Stylus, September 1, 2003: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> Elvis Costello - King | <center><h3> Elvis Costello - Punch The Clock</h3></center> | ||
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In 1983 Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley were two of Britain’s most prominent record producers. Elvis Costello knew them from his days at Two-Tone Records. Critics have speculated that Costello’s choice of Langer/Winstanley as producers reflected an attempt for another hit record (he got it-“[[Everyday I Write The Book]]” was one of his only American hits). However, it seems more like Costello’s continuation of his quest for a new sound. He wasn’t content resting on his laurels. The album, while far from perfect, offers interesting insight into the Attractions’ sound. | |||
''Punch The Clock''’s first three songs are its best. “[[Let Them All Talk]]” finds Costello and the Attractions as urgent as they have sounded since ''Get Happy!!'', with a throbbing bass and punchy horns in the intro and chorus and the song also sounds different than anything else they had recorded. The overdub cut-and-paste style is most successful on the fractured keyboards of “Everyday I Write The Book” and the highlighted bass and drums on “[[The Greatest Thing]]”. “[[Shipbuilding]]” had been a hit for Robert Wyatt, but Costello isn’t as well suited to sing a version of his own song. He fared much better as a balladeer on ''Imperial Bedroom''’s “[[Almost Blue (song)|Almost Blue]]”. The album veers sharply downhill from here; “[[TKO (Boxing Day)]]” has a nice chorus, courtesy of studio singers Afrodiziak (one of whom was later featured on Soul II Soul’s “Back To Life”) but the rest of the song is muddled. The biggest problem with side 2 is that Costello offers nothing truly memorable. There are some decent pop songs, but pure pop is not Costello’s forte. “[[Mouth Almighty]]” is one of the more pleasant of these songs, Langer and Winstanley give Costello’s voice room to breathe, whereas on many of the other songs he gets buried in the mix, and the tune features another superb [[Steve Nieve]] organ line. Costello states that “[[Pills And Soap|Pills and Soap]]” was influenced by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, but the influence is hard to discern apart from the drum-machine-like snapping. “[[The World And His Wife|The World and His Wife]]”, which closes the album, is a lyrically silly, bland satire of middle-class suburban families, but Costello’s delivery is spot-on as is the backing of the TKO Horns. | |||
''Punch The Clock'' is really nothing special, but enjoyable nonetheless. Costello added a few great numbers to his catalog along with a lot of inoffensive filler. It shouldn’t be the first Costello album you purchase, nor should it be the last. | |||
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'''Stylus, September 1, 2003 | |||
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[[Colin Beckett]] reviews ''[[Trust]]'', ''[[Punch The Clock]]'', ''[[King Of America]]'', ''[[Mighty Like A Rose]]'' and [[Kojak Variety]]. | |||
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<center><h3>Elvis Costello - King Of America''' </h3></center> | |||
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After the dreadful, hopeless ''Goodbye Cruel World'', many people expected Elvis Costello’s next effort to be a pained, ultra-personal affair. But ''King of America'' is precisely the opposite. Here, Costello sounds genuinely joyful. There is not an album in his catalog in which EC sounds as jubilant as he does on this record. | After the dreadful, hopeless ''Goodbye Cruel World'', many people expected Elvis Costello’s next effort to be a pained, ultra-personal affair. But ''King of America'' is precisely the opposite. Here, Costello sounds genuinely joyful. There is not an album in his catalog in which EC sounds as jubilant as he does on this record. | ||
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While it was an important step in Costello’s career, like ''Punch The Clock'', ''King of America'' is a fun album that is packed with filler. As a Costello fan, it’s nice to hear him enjoying himself and fully fleshing-out his taste for early-American music, but for the uninitiated, it’s not an album to seek out. | While it was an important step in Costello’s career, like ''Punch The Clock'', ''King of America'' is a fun album that is packed with filler. As a Costello fan, it’s nice to hear him enjoying himself and fully fleshing-out his taste for early-American music, but for the uninitiated, it’s not an album to seek out. | ||
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<center><h3>'''Elvis Costello - Mighty Like A Rose '''</h3></center> | <center><h3>'''Elvis Costello - Mighty Like A Rose '''</h3></center> | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/elvis-costello-punch-the-clock.htm stylusmagazine.com] | |||
*[http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/elvis-costello-mighty-like-a-rose.htm stylusmagazine.com] | *[http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/elvis-costello-mighty-like-a-rose.htm stylusmagazine.com] | ||
*[http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/elvis-costello-kojak-variety.htm stylusmagazine.com] | *[http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/elvis-costello-kojak-variety.htm stylusmagazine.com] | ||
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylus_Magazine Wikipedia: Stylus Magazine] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylus_Magazine Wikipedia: Stylus Magazine] | ||
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[[Category:Album reviews]] | [[Category:Album reviews]] | ||
[[Category:Trust reviews]] | [[Category:Trust reviews]] | ||
[[Category:Punch The Clock reviews]] | |||
[[Category:King Of America reviews]] | [[Category:King Of America reviews]] | ||
[[Category:Mighty Like A Rose reviews]] | [[Category:Mighty Like A Rose reviews]] | ||
[[Category:Kojak Variety reviews]] | [[Category:Kojak Variety reviews]] |
Revision as of 10:11, 24 August 2017
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