch" and "Suit of Lights" that seem confused about where they're going and what they're trying to say. Most likely, Elvis is in the same state. I prefer to see King of America not as the "purest distillation of the heart of his music," but as a semi successful experiment which brings him one step closer to his completeness as an artist. Shaving his attempt at a beard would also help.

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Yale Daily News, After Hours, April 18, 1986


Cinco Paul reviews King Of America.

Images

1986-04-18 Yale Daily News After Hours page 11 clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.

1986-04-18 Yale Daily News After Hours page 11.jpg
Page scan.

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