Rockland Journal-News, February 20, 1981

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 Rockland Journal-News   1978 November 10 1979 February 2 1980 March 20 1981 February 20 1981 December 6 1982 July 16 1982 September 3 1983 August 19 1984 September 21 1986 May 2 1986 October 1 2004 December 2 New York publications  Newspapers Albany Times Union Auburn Citizen Binghamton Evening Press Buffalo Courier-Express Buffalo News Finger Lake Times Glens Falls Post-Star Granville Sentinel Ithaca Journal Kingston Daily Freeman Manhasset Press Medina Journal-Register Newburgh Evening News New York Daily News New York Newsday New York Post New York Times Ogdensburg Journal Olean Times Herald Oswego Palladium-Times Oswego Shopper Plattsburgh Press-Rep. Poughkeepsie Journal Rochester Democrat & Chron. Rockland Journal-News Schenectady Gazette Syracuse Herald American Syracuse Herald-Journal Syracuse Post-Standard Utica Observer-Dispatch Wall Street Journal White Plains Journal News Yonkers Herald Statesman University publications Adelphi University Delphian Albany Student Press Bard College Observer Bard Times Barnard College Bulletin Baruch College Ticker Buffalo State College Record Canisius College Griffin City College of NY Campus City College Observation Post Clarkson University Integrator Colgate Univ. Maroon-News Columbia Daily Spectator Cornell Daily Sun Fordham Observer Fordham Ram Ithaca College Ithacan Marist College Circle Rensselaer Polytechnic Rochester Ins. Tech. Reporter St. Bonaventure Bona Venture St. Lawrence Univ. Hill News St. John Fisher Coll. Pioneer Stony Brook Press Stony Brook Statesman SUNY Brockport Stylus SUNY Buffalo Spectrum SUNY Cobleskill Whirlwind SUNY Oswego Oswegonian SUNY Plattsburgh Card. Pnts. SUNY Potsdam Racquette SUNY Purchase Load SUNY Utica Paper Sun Syracuse Univ. Daily Orange Union College Concordiensis University at Buffalo Opinion Utica College Tangerine Vassar Miscellany News Wagner College Wagnerian Magazines and alt. weeklies Island Ear Music Monthly New York magazine New York Observer New York Press New York Rocker New York Villager New Yorker Overthrow Soho Weekly News Village Voice WLIR magazine US publications by state  AL  •  AK  •  AR  •  AZ  •  CA CO  •  CT  •  DC  •  DE  •  FL GA  •  HI  •   IA   •   ID   •   IL   IN   •  KS  •  KY  •  LA   •  MA MD  •  ME  •   MI  •  MN  •  MO MS  •  MT  •  NC  •  ND  •  NE NH  •  NJ  •  NM  •  NV  •  NY OH  •  OK  •  OR  •  PA  •  RI SC  •  SD  •  TN  •  TX  •  UT  VA  •  VT  •  WA  •  WI  •  WY — Elvis Costello's 'Trust' — as caustic as ever Eric Shepard Elvis Costello's newest release is called Trust. Not surprisingly, it's mostly about deceit — white lies, two-faced talk, unkept promises and delusions of musical, sexual and political grandeur. Images of the lame tough guy are all over the album. So are warnings to keep quiet. All this from a man who makes his living from words and who has developed a reputation for nastiness. When Elvis sings "I don't mean to be mean much anymore" on "Pretty Words," however, don't believe him for a minute. The music may not be as vicious as on This Year's Model or My Aim Is True, but the sentiments are as caustic as ever. Living with the album for a few weeks now, many of the lyrics remain elusive. "Clubland" and "Luxembourg" are the most obscure. Both seem to be about the physical and emotional strains of the struggling and then successful musician. (Trust might even be seen by some as a playing out of Elvis' obsession with success and his audience.) "Luxembourg," the album's hardest rocker, will take years to untangle and sounds in many ways like a cut from the Stones' Exile On Main Street, with the same murky vocals and track. "Different Finger" follows from "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger In the House," Costello's flirtations with country music. A would-be lover pleads with his anonymous married partner to remove her rings so that he can have his "one night of glory." "Watch Your Step" borrows slightly from "Secondary Modern" with slightly less menace. The or else is implied, not stated. "You'll Never Be A Man" picks up on the ambivalence of "You Belong To Me" and "The Beat." The latter's "I don't want to be your lover, I just want to be your victim" has become "I don't want to be first, I just want to last." "From A Whisper to A Scream" and "Fish 'N' Chip Paper" are lightweight rave-ups, the second proving Costello has more to say about the papers with humor than Joe Jackson does with feigned anger. On Elvis Costello and the Attractions at the Palladium and the Capitol theater, The Palladium set was cleaner. The Capitol more energized. The Capitol's sound mix cut out the highs and mushed the Attractions into an impenetrable mess for the most part. Costello's sense of detail got all but lost. Though Trust arrived only a few days before Elvis did, he emphasized the new songs at both shows. He opened and closed each with "Shot With His Own Gun" and "Big Sister's Clothes" forcing the audience to deal with the new material, though most cheered harder for old favorites like "Radio, Radio," "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives." At the Capitol especially, Costello and the Attractions set out to prove they could do anything — country ("He's Got You"), blues ("I Need Your Love So Bad"); and reggae ("Walk and Don't Look Back") — as well as their own stuff They could. On the face of it the 1978 Armed Forces Tour had more firepower. Costello himself was leaner and the music had more bite. With Get Happy and Trust, Costello's anger has become less obvious, the music less terrifying. Elvis can still rock out savagely, as he did on "Radio, Radio," "Big Tears" and "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding," but while built earlier shows to a definite frenzy, this time around he kept putting the audience back in their seats with new and unfamiliar tunes. Those who went solely to dance were disappointed. Costello wanted everyone to listen. The Attractions have never gotten enough press. Steve Nieve's unbeatable on keyboards. Reaching from classical through carnival, Nieve keeps the audience appropriately off-balance on everything but the simpler rockers. On bass and drums, Pete and Bruce Thomas maintain the control so central to Costello's music without forgetting it's rock 'n' roll after all. Like Nieve, each also has his bag of intriguing fills. Martin Belmont, a guitarist borrowed from the Rumour filled out several times admirably. Costello himself soloed once at the Palladium and stretched out thrice at the Capitol, but generally restricted himself to a rhythm function. His vocals remain the focus. Like his lyrics, Costello's singing has increased in range dynamics. He still puts out as much as ever. February 27: Elvis Costello Eric Shepard Gremlins stole the concluding paragraph of last week's piece on Elvis Costello. I'd like to restore it for those who felt the column came to an over-abrupt halt: Many have criticised Elvis for straying from the immediacy of his first two albums, but Costello knew that had he tried to rewrite "Lipstick Vogue," "Chelsea" or "Mystery Dance," he would have fallen into the same trap that the Clash dove into with Sandinista — tired attempts at recapturing last year's model. Trust and the '81 tour finds Elvis Costello and the Attractions on a slightly different tilt. More comfortable? Sure. Less bitter?? Possibly. Still the best singer, writer and band in the business? No question. The Journal-News, February 20, 1981 Eric Shepard reviews Trust and reports on Elvis Costello concerts Saturday, January 31, 1981, Palladium , New York, and Saturday, February 7, 1981, Capitol Theatre, Passaic. Images Clippings. Page scans.

External links

• lohud.com
• Wikipedia: The Journal News
• fultonhistory.com