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"Your tears of pleasure, equal measure crocodile and brine."
Elvis Costello has grown up. Gone is the angry young man of the late '70s whose lyrics spit bile at women who betrayed him. He's now a man in his 40s who knows how to deliver his point (or put-down) in a mature, effective, way.
All This Useless Beauty (Warner Bros.) is the latest from one of the best song writers of his generation. Mostly slow-tempoed songs or ballads, Costello records songs that he gave to other artists (Sam Moore, Johnny Cash, Aimee Mann, Roger McGuinn) to record. Some did record them, others passed.
Though the album is credited to Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Costello's voice and Steve Nieve's fine piano playing are really the stars of this record, especially in numbers such as "The Other End of the Telescope" and "All This Useless Beauty." Costello fans of his classic album Imperial Bedroom should note that Geoff Emerick produces this one also, and his subtle touches to the ballads really add to their beauty.
The entire band sounds like their circa-1979 selves in uptempo numbers such as "Shallow Grave" (co-written with Paul McCartney), "Complicated Shadows" and "Starting to Come to Me." The single, "It's Time," features kind of a hip-hop start before it turns into a full-fledged rocker about deciding to end a relationship. It includes a pure Costello line — "If you go; who will I have left to hate?"
Costello could go two ways from here: the emotional piano and voice brilliance of "Poor Fractured Atlas" or the pop rock of "It's Time." Either way, the King is making music that, like him, has matured — commercialism be damned.
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