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The Juliet Letters
Elvis Costello and The Brodsky Quartet
Richard Lehnert
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I'm always suspicious when I like a record on first hearing as much as I liked The Juliet Letters. Most pop recordings (not the great ones) offer up all their treasures on first hearing, sounding ever paler with each replay. But two weeks and lots of listenings later, The Juliet Letters just keeps sounding better and better.
It's about time. As much as I raved about Costello's Spike a few years back, it teetered on the edge of being over-produced, overripe, and overwrought; only Costello's passion and some very strong material made it all work. Nothing could save Spike's successor, Mighty Like A Rose, which was virtually unlistenable in the florid turgidity of its track upon track of unnecessary over-arrangements of virtually impenetrable lyrics. Besides, it neither rocked nor swung. I mean, didn't this guy used to be called a punk, however inaccurately? It was long past time for a return to basics.
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Remaining text and scanner-error corrections to come...
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Page scans.
Cover and contents page.
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External links
