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I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one. I’ve pretty well gone over my various qualms about Elvis Costello in the entries for his other albums on the list: the one two punch of self importance and musical dilettantism that has befogged much of his career, an aversion to his hoarse, strangulated vocal style, a feeling of oppression in the face of the verbal density of his songs, and the vexing disproportion of his popularity compared to that of his friend and mentor (and this album’s producer) Nick Lowe–which last point even Costello seems somewhat sheepish about. I guess my impression of him has been slightly improved by the course of this project, though still not enough to consider myself a fan.
Most of that work was done with the two previous entries, appearing close together a bit lower down on the list. Imperial Bedroom, while clearly indicative of his pretentious aspirations to follow, did have in its favor an appealingly lush instrumental palette. My Aim is True, his first album, seemed to capture well the kind of articulate fury that made him interesting to many, but in the context of largely satisfying, hook laden pop songs. This album, his second, seems to pick up where that album left off, but at first listen, I’m not at all clear why its regarded as the superior album. To my ear, it contained fewer memorable songs. The two two I knew going in, “Pump it Up,” and “Radio, Radio” were the only ones that made any impression on me. I recall almost nothing else about the record a few days after hearing it.
It does sound angrier than the first record, and perhaps that’s part of the appeal. Though melodic enough to qualify as pop, it had a hard, fast, punk-derived quality to it that a lot of people respond to, but which, absent any other clear virtue is insufficient to pique my interest. Of course its entirely possible–likely, really–that I didn’t take adequate note of the lyrics, which I gather are a big part of what gives this album its sterling reputation. That’s always the hardest aspect of an album to take in at first listen, especially in a case like this, where the writing style is very dense. Having just skimmed the surface of this and the other Costello records on the list, I cannot yet personally vouch for the high quality of his lyrics, although the quantity of them is undeniably impressive.
It is probably an album that would benefit from more careful study, and yet was not immediately consistent enough with my existing musical interests to inspire such attention. I think “Pump it Up” is a great, hooky pop song. I especially like its charming, anachronistic organ part. And I guess “Radio Radio” is pretty good too. (It too has a nice if less memorable use of the organ–the only other such instance on the album, I believe.) I did notice that his bassist is quite agile, although a little too busy for my tastes. I’m surprised Nick Lowe put up with it. But other than that, I don’t quite know what else to say–everything else just went through me without leaving a trace. Fans of Costello would no doubt consider this my loss, and they might well be right, but I can’t say that it’s a loss I feel all that haunted by at present. I will listen to My Aim is True again, and probably Imperial Bedroom as well. But unless that repeat experience paves the way toward a greater general appreciation, I can’t see myself revisiting this one anytime soon.
Source: LP. I wasn’t going to go out of my way to get one, but I found a cheap copy a week or so ago, and figured what the hell. I only just discovered that the American release, which is the one I have, alters the track listing by a song or two from the original British release, which is probably the canonical version at this point. But oh well.
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