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Elvis Costello is perhaps the single most important singer-songwriter of our generation. Take a look at what he has produced; ten albums of varying, but never less than very good, quality which show a stylistic range that rivals or even surpasses the Beatles for sheer diversity.
Most critics (and a number of his fans) fall all over themselves praising Costello for his evocative and intelligent wordplay. I can't argue about such praise except to ask how anyone can even pay attention to lyrics when he and his band provide no many delectable musical treats. You'll hear little about lyrics from me — I'm still unravelling them from the first album — but I will tell you what I think of Costello's music.
The new album, Goodbye Cruel World, is, while noticeably better than last year's Punch The Clock, very similar to that LP in its attempts to mess with the songs in ways they don't require. Experimentation is a wonderful thing and it led to the unequalled brilliance of Imperial Bedroom, but Elvis should be able to hear when his arrangements aren't working. In fact, I'm quite sure he does hear it, as I'll explain later, and is merely suffering some pressure from people looking for a little bigger commercial breakthrough.
Listen, if Elvis Costello was to become any more popular, he most likely would have to change his name. For whatever reason (mostly ignorance), his original pseudonym has become synonymous among the general public with new wave as a form of punk rock, not a fashion trend. You can add all the horns you want, you can add Daryl Hall to your videos (I can't detect Hall's familiar voice on the record, though I'm quite sure he does sing on it), but you still can't make the public buy something with such an unappealing image.
Anyway, for those of us who are already true believers, Goodbye Cruel World is another holding pattern. Several songs here, particularly "Inch By Inch" and "Peace In Our Time," are among the best he's ever written, and even when Elvis is writing formula such as "Sour Milk-Cow Blues" he's several leagues ahead of his contemporaries. But I just don't dig the arrangements on half this record. It seems as if the band is fighting the songs, trying to show off its skills rather than using them to make a statement. We already know the Attractions are a great band. We knew that when we first heard "No Action" on This Year's Model; we didn't have to wait until Imperial Bedroom gave the Attractions a chance to really show off.
At least one critic has suggested that it may be time for Costello and the Attractions to go their separate ways. That this particular grouping has perhaps become complacent, so used to working together that the challenge of working together has all but vanished. This may be true, but I'm not ready to break up the band yet.
The reason? The show that Elvis Costello and the Attractions performed at Kiel Opera House August 27 was a triumph for all four musicians, not just the man at the front of the stage. Maurice Worm (née Steve Nieve) on keyboards, Bruce Thomas on bass and Pete Thomas on drums integrated so perfectly that each and every song took on completely new meaning. For example, the radical re-working of "The Only Flame In Town" made what on record is a slight, catchy tune become on stage a dynamic and rivetting song.
Not only was the band even more spectacular than they were two years ago when they last stopped in our town, but Costello himself seemed even better as a performer. In 1979, when I first saw him, Costello was angry and one-dimensional. Bootlegs from that era show the anger could be channeled into either brilliance or boredom, but there was no depth in the performance of songs that were crying out for some careful treatment. In 1982, Costello had learned humility, had begun to see the human side of performing as well as writing, and seemed a very nice guy indeed. This year Costello put it all together. The anger was back when it was called for, the humility and amiability as well — the look on his face as he told a security guard to let go of a young woman who had jumped onstage spoke volumes. But in addition, Costello has gone back to his old material and treated it In ways he couldn't do before. Rarely has a performer given so any different aspects of the same personality in one song. And he did this all night long.
The songs with the band were brilliant, but I must admit that his three solo songs were in some ways even more moving. His performance of Richard Thompson's haunting "The End Of The Rainbow" — surely the most depressing song ever written (the original of which is on I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight and comes recommended by my editor) was absolutely beautiful. And "Peace In Our Time" (which has a lyric change after "There's already one spaceman in the White House..." Now he asks, "What you want the same one again for?"), stripped down to just guitar and Elvis' new vocal arrangement which grabbed hold of each word and made them all count, almost brought tears to my eyes. (I might add, to did the louts sitting behind me laughing and joking through these quiet songs as much as they had done all night long through the louder ones.)
It's quite obvious that Costello knows how to arrange his songs. It's just as obvious that he and the Attractions are still capable of interacting to remarkable effect. So, why must we sit through two disappointing LP's in a row (to the extent that Costello albums can be disappointing — remember that Night Ranger exists in this world)? Barring a solo acoustic or live album (both of which seem like good ideas to me), it seems obvious that Elvis Costello must find a producer who will forget the dubious commercial attempts and help him make the great music he makes naturally.
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