Elvis Costello: My Aim is True
Artist: Elvis Costello
Title: My Aim is True
Acquired: Purchased, mid 1990s from BMG Direct
Rating: 7/10
This CD is notable for having one of the most gratuitous disclaimers I've ever seen:
"To ensure your listening pleasure a short silence separates each of the extended play sections."
I suppose that's preferable to a scream of agony separating each track, but really, what else would you expect?
Before I get to the actual content of this CD, a brief digression: What is punk? I always found it kind of strange that Elvis Costello was regarded as part of the punk rock movement early in his career. Listening to this CD, it's not the kind of music that comes to mind when I think of "punk rock". The songs are sung, not snarled or screamed, any distortion on the guitars (including pedal steel!) is minimal, and the music itself sounds downright old-fashioned. So what are we left with that's punk? Well, the lyrics do mostly stick to the narrow continuum of human emotion that ranges from anger to bitterness. And it was 1977 London, after all - if you were an artist just having his commercial breakthrough in that particular time and place, you must have darned well been punk. Plus, the album was released by the Stiff label - you know, the label that had the Damned (but also had Nick Lowe, who was about as punk as, um, Elvis Costello).
I guess the argument comes down to comparing the Elvis Costello sound to what was big on the radio at the time. Let's look at the Billboard top ten for 1977:
1) Rod Stewart - Tonight's the Night
2) Andy Gibb - I Just Want to be Your Everything
3) Emotions - Best of my Love
4) Barbra Streisand - Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born)
5) Hot - Angel in Your Arms
6) Kenny Nolan - I Like Dreamin'
7) Thelma Houston - Don't Leave Me This Way
8) Rita Coolidge - (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher
9) Alan O'Day - Undercover Angel
10) Mary MacGregor - Torn Between Two Lovers
Now, granted this is the U.S. top ten, but that's just what I happened to have handy. Anyway, the argument could definitely be made that Elvis Costello sounds more like the Sex Pistols than any of the artists above. Ergo, Elvis Costello is punk.
No. I still don't buy it. It was a marketing device.
Anyway, on to the music itself. I can already imagine outraged Elvis Costello fans noticing that I only gave this CD 7 out of 10. How could I possibly give such a low score relative to the raves that are found elsewhere (per Wikipedia, 5/5 from Allmusic, Rolling Stone, and Sputnikmusic, and a 9.8/10.0 from Pitchfork Media)?
Well, having not read those reviews yet, I'm not sure why this work garnered such high ratings. I think it is a very good album, but I can very quickly think of at least five Elvis Costello albums that I prefer. If I were to give this album, say, a 10/10, that would leave me with having to give those other albums an 11, and that would be far too obvious a ripoff of This is Spinal Tap. I need to leave myself some wiggle room.
I suspect that many reviewers fell into the "first good album from a great artist" trap - the tendency is to give the breakthrough moment the highest rating, even if even greater triumphs were still to come. Anyway, I am not here today to review the reviewers, but to review My Aim is True. So, let's get on to it already.
What is good here? Well, we start out with "Welcome to the Working Week," a great opener at 1:22, at that's even with a slow introduction included. More evidence of Elvis' punkiness! Okay, I'll stop that. We also have the still-renowned "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives" (which was not on the original British release, but is on this version of the CD (and probably all versions of the CD). We also have the humorous "Mystery Dance", ironic "I'm Not Angry", and the memorable "Red Shoes". But as you progress from one number to the next number, a number of the numbers start to sound like that number you heard a couple numbers ago. And that is where the problem lies for me - at times this sounds more like a particularly outstanding demo tape than an actual commercial product - which is certainly part of its charm, but also prevents it from hitting the kind of heights that would later be hit by one Declan MacManus.
Perhaps ironically, two of the most produced and "finished" songs on here, "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger in the House", are not on the album proper, but in the "Extended Play" section of B-sides and demos (you know, the section with the pleasurable silences). But again, this was 1977 London, and placing these country-flavored songs onto your debut album would perhaps not have been the best possible career move.
However, it would have been a very punky thing to do.
Title: My Aim is True
Acquired: Purchased, mid 1990s from BMG Direct
Rating: 7/10
This CD is notable for having one of the most gratuitous disclaimers I've ever seen:
"To ensure your listening pleasure a short silence separates each of the extended play sections."
I suppose that's preferable to a scream of agony separating each track, but really, what else would you expect?
Before I get to the actual content of this CD, a brief digression: What is punk? I always found it kind of strange that Elvis Costello was regarded as part of the punk rock movement early in his career. Listening to this CD, it's not the kind of music that comes to mind when I think of "punk rock". The songs are sung, not snarled or screamed, any distortion on the guitars (including pedal steel!) is minimal, and the music itself sounds downright old-fashioned. So what are we left with that's punk? Well, the lyrics do mostly stick to the narrow continuum of human emotion that ranges from anger to bitterness. And it was 1977 London, after all - if you were an artist just having his commercial breakthrough in that particular time and place, you must have darned well been punk. Plus, the album was released by the Stiff label - you know, the label that had the Damned (but also had Nick Lowe, who was about as punk as, um, Elvis Costello).
I guess the argument comes down to comparing the Elvis Costello sound to what was big on the radio at the time. Let's look at the Billboard top ten for 1977:
1) Rod Stewart - Tonight's the Night
2) Andy Gibb - I Just Want to be Your Everything
3) Emotions - Best of my Love
4) Barbra Streisand - Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born)
5) Hot - Angel in Your Arms
6) Kenny Nolan - I Like Dreamin'
7) Thelma Houston - Don't Leave Me This Way
8) Rita Coolidge - (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher
9) Alan O'Day - Undercover Angel
10) Mary MacGregor - Torn Between Two Lovers
Now, granted this is the U.S. top ten, but that's just what I happened to have handy. Anyway, the argument could definitely be made that Elvis Costello sounds more like the Sex Pistols than any of the artists above. Ergo, Elvis Costello is punk.
No. I still don't buy it. It was a marketing device.
Anyway, on to the music itself. I can already imagine outraged Elvis Costello fans noticing that I only gave this CD 7 out of 10. How could I possibly give such a low score relative to the raves that are found elsewhere (per Wikipedia, 5/5 from Allmusic, Rolling Stone, and Sputnikmusic, and a 9.8/10.0 from Pitchfork Media)?
Well, having not read those reviews yet, I'm not sure why this work garnered such high ratings. I think it is a very good album, but I can very quickly think of at least five Elvis Costello albums that I prefer. If I were to give this album, say, a 10/10, that would leave me with having to give those other albums an 11, and that would be far too obvious a ripoff of This is Spinal Tap. I need to leave myself some wiggle room.
I suspect that many reviewers fell into the "first good album from a great artist" trap - the tendency is to give the breakthrough moment the highest rating, even if even greater triumphs were still to come. Anyway, I am not here today to review the reviewers, but to review My Aim is True. So, let's get on to it already.
What is good here? Well, we start out with "Welcome to the Working Week," a great opener at 1:22, at that's even with a slow introduction included. More evidence of Elvis' punkiness! Okay, I'll stop that. We also have the still-renowned "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives" (which was not on the original British release, but is on this version of the CD (and probably all versions of the CD). We also have the humorous "Mystery Dance", ironic "I'm Not Angry", and the memorable "Red Shoes". But as you progress from one number to the next number, a number of the numbers start to sound like that number you heard a couple numbers ago. And that is where the problem lies for me - at times this sounds more like a particularly outstanding demo tape than an actual commercial product - which is certainly part of its charm, but also prevents it from hitting the kind of heights that would later be hit by one Declan MacManus.
Perhaps ironically, two of the most produced and "finished" songs on here, "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger in the House", are not on the album proper, but in the "Extended Play" section of B-sides and demos (you know, the section with the pleasurable silences). But again, this was 1977 London, and placing these country-flavored songs onto your debut album would perhaps not have been the best possible career move.
However, it would have been a very punky thing to do.
posted by RDConz at 8:47 PM
2 Comments:
Do you know how the pleasurable silences are arranged on the CD? I listen to almost all of my music off an MP3 player these days. When a track has too much dead air or segue material at the end, I find that annoying.
You write very well.
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