Rolling Stone, December 11, 1980: Difference between revisions
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'' | ''Taking Liberties'' takes its title from "[[Crawling To The USA|Crawling to the U.S.A.]]," Elvis Costello's scathing equation of foreign aid and whoredom — perfect for the latest installment of Costello's love-hate affair with America. As a commercial gesture toward our LP-oriented market, this collection of twenty B sides, British album cuts and outtakes is backhanded right down to its reversed-negative cover photo. By ceremoniously gift-wrapping his trash, the artist treats himself (after only four LPs) with an archivist's reverence usually reserved for the dead. Since a lot of these tunes have been widely available as imports, many fans who'll jump to buy ''Taking Liberties'' will find that they probably own some of it already. If they're still willing to part with their money, they'll deserve what they get: mainly an uneven hodgepodge. ''Taking Liberties'' is an album of "collector's items" that mocks the whole notion of collecting. | ||
Despite this, the record boasts the sweetly deceptive appeal of a rummage sale. Indeed, its very lack of system (no chronological — or other — order, no dating of songs) promises discoveries, bargains and an occasional gem amid the dross. The gem here is Costello's classic "[[(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea|(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea]]," from the English version of ''[[This Year's Model]]'' (and released in the U.S. on the ''[[Americathon: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack|Americathon]]'' soundtrack). With its stuttering, shorthand guitar lick, its abrupt, shuddering bass and its trenchant, trend-mocking words, "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" is so good that it throws the entire LP off-balance. Next to it, most of the other [[Nick Lowe]]-produced Elvis Costello and the Attractions numbers (i.e., the bulk of ''Taking Liberties'') seem shoddy and second-rate. The dreary melodic sameness of such cuts as "[[Night Rally]]," "[[Tiny Steps]]," "[[Sunday's Best]]" and "[[Wednesday Week]]" — they all sound like you've heard them before, done better under different titles — simply emphasizes their glib, smug lyrics. There's nothing threatening about either the National Front of "Night Rally" or the Tory hypocrites of "Sunday's Best," because the dynamite has been defused by buffoonish waltz arrangements and leaden ironies (''"Blame it all upon the darkies"''). | Despite this, the record boasts the sweetly deceptive appeal of a rummage sale. Indeed, its very lack of system (no chronological — or other — order, no dating of songs) promises discoveries, bargains and an occasional gem amid the dross. The gem here is Costello's classic "[[(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea|(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea]]," from the English version of ''[[This Year's Model]]'' (and released in the U.S. on the ''[[Americathon: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack|Americathon]]'' soundtrack). With its stuttering, shorthand guitar lick, its abrupt, shuddering bass and its trenchant, trend-mocking words, "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" is so good that it throws the entire LP off-balance. Next to it, most of the other [[Nick Lowe]]-produced Elvis Costello and the Attractions numbers (i.e., the bulk of ''Taking Liberties'') seem shoddy and second-rate. The dreary melodic sameness of such cuts as "[[Night Rally]]," "[[Tiny Steps]]," "[[Sunday's Best]]" and "[[Wednesday Week]]" — they all sound like you've heard them before, done better under different titles — simply emphasizes their glib, smug lyrics. There's nothing threatening about either the National Front of "Night Rally" or the Tory hypocrites of "Sunday's Best," because the dynamite has been defused by buffoonish waltz arrangements and leaden ironies (''"Blame it all upon the darkies"''). | ||
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Revision as of 17:23, 17 October 2014
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