I haven't always disliked Costello
- Walk In My Shadow
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I haven't always disliked Costello
In fact, I found My Aim Is True was among the best albums of 1977.
Red Shoes, Alison, Less than Zero, Detectives, Mystery Dance, I still like 'em.
'78's This Years Model was more of the same goodness. Chelsea, Pump it Up, Lip Service, Radio Radio. Yeah!
Armed Forces from '79 went the same line. Accidents, Oliver's Army, Green Shirt.
Didn't digest Get Happy very well, too many songs, no many good enough.
Trust! was somewhat better, a couple of worthy ideas.
BUT. And then it goes wrong.His Country album Almost Blue was the last straw. I like C&W very much but not done by Costello. (see also his later Americana disaster Secret,Profane & Sugarcane. which I even bought)
I was over Elvis at this time and rarely listened to even his new singles. And the the collaborations started...
Red Shoes, Alison, Less than Zero, Detectives, Mystery Dance, I still like 'em.
'78's This Years Model was more of the same goodness. Chelsea, Pump it Up, Lip Service, Radio Radio. Yeah!
Armed Forces from '79 went the same line. Accidents, Oliver's Army, Green Shirt.
Didn't digest Get Happy very well, too many songs, no many good enough.
Trust! was somewhat better, a couple of worthy ideas.
BUT. And then it goes wrong.His Country album Almost Blue was the last straw. I like C&W very much but not done by Costello. (see also his later Americana disaster Secret,Profane & Sugarcane. which I even bought)
I was over Elvis at this time and rarely listened to even his new singles. And the the collaborations started...
Beneluxfunkmeisterlurvegod
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
Imperial Bedroom (his best album, Blood & Chocolate and King Zoe America are all worth your time.
- Walk In My Shadow
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
Walk In My Shadow wrote:In fact, I found My Aim Is True was among the best albums of 1977.
Red Shoes, Alison, Less than Zero, Detectives, Mystery Dance, I still like 'em.
'78's This Years Model was more of the same goodness. Chelsea, Pump it Up, Lip Service, Radio Radio. Yeah!
Armed Forces from '79 went the same line. Accidents, Oliver's Army, Green Shirt.
Didn't digest Get Happy very well, too many songs, no many good enough.
Trust! was somewhat better, a couple of worthy ideas.
BUT. And then it goes wrong.His Country album Almost Blue was the last straw. I like C&W very much but not done by Costello. (see also his later Americana disaster Secret,Profane & Sugarcane. which I even bought)
I was over Elvis at this time and rarely listened to even his new singles. And then the collaborations started...
Beneluxfunkmeisterlurvegod
- Neige
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
I won't hold my breath... but listen without prejudice (I love this to bits):
Thumpety-thump beats plinkety-plonk every time. - Rayge
- Walk In My Shadow
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
Neige wrote:I won't hold my breath... but listen without prejudice (I love this to bits):
willing to do that, Felix.
You can give me a couple of more tips on albums i REALLY should hear
Beneluxfunkmeisterlurvegod
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
Walk In My Shadow wrote:In fact, I found My Aim Is True was among the best albums of 1977.
Red Shoes, Alison, Less than Zero, Detectives, Mystery Dance, I still like 'em.
'78's This Years Model was more of the same goodness. Chelsea, Pump it Up, Lip Service, Radio Radio. Yeah!
Armed Forces from '79 went the same line. Accidents, Oliver's Army, Green Shirt.
Didn't digest Get Happy very well, too many songs, no many good enough.
Trust! was somewhat better, a couple of worthy ideas.
BUT. And then it goes wrong.His Country album Almost Blue was the last straw. I like C&W very much but not done by Costello. (see also his later Americana disaster Secret,Profane & Sugarcane. which I even bought)
I was over Elvis at this time and rarely listened to even his new singles. And the the collaborations started...
Almost the same with me. I like King of America, but other than that, no go.
And I've tried. Lord, I've tried, based on how much I liked his first albums.
I think he's way overrated.
Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk!
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
But if you look at it another way, there's such a wealth of great material from '77-'79 that many artists would kill for, you could create another solid album or two from those B-Sides alone. I like him on and off until 1991's 'Mighty Like A Rose', but I personally think 'Get Happy', 'Trust' and 'Imperial Bedroom' are just as good as those first three. and I know that it probably wouldn't be something for fans strictly of his spiky new wave stuff but 'Painted From Memory' is great to me as a latter day highlight for both Costello & Burt Bacharach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOPXvtZvb7g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOPXvtZvb7g
- Mike Boom
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
"Mighty Like A Rose" is somewhat of a hidden gem in Costello's catalogue for me, with a lot of the tracks from the Macca collaboration, and full of really rich instrumentation and some really great songs.
Haven't heard much of the new one yet but am a fan of "Painted from Memory"
Haven't heard much of the new one yet but am a fan of "Painted from Memory"
- Sneelock
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
the whole trick with EC is sequencing. the songwriting has always varied but the good albums are the ones where the tracks are sequenced properly.
I think he's made albums full of good songs that defy the definition of "good album" just because the songs don't really pull together as a team.
I can go on like this for ten more paragraphs but I won't.
I think he's made albums full of good songs that defy the definition of "good album" just because the songs don't really pull together as a team.
I can go on like this for ten more paragraphs but I won't.
uggy poopy doody.
- bobzilla77
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
I rather liked When I Was Cruel, I saw him a couple times on that tour & thought the new stuff hung well with the oldies.
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
there are some top tunes on there.
also, I like how he's being more "modern" in the production. sort of what Arto Lindsay does. using dance music techniques on non-dance music.
I listen to the tricked out version of "Dust" quite a bit. good tune and a very different and muscular production.
also, I like how he's being more "modern" in the production. sort of what Arto Lindsay does. using dance music techniques on non-dance music.
I listen to the tricked out version of "Dust" quite a bit. good tune and a very different and muscular production.
uggy poopy doody.
- Ranking Ted
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
My stock answer on Costello threads is that it’s all about the first ten years up to Blood & Chocolate. Sure, that includes a couple of clunkers - Goodbye Cruel World, Almost Blue - and a couple more patchy efforts - Punch The Clock, Trust - but, by and large, there’s aceness - sharp songwriting, effervescent performances - in spades. BCB underrates his peak years.
The problem was when he thought he was a master of genres and started to fancy himself as Cole Porter or Burt Bacharach. Since then, yes there’s been decent stuff on occasion - but the collaborations and the experiments and the genre hopping don’t work for me. It’s laudable that he’s trying to stretch himself but it all feels forced and more about the craft than inspiration. It also exposes his singing voice to scrutiny it can’t really stand. However, the new one *is* pretty good - critically, his melodicism seems to have returned - for all that.
Still, he’s an ace interviewee, raconteur and music enthusiast and his live show remains compelling. I like him.
The problem was when he thought he was a master of genres and started to fancy himself as Cole Porter or Burt Bacharach. Since then, yes there’s been decent stuff on occasion - but the collaborations and the experiments and the genre hopping don’t work for me. It’s laudable that he’s trying to stretch himself but it all feels forced and more about the craft than inspiration. It also exposes his singing voice to scrutiny it can’t really stand. However, the new one *is* pretty good - critically, his melodicism seems to have returned - for all that.
Still, he’s an ace interviewee, raconteur and music enthusiast and his live show remains compelling. I like him.
- GoogaMooga
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
I'm the opposite, only came round to him recently. But of the later stuff I only have the Bacharach collaboration.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck
- GoogaMooga
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
I really like "Accidents Will Happen", or whatever it's called.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
Ranking Ted wrote:The problem was when he thought he was a master of genres and started to fancy himself as Cole Porter or Burt Bacharach. Since then, yes there’s been decent stuff on occasion - but the collaborations and the experiments and the genre hopping don’t work for me. It’s laudable that he’s trying to stretch himself but it all feels forced and more about the craft than inspiration. It also exposes his singing voice to scrutiny it can’t really stand. However, the new one *is* pretty good - critically, his melodicism seems to have returned - for all that.
I think his interviews for the new one show his head firmly up his ass. He was never a lowly rock singer he seems to enjoy saying. fuck that noise. sure, he's got ambitions and has for a while but I think being married to a jazzbo and wearing those stupid hats has really warped his sense of his own worth. I say this as someone who likes the lion's share of the songs he writes.
uggy poopy doody.
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- Dribbling idiot airhead
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
Way back when it was Costello, Parker and Joe Jackson, man, those were the days! Only Parker stayed true to the mission, to make good rock and roll music.
Question authority.
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
Great up to Blood and Chocolate, patchy ever since.
- naughty boy
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
He's been patchy since day one.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.
- Neige
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
Walk In My Shadow wrote:Neige wrote:I won't hold my breath... but listen without prejudice (I love this to bits):
willing to do that, Felix.
You can give me a couple of more tips on albums i REALLY should hear
I'd really like to know what you think about that song (the new album's opener) in particular - it has some of his "precious" vibrato singing which seems to be a dealbreaker for the "no-further than Blood & Chocolate" brigade, but it's just a terrific tune, faultlessly arranged.
This also goes for the last track on the album - the tune here is prime Bacharach.
As has been noted by Sneelock, it's all about the sequencing, and in this respect, Look Now is perfect IMO.
Thumpety-thump beats plinkety-plonk every time. - Rayge
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Re: I haven't always disliked Costello
I’m warming greatly to Look Now.