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There's no TKO in Costello's latest hit
Gary Graff
Elvis Costello
Goodbye Cruel World
Fans spoiled by Costello's routine excellence are in for a jolt with this record. It's not a knockout, nor is it a TKO. Even the judges at ringside might debate before giving their decision to the British songwriter's 10th album. About half of Goodbye Cruel World's 13 songs are out-and-out winners, including Costello's soulful duet with Daryl Hall, "Only Flame in Town," the somber "Peace in Our Time" and a pair of pop-rockers — "Sour Milk-Cow Blues" and "The Deportees Club" — that feature Costello churning out uncharacteristically aggressive guitar licks. The rest, however, suffer from songwriting and arrangement problems. The Ray Charles-like chorus on "Inch by Inch" builds nicely, but Costello steps back too much on the chorus. Meanwhile, "Joe Porterhouse's" chorus rescues some faltering verses. And busy arrangements bog down pieces like "Home Truth," "Room with No Number" and "Love Field." Like most Costello albums, Goodbye Cruel World is interesting, but it's probably the first that needn't be considered essential.
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