This collection is culled from Elvis Costello's complete domestic output as of 1980: My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy!!, and Taking Liberties. All have been critical favorites, and Costello is certainly considered to be one of the prime movers and shakers on the current scene.
Yet in print, many of his melodies prove to be limited-range chants, and his lyrics are dangerously vapid. Key words sometimes rhyme, but adjacent sentences are disconnected and often bear no relationship to the subject at hand. The project is not entirely without merit, however, The transcriber has taken true aim indeed at the new wave groupie marketplace by providing clean, simple piano-vocal settings that rock easy.
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