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I've been listening to this record and reading the raves for weeks now. My initial thoughts on both the record and the overzealous reviewers were unkind. I've mellowed.
The comparisons to King Of America are not completely unfounded. National Ransom has plenty of the acoustic roots music found on King Of America, but KOA is in my Elvis top three, and nothing here comes close to the brilliance of the songs on that record.
But it is EC, so I don't give up easily and Ransom has grown on me, but just a bit. One problem is the muddy production. The whole time you're feeling like you wanna blow dust off the needle, or tell your oblivious friend to stop standing in front of your speakers.
The other problem, sadly, is the songs. Nothing here sticks to your ribs the way an Elvis Costello song should. He's older and his writing has changed. But even his last two, unfairly dismissed releases, Momofuku and Secret, Profane & Sugarcane had songs I remembered and wanted to hear again. So far, with National Ransom, that's not the case.
The ballads are lugubrious. Vaudeville pieces like "Jimmie Standing In The Rain" and "A Slow Drag With Josephine" are just plain annoying. And the supposed rockers like "The Spell That You Cast," "Five Small Words" and the title track are tuneless, and they just don't rock.
It's not all bad. Costello still knows how to tell a story and grab hold of your soul. "Stations Of The Cross," and "Church Underground," both sounding like something from the Spike sessions, as well as "Dr. Watson, I Presume," and "All These Strangers" all possess the qualities every EC fan waits for, album after album.
My feeling is that National Ransom will get even better. But right now it feels like a homework assignment, where you'd rather be doing something else, though you know if you stick with it, you'll feel gratified.
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