Chicago Reader, April 15, 1994: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> Disarmed forces </h3></center> | <center><h3> Disarmed forces </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Warren Sentence </center> | <center> Warren Sentence </center> | ||
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''' Elvis Costello <br> | |||
Brutal Youth | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
Three things happen to rock stars when they hang around too long. First, they lose their spunk (their anger, their passion, their frustration) and end up trading in their rock 'n' roll shoes for a pair of La Brea Tar Pit booties. Second, they drop any pretense of invention or experimentation — playing becomes its own reward. (Blech!) And third, they start thinking that real communication can come from the artifice of pop songs. Eric Clapton's response to the death of his son should never have been shared with the world in an icky pop song, much less an icky pop song written for the sound track of a movie about a cop hooked on drugs. It didn't bring us any closer to Eric's pain; it just made him look like a sellout, an emotional cripple, and a weenie. | Three things happen to rock stars when they hang around too long. First, they lose their spunk (their anger, their passion, their frustration) and end up trading in their rock 'n' roll shoes for a pair of La Brea Tar Pit booties. Second, they drop any pretense of invention or experimentation — playing becomes its own reward. (Blech!) And third, they start thinking that real communication can come from the artifice of pop songs. Eric Clapton's response to the death of his son should never have been shared with the world in an icky pop song, much less an icky pop song written for the sound track of a movie about a cop hooked on drugs. It didn't bring us any closer to Eric's pain; it just made him look like a sellout, an emotional cripple, and a weenie. | ||
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This is what is known as "craft." And, if nothing else, Elvis Costello is a consummate craftsman. Much like John Updike or Frank Stella or the Coen brothers, he is a master of surfaces that hint at complex and reasoned strata beneath. His songs are wrought with an overwhelming richness of detail, both essential and incidental, so intricate as to suggest a design driven as much by fate as by artistry. | This is what is known as "craft." And, if nothing else, Elvis Costello is a consummate craftsman. Much like John Updike or Frank Stella or the Coen brothers, he is a master of surfaces that hint at complex and reasoned strata beneath. His songs are wrought with an overwhelming richness of detail, both essential and incidental, so intricate as to suggest a design driven as much by fate as by artistry. | ||
On the newly released ''Brutal Youth'', Elvis is reunited with the Attractions. And together they've moved back into the little rock house they built and added on to through the late 70s and the 80s. That ''Brutal Youth'' bears more of a sonic resemblance to Armed Forces, their 1979 pop picture book, than it does to later, more diverse albums like ''Imperial Bedroom'' or ''Blood | On the newly released ''Brutal Youth'', Elvis is reunited with the Attractions. And together they've moved back into the little rock house they built and added on to through the late 70s and the 80s. That ''Brutal Youth'' bears more of a sonic resemblance to Armed Forces, their 1979 pop picture book, than it does to later, more diverse albums like ''Imperial Bedroom'' or ''Blood & Chocolate'' is telling. On the new record, Costello's foibles seem suddenly apparent. In 1979 ''Armed Forces'' came across as a surprising infusion of punk indignation and new wave hyperactivity with pulsing soul bass lines and stately piano figures. But in 1994 those same ingredients seem explicitly derivative and exceedingly dated. The Attractions have become something far more offensive than old; they've become old-fashioned. And, for Elvis's part, the studied, even obsessive nature of his compositions can't be overcome by his newly tempered temper. ''Brutal Youth'' comes off sounding like a tour through a wax museum: Here is our spirited pop single ("13 Steps Lead Down"). Here's our Kurt Weill punk anthem ("20% Amnesia"). Over here is our Isley Brothers soul number ("Clown Strike"). And here is our heart-wrenching confessional ("Rocking Horse Road"). | ||
Elvis Costello's best records have always come when the challenge has been the greatest. He's the kind of guy who rises to a dare, who says, "Wanna bet I can't hop that fence?" ''Imperial Bedroom'' was an album full of fences; part of its brilliance was Costello's refusal to shrink from its audacious challenges. The stunning records ''King of America'' and ''Blood | Elvis Costello's best records have always come when the challenge has been the greatest. He's the kind of guy who rises to a dare, who says, "Wanna bet I can't hop that fence?" ''Imperial Bedroom'' was an album full of fences; part of its brilliance was Costello's refusal to shrink from its audacious challenges. The stunning records ''King of America'' and ''Blood & Chocolate'', released just nine months apart, were as wildly schizophrenic in genre and mood as any two back-to-back records in pop music history. But on ''Brutal Youth'' Costello's sole preoccupation seems to be to prove he's still got it, which is the most convincing evidence that he ain't. | ||
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{{Bibliography notes}} | {{Bibliography notes}} | ||
'''Chicago Reader, April | {{Bibliography next | ||
|prev = Chicago Reader, March 30, 1989 | |||
|next = Chicago Reader, May 26, 1994 | |||
}} | |||
'''Chicago Reader, April 15, 1994 | |||
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[[Warren Sentence]] reviews ''[[Brutal Youth]]''. | [[Warren Sentence]] reviews ''[[Brutal Youth]]''. | ||
{{Bibliography | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1994-04-15 Chicago Reader clipping 01.jpg|360px|border]] | |||
<br><small>Clipping.</small> | |||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} | ||
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Reader Wikipedia: Chicago Reader] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Reader Wikipedia: Chicago Reader] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Reader 1994-04- | {{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Reader 1994-04-15}} | ||
[[Category:Bibliography]] | [[Category:Bibliography]] | ||
[[Category:Bibliography 1994]] | [[Category:Bibliography 1994]] | ||
[[Category:Chicago Reader| Chicago Reader 1994-04- | [[Category:Chicago Reader| Chicago Reader 1994-04-15]] | ||
[[Category:Newspaper articles]] | [[Category:Newspaper articles]] | ||
[[Category:Album reviews]] | [[Category:Album reviews]] | ||
[[Category:Brutal Youth reviews]] | [[Category:Brutal Youth reviews]] |
Latest revision as of 17:27, 4 February 2022
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