Stereo Review, March 1978

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 Stereo Review   1978 March 1978 June 1978 July 1978 October 1979 June 1980 February 1980 June 1982 March 1982 November 1983 December 1984 October 1986 June 1989 May 1989 October 1991 August 1993 May 1993 August 1994 July 1995 July 1996 September 1998 December US music magazines  Absolute Sound Acoustic Guitar Alternative Press American Songwriter Amplifier Audio Bass Magazine Bass Player The Beat Billboard Blender BMG Discovery Cash Box CBS Broadcast Newsletter CD Review CMJ New Music Monthly Columbia House Discoveries DownBeat Drum! Elmore Magazine Filter Gavin Report Goldmine Guitar Player Guitar World Harp High Fidelity Hits Hot Wacks Quarterly ICE International Bluegrass Jazziz JazzTimes Keyboard M Music & Musicians Mix Modern Drummer Modern Recording & Music Music Connection Music Market Music World New Music Scene No Depression OffBeat Option Performing Songwriter Playback Pulse! The Quake Radio & Records Ray Gun Record Review Record World R.E.P. Seattle Sound Magazine Songwriter Connection SoundWaves Stereo Review Stereophile Stomp And Stammer The Street Sweet Potato Under The Radar Vibe Vinyl Propaganda — Elvis Costello: The twerp for our time Steve Simels Considering that the pop idols of the Seventies have, by and large, presented themselves as preening narcissists, transvestite exhibitionists, and (lately) self-mutilating nihilists, it's somehow heartening to find that the writer and performer of the toughest, freshest, most intriguing rock 'n' roll album of an unusually lively season steps onto the world's stage as the definitive Twerp for Our Time. That Elvis Costello, whose debut album on Columbia is My Aim Is True, can affect a look that is closer to Woody Allen than to the departed King of Rock whose name he has had the effrontery to appropriate is, of course, merely what's going to get you to notice him. Fortunately, though, it's his music that's going to keep you hooked, and for once the music counts for more than the image, charming though it is. Describing Costello's music in terms of influences is fun because they're such canny ones. But ultimately it does him an injustice, for (and this is something he shares with his namesake) the influences are so thoroughly digested, even at this early stage in his career (he's a wet-behind-the-ears twenty-two). One could say that at times he sounds eerily like Bruce Springsteen as well as like Nick Lowe, who produced Elvis' albums; that his songs range from basic, blues-flavored rock to early Sixties pop-rock to country-flavored ballads gorgeous enough to have been written by the Eagles: that he gets exceptionally rich-sounding backing from a basically stark instrumental lineup (there are next to no overdubs); and that his lyrics, which he claims are motivated solely by "revenge and guilt," are the most cruelly, tellingly misanthropic broadsides since middle-period Dylan. And yet, though all that is true, it doesn't come close to catching the feeling of the music, of conveying to you just how distinctive and intelligent the songs on My Aim Is True actually are. You'll simply have to listen, I suppose. So check out the remarkable misterioso mood summoned up by "Mystery Dance" and "Waiting for the End of the World," the insinuating sexiness of a ballad titled "Alison," the straight-ahead rock 'n' roll panache of "Less than Zero," or the sheer craftsmanship of an exhilarating Merseybeat Cowboy number called "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes." What you'll hear is the work of someone who comes as close to being the Compleat Rock Star as anyone within recent memory — driven, funny, and totally original. As one of Columbia's flacks has so uniquely put it, if he didn't already exist, someone would have had to invent him. Tags: My Aim Is True  •  Mystery Dance  •  Waiting For The End Of The World  •  Alison  •  Less Than Zero  •  Nick Lowe  •  (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes  •  Bruce Springsteen  •  Bob Dylan  •  Merseybeat  •  Revenge and guilt  •  Columbia Records << >> Stereo Review, March 1978 Steve Simels reviews My Aim Is True. Images Clipping. Cover and page scans.

External links

• Wikipedia: Stereo Review
• worldradiohistory.com