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King Of America
The Costello Show (Featuring Elvis Costello)
James Henke / Rolling Stone
 
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After almost 10 years of trying to crack the pop charts, Elvis Costello has obviously grown weary. With this album, he dispenses (or almost dispenses) with everything from his stage name (the songs are credited to his given name of Declan MacManus), to his band (the Attractions appear on only one cut), to the British pop sheen that spruced up his last two LPs.
In the place of all of that, Costello has made a much simpler record, using various combinations of L.A. studio musicians, including the other Elvis' TCB band. For the most part, the ploy has worked. Costello's genius is as a songwriter, and these open, guitar-based arrangements place the emphasis squarely on his words and on his singing. No longer is the music rushing along at such a breakneck pace that even the listener feels out of breath. And Costello seems to have taken more care with his songs this time out; occasionally, he still falls back on fancy wordplay for the sake of fancy wordplay, but overall, this is Costello's best bunch of songs in years — and his best record in a long time.
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