Elvis Costello is one of several musicians who are continually honoured for past achievements but are denied credit for present successes. His new album, Extreme Honey: The Very Best of the Warner Bros. Years, will hopefully correct this oversight.
Costello's body of work over the last twenty years has been diverse and unpredictable (more so than any other musician). Always exploring genres, he has released R&B records (Get Happy), explored country (Almost Blue), experimented with Classical (The Juliet Letters), and was the leader of the 70s New Wave, with hits like "Radio, Radio," "Oliver's Army," and "Alison."
Extreme Honey covers the latter part of his career from Spike (1989) to All This Useless Beauty (1996). All of the hits are included ("Veronica," "13 Steps Lead Down," "So Like Candy") as well as a brand new song, "The Bridge I Burn." Die hard fans should have enough incentive to pick up the album.
Now that Costello's record label deal has been completed, it is hard to predict where he'll go from here. Because of creative differences, he is not resigning with Warner but is currently looking for a record contract. Whatever the circumstances are for Extreme Honey's release, it's definitely worth buying.
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