Melody Maker, May 18, 1991

Bibliography   72 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 UK & Ireland weeklies UK & Ireland magazines UK & Ireland newspapers US newspapers US rock magazines US music magazines US magazines US alternative weeklies European magazines European newspapers Canada  •  Mexico  •  Asia Australia  •  New Zealand South America  •  Africa Blogs  •  Fanzines  •  Books Online publications Melody Maker   1974 April 20 1975 November 1 1976 August 14 1977 March 26 1977 June 4 1977 June 25 1977 July 23 1977 August 6 1977 August 13 1977 August 20 1977 September 3 1977 September 17 1977 October 1 1977 October 8 1977 October 15 1977 October 22 1977 November 5 1977 November 12 1977 December 17 1977 December 24 1977 December 31 1978 February 18 1978 February 25 1978 March 4 1978 March 11 1978 March 25 1978 April 15 1978 April 22 1978 April 29 1978 May 6 1978 May 13 1978 May 20 1978 September 30 1978 October 21 1978 October 28 1978 November 11 1978 November 25 1978 December 9 1978 December 23 1978 December 30 1979 January 6 1979 January 13 1979 January 20 1979 February 3 1979 February 10 1979 April 14 1979 May 12 1979 June 2 1979 September 29 1980 January 5 1980 January 19 1980 January 26 1980 February 2 1980 February 23 1980 March 8 1980 March 29 1980 April 5 1980 July 19 1980 August 23 1980 September 6 1980 October 4 1980 October 11 1980 November 22 1980 December 6 1981 January 3 1981 January 17 1981 January 24 1981 February 7 1981 February 14 1981 February 28 1981 March 7 1981 April 4 1981 May 30 1981 July 11 1981 September 5 1981 October 17 1981 October 24 1981 October 31 1981 December 19 1982 January 2 1982 January 9 1982 January 16 1982 March 13 1982 May 15 1982 May 29 1982 June 12 1982 June 26 1982 July 3 1982 July 31 1982 September 18 1983 January 8 1983 May 28 1983 June 4 1983 June 11 1983 July 2 1983 July 9 1983 July 30 1983 August 20 1983 September 10 1983 October 15 1983 October 29 1984 January 7 1984 April 14 1984 April 21 1984 April 28 1984 June 2 1984 June 9 1984 July 28 1984 August 11 1984 August 18 1984 September 1 1984 October 13 1984 October 20 1984 November 17 1984 December 15 1985 March 16 1985 April 13 1985 May 4 1985 June 1 1985 June 8 1985 July 13 1985 July 20 1985 July 27 1986 February 22 1986 March 1 1986 March 22 1986 May 24 1986 July 5 1986 July 12 1986 September 13 1986 November 15 1986 November 22 1986 December 6 1986 December 20 1987 January 31 1987 February 7 1987 May 2 1987 June 27 1987 November 28 1987 December 19 1988 February 20 1988 February 27 1988 May 14 1989 January 28 1989 February 4 1989 February 11 1989 February 18 1989 February 25 1989 May 6 1989 May 13 1989 May 20 1989 June 24 1989 July 15  1989 October 21 1991 April 13 1991 April 27 1991 May 18 1991 June 22 1991 July 13 1991 October 12 1991 October 26 1992 April 18 1992 May 30 1993 January 23 1993 February 6 1993 March 6 1993 August 21 1993 October 9 1994 February 5 1994 February 12 1994 February 19 1994 February 26 1994 April 9 1994 April 23 1994 April 30 1994 July 2 1994 July 9 1994 July 16 1994 November 12 1994 November 19 1995 April 1 1995 April 8 1995 May 27 1995 June 3 1995 June 10 1996 May 18 1996 July 20 — Crown of thorns Chris Roberts Elvis Costello Mighty Like A Rose I have always laboured under the... no, that's unfair, I have never laboured. I have always fannied about under the misconception that Elvis Costello was a glamourless righteous politico, Braggish, not my thing, all CND badges and peace marches and anti-vivisection lobbies. Which are all... whatever, whatever. Songs, surely, should get under the individual's skin, should reveal and rebuke and rejoice and sting, should say things that can't be said, should weep and kick and scratch and bite. Though every other year I might begrudgingly notice a deft line, I never realised that this is what Costello does best and does more often than he does anything else. Mighty Like A Rose sacrifices fringe sociology to personally involved spite, and is bitter and twisted and magnificent. Recently converted via the Girls Girls Girls albums (but spare me all that country tosh), I was struck at how revelatory it was to hear hirsute hooks and intelligent impassioned lyrics. Is anybody else doing this after the semi-successful wave-of-sound tides? Barely. If Costello is the last melting icicle in Romantica then I'm on his side to the tip of the scraggiest whisker. All the master songwriter's misogyny comes flooding out of this record. By misogyny I probably mean the snarl of the rejected, the rotten self-pitying venom of the disillusioned romantic idealist, taught by citric experience to push her away before she blows you out. I can't believe a man of Costello's age is being this frank and fearless and not coming on like some easily palatable "new man" cipher. All the best pop records moan with panache about the opposite gender. The microphone as confessor. The performer as bitch-with-script. Bitch-with-script Elvis is astonishing here. The singing (remember that?) throughout is gorgeous, taunting the edges of what's tender and what grates. The office diehards say it's his best since Trust. Oh, by miles, I should think. If we start quoting couplets we'll be here all night and half of tomorrow. Within a minute we've had "The pale pathetic promises that everybody swallows", but hey, that's just the pop single. "Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)" is a Lennon-ish nasal assault on "All the secrets of life and other useless things" — these include Beethoven, Rembrandt, rock 'n' roll, Mercedes, Toyota, Buddha and Jesus. Yet it's "How To Be Dumb" that adds heartstrings to the bow. Words play second fiddle to viciously vindictive swoops of chords. "All Grown Up" is gentler, but deceptive — again he's dissecting the heroine with no mean literacy. Because, one assumes, she merits some attention. "Invasion Hit Parade," another Beatles burlesque, manages to chide not only Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes but also those, "Playing their Doors records and pretending to be stoned." My, he was quick off the mark there. Nearly every track tells the story of a he and a she, invariably mismatched and juggling desire and despair. "So Like Candy" is the simplest and most graceful. "Playboy To A Man" is a superbly sinuous jumble, a tirade and a trance. "Broken", his wife's composition, is sparse and vocal and eerie, a "Song To The Siren" that doesn't entirely reach her. It'd be nice if now and again he allowed the music to do the talking, but "Sweet Pear" concludes with perhaps the key line to Costello's roaring, ravenous, resurrection — "I am your stupid lover, your wretched groom." His funeral, her trial? The dedication says: "To Cait, my unspeakable wife." I'm sure Elvis Costello has a sense of humour. Thankfully he keeps it well away from this triumphant record, moments of which cause me to involuntarily close my eyes and shiver. A relentless, arrogant, furious catalogue of complaints and counterattacks. I was wrong, and I'm beautifully-formed enough to admit it. The man's a bloodied love saint from the depths. Tags: Mighty Like A Rose  •  Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)  •  How To Be Dumb  •  All Grown Up  •  Invasion Hit Parade  •  So Like Candy  •  Playboy To A Man  •  Broken  •  Sweet Pear  •  Cait O'Riordan  •  John Lennon  •  Girls Girls Girls  •  Trust << >> Melody Maker, May 18, 1991 Chris Roberts reviews Mighty Like A Rose. Images Photo. Photo by Amelia Stein. Cover.

External links

• Wikipedia: Melody Maker